Born: June 8, 1933 - Detroit, USA
Died: February 15, 1989 - Vienna, Austria

The American baritone, Robert Kerns, studied at the University of Michigan.

Robert Kerns made his debut in 1955 at Toledo, Ohio, as Sharpless. After a year with the New York City Opera, in 1960 he was engaged at Zürich. From 1963 he sang in Vienna and in 1964 made his Covent Garden debut as Billy Budd. He sang at the Spoleto, Aix-en-Provence and Salzburg festivals, at the Paris Opera, San Francisco and the Deutsche Oper, Berlin, where from 1973 he was a permanent guest.

Robert Kerns' earlier repertory included Mozart's Count Almaviva, Don Giovanni, Papageno and Guglielmo, as well as Rossini's Figaro and Donizetti's Belcore. Later he took on heavier roles, Verdi's Germont, Posa, Guy de Montfort, Ford and Falstaff, and also Yevgeny Onegin, Scarpia and Marcello. His Wagner roles included Donner, Amfortas and Wolfram. A stylish singer with a firmly placed though not very large voice, he excelled in parts such as the Barber in Strauss's Die schweigsame Frau where acting ability is paramount.

Source: Grove Music Website
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (September 2001)

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BWV 232

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