Treptow, Günther (Otto Walther)

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Treptow, Günther (Otto Walther)

Treptow, Günther (Otto Walther), German tenor; b. Berlin, Oct. 22, 1907; d. there, March 28, 1981. He studied at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. He made his operatic debut in 1936 at the Deutsches Opernhaus in Berlin as the Italian Tenor in Der Rosenkavalier. Although placed on the forbidden list of non-Aryans by the Nazis, he continued to sing in Berlin until 1942, when he joined the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. After the Nazi collapse, he again sang in Berlin at the Städtische Oper (1945-50) and at the Vienna State Opera (1947-55); appeared as Siegmund in 1951 and 1952 at the Bayreuth Festival and as Siegfried at London’s Covent Garden in 1953. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Siegmund in Die Walküre on Feb. 1, 1951; remained on its roster until the close of that season; continued to sing in Europe until his retirement in 1961. In 1971 he was made a Kammersänger.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire