GREINDL, JOSEF

The German bass Josef Greindl was born in Munich in 1912 and studied singing with the bass Paul Bender and the soprano Anna Bahr-Mildenberg. His début took place with a semi-professional performance of Weber’s Der Freischütz in 1935, followed by a professional one the following year in Krefeld as Hunding. He sang in Düsseldorf between 1938 and 1942 before moving to Berlin. Engaged first at the city’s Staatsoper, Greindl moved to the Städtische Oper in 1949. His first appearance at the Bayreuth Festival was in 1943 and he returned regularly during the seasons 1951 to 1970, singing all the principal bass rôles in addition to Hans Sachs, the rôle with which he made his London début in 1963. He also sang in New York and Milan. Greindl was a fine Mozartian and a much-admired Boris Godunov in addition to also appearing in Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron in the first German performances in 1959. After retiring he taught singing in Saarbrücken. He died in 1993.

Albums featuring this artist are available for download from ClassicsOnline.com
HANS KNAPPERTSBUSCH AT WIENER FESTWOCHEN 1963	DVUS-CLHK63
KNAPPERTSBUSCH AT THE WIENER FESTWOCHEN 1963 (NTSC)	DVWW-CLHK63M
MOZART, W.A.: Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) (Stader, Streich, Fischer-Dieskau, Fricsay) (1956)	9.80720-21
MOZART, W.A.: Magic Flute (The) [Opera]	C67157
WAGNER, R.: Lohengrin (Windgassen, Steber, Keilberth) (1953)	8.110308-10
WAGNER, R.: Tristan und Isolde (Furtwängler) (1952)	8.110321-24