Ernst Gutstein

Ernst Gutstein (15 May 1924 – 24 February 1998) was an Austrian operatic baritone. He made an international career and also performed regularly at the Vienna State Opera. His repertoire included both tragic and comic characters, one of his signature roles being Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss. Gutstein created several roles in world premieres, such as Fortner's Perlimplin at the 1962 Schwetzingen Festival.

Life and career Born in Vienna,

From 1963 Gutstein belonged to the ensemble of the Vienna State Opera. He performed there in almost 20 different roles in a total of 125 performances, including the Count in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Bartolo in Rossini's Der Barbier von Sevilla, Telramund in Wagner's Lohengrin and Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, considered as one of his signature roles. He also took on character parts from the German repertoire and contemporary music, including the music teacher in Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss, Doctor Schön in Alban Berg's Lulu, Alfred Ill in Gottfried von Einem's The Visit of the Old Lady, and several roles in his Der Prozeß. In the 1995/96 season, he appeared there again in two performances as theatre director La Roche in Capriccio by Richard Strauss. In the spring of 1972 followed Wolf-Ferrari's I quatro rusteghi; in November 1972 Gutstein appeared as Peter in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel. Other roles at the Volksoper included Kruschina in Smetana's Die verkaufte Braut in 1973, Fadenkreutz in Blacher's Preußisches Märchen in 1978, and the Brazilian in Offenbach's La vie parisienne in 1980. In 1975, Gutstein sang Claude Frollo in Franz Schmidt's rarely performed Notre Dame.

Gutstein first appeared at the Salzburg Festival in 1959 as Ernesto in Haydn's Il mondo della luna, a role originally written for a castrato. He returned there in 1978 and 1979 as Faninal. and as Jago in his Othello,

Gutstein made guest appearances at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London (in 1986 as Graf Waldner), the Metropolitan Opera in New York City (in 1979 and 1980 as Faninal), the Dallas Opera (in 1982 as Faninal) and the Houston Grand Opera (in 1990 as Faninal); at the Glyndebourne Festival, he performed in 1985 and again in 1989 as Waldner alongside Elisabeth Glauser, and in 1987 and 1990 as La Roche. The critic from El Ciervo described his interpretation of La Roche in Capriccio as "unforgettable" and showing "absolute mastery of the role", and both John Steane and Stanley Sadie praised his portrayal of the impoverished aristocrat Count Waldner in Arabella. He also sang in the world premieres of several contemporary operas: as Perlimplin in Fortner's In seinem Garten liebt Don Perlimplin Belisa at the Schwetzingen Festival in 1962; the title role in the stage version of Henze's Ein Landarzt at Frankfurt opera in 1965; as Graf von Stoffeln in Josef Matthias Hauer's Die schwarze Spinne at the Theater an der Wien in 1966; and as Old Mahon in Klebe's Ein wahrer Held at the Opernhaus Zürich in 1975.

After retiring from the stage, Gutstein became a professor at the Vienna Musikakademie, teaching there until shortly before his death at the age of 73.