Fidelio - Alfred Piccaver
1930 recording with the Bayerischen Staatsoper under Julius Prüwer.
Alfred Piccaver was born in England in 1884. But his formative years were in the USA after his parents emigrated there when he was two. He enrolled at the Metropolitan School of Opera in 1905 and within 2 years was sent to Prague to study and gain European experience. His considerable talent gained him a contract with the Deutches Landestheater in Prague. By 1912 he had moved to Vienna and was a permanent member of the Vienna State Opera. He was a very popular artist there until the 1930s appearing in leading roles in all the major operatic productions. Puccini is said to have regarded him as the ideal Rodolfo.
In 1937, noting the deteriorating political situation, and having previously reclaimed British nationality on account of his birth, he left Austria for England and did not return until 1955. In that year he visited Vienna to attend the re-opening of the State Opera House. Realising that Vienna was his favourite city he decided to spend the remaining years of his life there. He died in 1958 and was accorded the honour of a State Funeral by the Austrian Government.