Franz Völker

Franz Völker was a German tenor discovered by Clemens Krauss. He studied singing at Frankfurt and was engaged at the opera there in 1926, making his debut as Florestan. He moved to Vienna in 1931, to Berlin in 1935 and to Munich in 1945, where he remained until 1952, also singing at the festivals at Salzburg from 1931 and Bayreuth from 1933, creating Menelas in the revised Die ägyptische Helena at Salzburg in 1933. He sang Florestan and Siegmund at Covent Garden in 1934. Also admired as Lohengrin, Don Carlos and Radames, he had in his prime the flexibility for lighter, more lyrical roles such as Ferrando, and appeared with distinction as Max in Der Freischütz and the Emperor in Die Frau ohne Schatten, and, late in his career, as Otello and Canio.