OperaDB

Josef Traxel

1916Wikipedia (2026) Josef Traxel. (Accessed: August 2026).Goodwin, N. (1992) 'Traxel, Josef', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 4, p. 802.Kutsch, K.J. and Riemens, L. (1987) 'Traxel, Josef', in Großes Sängerlexikon. Bern and Stuttgart: Francke, vol. 2, col. 3001.–1975Wikipedia (2026) Josef Traxel. (Accessed: August 2026).Goodwin, N. (1992) 'Traxel, Josef', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 4, p. 802.Kutsch, K.J. and Riemens, L. (1987) 'Traxel, Josef', in Großes Sängerlexikon. Bern and Stuttgart: Francke, vol. 2, col. 3001. · German · tenorWikipedia (2026) Josef Traxel. (Accessed: August 2026).Goodwin, N. (1992) 'Traxel, Josef', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 4, p. 802.Kutsch, K.J. and Riemens, L. (1987) 'Traxel, Josef', in Großes Sängerlexikon. Bern and Stuttgart: Francke, vol. 2, col. 3001.

Birthplace: Mainz, GermanyWikipedia (2026) Josef Traxel. (Accessed: August 2026).Goodwin, N. (1992) 'Traxel, Josef', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 4, p. 802.Kutsch, K.J. and Riemens, L. (1987) 'Traxel, Josef', in Großes Sängerlexikon. Bern and Stuttgart: Francke, vol. 2, col. 3001.

Josef Traxel was a German tenorGoodwin, N. (1992) 'Traxel, Josef', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 4, p. 802.Wikipedia (2026) Josef Traxel. (Accessed: August 2026). who studied at the Darmstadt Conservatory but was conscripted before he could properly begin his careerGoodwin, N. (1992) 'Traxel, Josef', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 4, p. 802.Wikipedia (2026) Josef Traxel. (Accessed: August 2026).Kutsch, K.J. and Riemens, L. (1987) 'Traxel, Josef', in Großes Sängerlexikon. Bern and Stuttgart: Francke, vol. 2, col. 3001.Bayreuther Festspiele (n.d.) Josef Traxel: Festspieldatenbank. (Accessed: 15 October 2026)., making his debut as Don Ottavio at Mainz in 1942 while on sick leaveGoodwin, N. (1992) 'Traxel, Josef', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 4, p. 802.Wikipedia (2026) Josef Traxel. (Accessed: August 2026).Kutsch, K.J. and Riemens, L. (1987) 'Traxel, Josef', in Großes Sängerlexikon. Bern and Stuttgart: Francke, vol. 2, col. 3001.Bayreuther Festspiele (n.d.) Josef Traxel: Festspieldatenbank. (Accessed: 15 October 2026).. After internment in Britain as a prisoner of war, he resumed his career at the Nuremberg Stadttheater in 1946, moving to Stuttgart in 1952Goodwin, N. (1992) 'Traxel, Josef', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 4, p. 802.Wikipedia (2026) Josef Traxel. (Accessed: August 2026).Kutsch, K.J. and Riemens, L. (1987) 'Traxel, Josef', in Großes Sängerlexikon. Bern and Stuttgart: Francke, vol. 2, col. 3001.Bayreuther Festspiele (n.d.) Josef Traxel: Festspieldatenbank. (Accessed: 15 October 2026).. That year he created Mercury in the premiere of Strauss's Die Liebe der Danae at the Salzburg FestivalGoodwin, N. (1992) 'Traxel, Josef', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 4, p. 802.Wikipedia (2026) Josef Traxel. (Accessed: August 2026).Kutsch, K.J. and Riemens, L. (1987) 'Traxel, Josef', in Großes Sängerlexikon. Bern and Stuttgart: Francke, vol. 2, col. 3001.Bayreuther Festspiele (n.d.) Josef Traxel: Festspieldatenbank. (Accessed: 15 October 2026)., and he first appeared at Bayreuth in 1954, as FrohBayreuther Festspiele (n.d.) Josef Traxel: Festspieldatenbank. (Accessed: 15 October 2026).Kutsch, K.J. and Riemens, L. (1987) 'Traxel, Josef', in Großes Sängerlexikon. Bern and Stuttgart: Francke, vol. 2, col. 3001.Wikipedia (2026) Josef Traxel. (Accessed: August 2026).Grove has a first Bayreuth appearance as Walther in 1953. The Bayreuth Festival's own database has his first season in 1954, as Froh and Walther von der Vogelweide, with Walther von Stolzing only in 1957 and 1958, and is followed with Kutsch-Riemens and Wikipedia.. His lyrical tenor, unusually high for a German singerGoodwin, N. (1992) 'Traxel, Josef', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 4, p. 802., was also admired in the roles of Belmonte and SiegmundGoodwin, N. (1992) 'Traxel, Josef', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 4, p. 802., though his recordings were mostly confined to arias and excerpts and to smaller roles, including in Der fliegende Holländer under Ferenc Fricsay and Das Rheingold under Hans KnappertsbuschGoodwin, N. (1992) 'Traxel, Josef', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 4, p. 802.. From 1963 he taught at StuttgartGoodwin, N. (1992) 'Traxel, Josef', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 4, p. 802.Wikipedia (2026) Josef Traxel. (Accessed: August 2026).Kutsch, K.J. and Riemens, L. (1987) 'Traxel, Josef', in Großes Sängerlexikon. Bern and Stuttgart: Francke, vol. 2, col. 3001.Bayreuther Festspiele (n.d.) Josef Traxel: Festspieldatenbank. (Accessed: 15 October 2026)..

Creations

Written from