Moll, Kurt
Moll, Kurt
Moll, Kurt, outstanding German bass; b. Buir, near Cologne, April 11, 1938. He learned to play the guitar and cello and sang in a school choir in his youth; then studied voice at the Cologne Hochschule für Musik and with Emmy Müller. After singing minor roles at the Cologne Opera (1958–61), he sang in Aachen (1961–63), Mainz (1963–66), and Wuppertal (1966–69); subsequently pursued a career of great distinction, appearing regularly in Hamburg, Bayreuth, Salzburg, Vienna, Paris, Milan, and London. He made his U.S. debut as Gurnemanz at the San Francisco Opera in 1974; on Sept. 18, 1978, came his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y., in which he essayed the role of the Landgrave; he subsequently appeared there regularly. He made his first appearance at the Chicago Lyric Opera as Daland in 1983. In 1984 he toured Japan with the Hamburg State Opera. He portrayed Osmin at London’s Co vent Garden in 1987, and then sang Gurnemanz at the San Francisco Opera in 1988. In 1990 he was engaged as the Commendatore at the Metropolitan Opera, and returned there in 1992 as Gurnemanz. He sang Pogner at the Munich Festival in 1997. He also sang widely as a concert artist and recitalist; made his North American recital debut at N.Y.’s Carnegie Hall in 1984. Among his other notable roles are the Commendatore, Sarastro, King Marke, Pogner, Nicolais Falstaff, and Baron Ochs.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis Mclntire