Born: March 31, 1924 - Pocatello, Idaho, USA

The American bass, Frederick Guthrie, studied first in Los Angeles with Glynn Ross and Hugo Strelitzer. However, in the World War II he became a soldier. He found his first engagement in 1950 at a small opera troop in the USA. In 1953 he decided to continue his training in Europe and became pupil of Elizabeth Rado in Vienna. He studied there also with Ludwig Weber and Josef Witt.

In Vienna Frederick Guthrie already sang in 1953 in a concertante performance of the opera Oedipus Rex by Stravinsky under Herbert von Karajan. Since 1954 he was for more than twenty years active at the Wiener Staatsoper, connected since 1958 also to the Opera of Frankfurt a.M. He also appearedd in Rome, Triest and Munich. At the Festival of Glyndebourne he sang in Sarastro Zauberflöte, 1959 the same role at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence. In August 1960 he participated at the Salzburg Festival in the premiere of the opera Mystère de la Nativité by Franc Martin. He sang in 1956 in the premiere of the opera Der Sturm, also by Franc Martin, at the Wiener Staatsoper.

During his career Frederick Guthrie was also an important concert and in particular oratorio singer.

Recordings: Amadeo-Vanguard (Die Schöpfung by J. Haydn, Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln by F. Schmidt), HMV, Vox, Westminster (Mozart Requiem), Hunt Records (C minor Mass by Mozart), Melodram (F minor Mass by Bruckner), World Records (Minister in Fidelio, München 1961).

King Mark in Tristan and Isolde [1]

Minister in Fidelio (May 1961 - Frankfurt) [2]

Boehnli (Town Clerk) in Kleider machen Leute (Vienna) [3]

[4]

Source: Operissimo Website, English translation by Aryeh Oron (May 2004)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (May 2004); Houman Behdad (Photo, April 2007)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Felix Prohaska

Bass

BWV 243

Hermann Scherchen

Bass

BWV 245

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