Friedrich Schorr

Who was Friedrich Schorr?

Friedrich Schorr, was a renowned Austrian-Hungarian bass-baritone opera singer of Jewish origin. He later became a naturalized American.

Schorr is recognized as the greatest Wagnerian bass-baritone of his generation, arguably of the entire 20th century, and was particularly famous for his profound portrayals of Wotan in Der Ring des Nibelungen and Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. He was celebrated, too, for his appearances as Don Pizarro in Beethoven's Fidelio.

His voice was powerful, steady, and rich-toned, with a beautiful mezza voce. He placed a special and an emphasis on maintaining a smooth, legato line in his singing, with no trace of Sprechgesang. Towards the end of Schorr's career, his extreme top notes became somewhat 'wooden', however, as the result of many years of strenuous usage.