Leon Rains

Leon Rains was an American bass who began his training in 1890 at the National Conservatory in New York, later studying with Oscar Saenger and, from 1896, with Jacques Bouhy in Paris. He made his debut in 1897 with the Damrosch-Ellis Opera Company, touring the United States with it in 1899, the same year he joined the Dresden Court Opera, in whose ensemble he sang until about 1910, taking part in world premieres including Salome. Guest engagements took him to Bayreuth and Covent Garden in 1904, and he spent one season, 1909-10, at the Metropolitan Opera, singing Méphistophélès and Hagen. He then stayed in Dresden as a guest singer and teacher, and acted in films in 1916 and 1917, before returning to the United States in 1918. After 1924 he lived and taught in Los Angeles.