- Putnam Griswold
Putnam Griswold (18751914) was an American singer (bass), born in Minneapolis, Minn. Originally he followed a business career. At the age of 22 he discovered his voice and began to study with a local teacher in
California . In 1900 he went toLondon , where he was for two years a pupil of A. Randegger at theRoyal College of Music . During the winter of 190203 he studied under Bouhy atParis , the next winter under Stockhausen atFrankfort ; and finally he completed his studies with Emerich atBerlin in 1905. His operatic dbut took place atCovent Garden , London, in 1901. During the summer of 1904 he sang at the Royal opera in Berlin. After having sung the rle of "Gurnemanz" in Savage's production of "Parsifal " in America (190405), he became in 1906 a regular member of the Berlin Opera. There he remained, appearing also as "guest" in various German cities, until he came to the Metropolitan Opera House in 1911, where through his wonderful interpretation of Wagner's heroes he immediately won public and critics. His sudden death on February 26, 1914 — due to an attack ofappendicitis — came as a shock to his numerous admirers.He was the first American bass to sing the great Wagner rles at the Metropolitan, and is to be compared with the most distinguished of his foreign predecessors. He had been a prime favorite in Berlin, where the critics had praised him as the greatest foreign interpreter of Wotan. He was twice decorated by Emperor William.
External links
* [http://wotan.liu.edu/~pj/griswold.html ] at wotan.liu.edu Putnam Griswold
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