Ludwig Weber

Ludwig Weber was an Austrian bass who abandoned plans to train as a teacher and artist once his voice was discovered, studying from 1919 with Alfred Boruttau and making his debut at the Vienna Volksoper in 1920. After engagements with smaller German companies and a successful appearance at the 1931 Munich Wagner Festival, he joined the Bavarian State Opera in Munich in 1933, creating the Holsteiner in Strauss's Friedenstag there in 1938. He sang widely abroad, at Covent Garden from 1936 and in Buenos Aires, joined the Vienna State Opera in 1945, and from 1951 was a regular at Bayreuth. Renowned for a rich, dark bass equally suited to Hagen's malevolence and Gurnemanz's dignity, he was also admired as Sarastro and Osmin.