Gerhard Heinrich Wilhelm Fritz Hüsch, or as he was more commonly known - Gerhard Hüsch, was born on 2 February 1901 in Hannover, Germany. He started his education studying acting and then later took up singing. He quickly proved to be among the finest comic actors in the German opera system and in 1925 began singing regularly in Berlin. Soon after he spread his reach throughout Germany and Austria. By the 1930s he was singing at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and La Scala in Milan as well.
He was perhaps best known in the opera world for his portrayal of Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. in 1937 he recorded the role in its entirety with Sir Thomas Beecham and the Berlin Philharmonic. He sang other roles often as well, including Wolfram von Eschenbach in Wagner's Tannhäuser, which he sang in 1930 and 1931 at the Bayreuther Festspiel.
He didn't have the large, dramatic voice of his contemporaries like Rudolf Bockelmann, Heinrich Schlusnus or Herbert Janssen, but he made up for it with an unfailing legato, a beautifully rounded tone and impeccable, lucid diction.
Among all this opera, his professional focus alway really remained the Lied. Between the world wars, he recorded a huge amount of Lieder; primarily Schubert and Beethoven, but also Wolf and Pfitzner (many with Hans Pfitzner accompanying him at the piano).
Another notable benchmark of his career is his debut of many songs by the obscure Finnish composer Yrjö Kilpinen.
I have always admired Hüsch for his voice as well as his dedication to the Lied even before it was "cool"
I am certain you will too.
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