Julius Patzak

Julius Patzak was an Austrian tenor, self-taught as a singer after training in conducting and composition under Franz Schmidt, Guido Adler and Eusebius Mandyczewski. He made his stage debut as Radames at Reichenberg in 1926, joined the Munich Opera in 1928, and moved to the Vienna State Opera in 1945. He created the Rifleman in Strauss's Friedenstag (1938) and took part in premieres by Pfitzner and Orff, and later created Desmoulins in Gottfried von Einem's Dantons Tod at the 1947 Salzburg Festival. Renowned above all for Mozart and, as his voice grew larger, for Florestan, he sang with undiminished impact into his fifties, prized as much for his intelligent phrasing as for his voice.