Donald Gramm

Donald Gramm (February 26, 1927 – June 2, 1983) was an American bass-baritone whose career was divided between opera and concert performances. His appearances were primarily limited to the United States, which at the time was unusual for an American singer. John Rockwell of The New York Times described Gramm as follows: "He had an unusually rich, noble tone, and although its volume may not have been large, it penetrated even the biggest theaters easily. Technically, he could handle bel-canto ornamentation fluently. But his real strengths lay in his aristocratic musicianship (impeccable phrasing that he polished by accompanying himself at the piano, and an easy command of five languages) and his instinctive acting." Among the most notable of his many operatic roles were the title role in Verdi's Falstaff, Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni, and Dr. Schön and Jack the Ripper in Berg's Lulu.

Gramm was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin of German ancestry with the surname Grambsch, which he later changed to Gramm. He received his early musical training at the Wisconsin College Conservatory of Music (1933–1944) and sang his operatic debut at age 17 at Chicago's Eighth Street Theater as Raimondo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. He later studied at the Chicago Musical College and with Martial Singher.

He made his New York debut in 1951 in Berlioz's L'enfance du Christ with The Little Orchestra Society. The following year he made his New York City Opera debut as Colline in Puccini's La bohème and continued to sing with that company in nearly every season for the next 30 years. His roles there included both the Count and Figaro in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Orlofsky (transposed down from the original) in Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus, Dandini in Rossini's La Cenerentola, Bartolo in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, and the title role in Verdi's Falstaff. In 1953 he created the role of The Bachelor in the world premiere of Bohuslav Martinů's The Marriage with the NBC Opera Theatre.

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