Josef Greindl (23 December 1912 - 16 April 1993) was a German operatic bass, remembered mainly for his performances of Wagnerian roles at Bayreuth beginning in 1943.
From the mid-1940s through the late 1960s he was one of the three or four leading performers of Wagner's and Mozart's big bass roles, possessing the size and strength for the former and the dexterity, brains, and extreme range for the latter.
Greindl's recorded repertoire includes operatic roles by Gluck, Verdi, Richard Strauss, Schoenberg, Puccini, Smetana, Weber, Flotow, Berg, Orff, Cimarosa, Lortzing, and Beethoven; lieder by Schubert, Schumann, and Carl Loewe; and sacred music by Bach, Handel, Heinrich Schütz, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, Schubert, Dvorak, and Rossini.
Although known for low bass parts, Greindl also performed in higher-pitched roles in the 1960s: Hans Sachs (at which he excelled), the Wanderer in Siegfried, the title character in Der fliegende Holländer and even Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte.
[2] He can be seen on video as Hans Sachs, Hagen (brief excerpts only), Rocco, King Phillip, Geronimo in Il matrimonio segreto, the Commendatore, and as Hunding in a concert performance of Act I of Die Walküre.