Gerhard Hüsch

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Gerhard Hüsch (Hanover, February 2, 1901 - Munich, November 23, 1984) was one of the most important German singers of modern times. He specialized in Lieder, and to a lesser extent in opera.

Between 1925 and 1942, Hüsch sang regularly at several German (as well as British and Italian) opera houses, primarily in Berlin from 1930 onwards. The role for which he is best remembered is that of Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute, but his repertoire included most of the standard lighter baritone roles, including Wagner's (he appeared at Bayreuth, most notably as Wolfram in Tannhäuser) and Richard Strauss's (he appeared in the premiere of Strauss's Intermezzo). Lacking the sheer devastating vocal amplitude of his contemporaries Hans Hotter and Gottlob Frick, Hüsch concentrated on beautifully lucid diction and an unfailingly smooth vocal line.

Nowhere were these qualities better displayed than in his pioneering prewar Lieder records. Here he shows the art which conceals art. He gave us the first more-or-less-uncut versions of Schubert's Winterreise and Die Schöne Müllerin song-cycles, not to mention Beethoven's An die Ferne Geliebte; his discs of songs by Hugo Wolf, made under Walter Legge's auspices, helped introduced that composer to thousands of music-lovers previously unfamiliar with Wolf's output; and he released a generous selection of songs by Hans Pfitzner, these recordings bearing the imprimatur of Pfitzner himself at the keyboard. The obscure Finnish composer Yrjo Kilpinen found in Hüsch a steadfast champion. Sometimes Hüsch performed in choral masterpieces as well, his recorded work in this field including an exceptional Jesus in a wartime set – severely abridged – of Bach's St. Matthew Passion.

After World War II, Hüsch, whose political naïveté during the Third Reich (and, in particular, closeness to Rosalind the sister of Baldur von Schirach) was unlikely to endear him to the Allies, mostly abandoned concert and operatic appearances, preferring to concentrate on teaching. A professor at the Munich Hochschule für Musik, he numbered among his pupils the British tenor Nigel Rogers. He gave masterclasses not only in Europe but in Japan. By now most of his large discography has been reissued on compact disc.