Josef Witt

Kammersänger Josef Witt (17 May 1901 - 3 January 1994) was a tenor who was a regular performer at the Vienna State Opera before WW II. His name is sometimes spelt Joseph Witt.

He was remembered for his compelling interpretation of Palestrina in Otto Erhart’s production of Pfitzner’s opera at the Staatsoper in 1937.

He conducted opera classes at the Akadamie fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna until his death in 1990. Singers like Norman Bailey, Walter Berry and Mimi Coertse, who went on to have important opera careers in Austria and Germany, were among his students.

Roles created

• The airman in Paul Hindemith's Lehrstück (1929)
• Robespierre in Gottfried von Einem's Dantons Tod (1947)

Recordings

He made several widely circulated recordings of Strauss operas with Karl Böhm and Clemens Krauss, in which he sang secondary parts in operas like Ariadne auf Naxos and Arabella.