Robert Büssel

Robert Büssel was a German baritone who studied with K. Becker in Cologne, then worked as a chorister and provincial soloist in Berlin, Essen and Leipzig before joining the Dresden Court, later State, Opera in 1906, where he remained until 1944. A reliable ensemble singer across some 600 roles, mostly buffo parts, his most frequent were Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and Masetto in Don Giovanni; he took a small role in the 1911 Dresden premiere of Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, created the Notary in the premiere of Intermezzo in 1924, and created Welko in the premiere of Arabella in 1933. He also appeared in the Dresden premieres of d'Albert's Die toten Augen, Künneke's Coeur As and Busoni's Doktor Faust, toured London with the company in 1936, and recorded lieder and opera arias for several labels.