Julius Patzak

Julius Patzak (9 April 1898 – 26 January 1974) was an Austrian tenor distinguished in operatic and concert work.

It was in 1926 that he decided instead upon a career as a singer, and he made his debut as Radames in Aida at Reichenberg in that year.

He appeared in London at Covent Garden in 1938 as Tamino in The Magic Flute, alternating with Richard Tauber, and again several times after the war, notably as Florestan in Fidelio.

Patzak appeared in a number of operatic premieres, notably Richard Strauss's Friedenstag, Carl Orff's Der Mond and Gottfried von Einem's Dantons Tod.

Although he did not possess the most powerful of voices, it had a distinctive and attractive timbre and was used with such style, intelligence, charm and musicianship, and with such dramatic conviction, as to warrant a very high place among the operatic singers of his time.