Josef von Manowarda

Josef von Manowarda was an Austrian bass of Polish birth who studied in Graz, where he sang from 1911 to 1915. After three years at the Vienna Volksoper and a further period of study, he made his debut at the Vienna State Opera as the Spirit Messenger in the premiere of Die Frau ohne Schatten in 1919. He was heard first at Salzburg in 1922 and at Bayreuth in 1931, becoming closely associated with both festivals: his Mozart roles included Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, while at Bayreuth he sang most of the major Wagnerian bass parts and also took the bass-baritone roles of Wotan and Hans Sachs. He had joined the Nazi Party with his wife before it was banned in Austria in 1933, and continued distributing its material at the Vienna State Opera through the ban; he moved to Berlin in 1934, sang there until his death in 1942, and was given a state funeral at the Berlin State Opera attended by Goebbels and Göring. Recordings, some taken from actual performances, capture something of the authority and power of his stage performances but also expose unevenness in his voice production.