Karl Schmitt-Walter; “Votre toast“; Toreador Song; (Sung in German); CARMEN; Georges Bizet

Karl Schmitt-Walter--baritone Deutsche Oper Berlin Norbert Schultze--conductor 1936 =============== Schmitt-Walter was born in Germersheim in 1900. He studied in Nuremberg with Gustav Landauer, and made his debut there in 1921. He subsequently appeared at provincial opera houses in Oberhausen, Saarbrucken, Dortmund and Wiesbaden, building a reputation for vocal excellence as he went along. Schmitt-Walter made his key debut at the Berlin State Opera in 1935, as Luna in Il trovatore, which led to a long association with this important theatre, where he would sing wide repertory of lyric parts for the baritone voice. He also performed often at the Hamburg State Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, the Bayreuth Festival, and, from 1950, the Munich State Opera. Outside the Austro-German operatic heartland, he made guest appearances at the Paris Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in London, the Liceo in Barcelona, La Monnaie in Brussels and the Holland Festival, among other