Max Kuttner

Austrian-born German opera, operetta, and Schlager singer (tenor) of Jewish descent (born February 24, 1883 in Baden near Vienna, Niederösterreich, Austria – died October 17, 1953 in Straubing, Niederbayern, Germany) Kuttner had his opera debut in 1905 at the Lortzing-Theater in Berlin. After several years on provincial stages, including Posen, Weimar, and Colmar, he returned to Berlin. He made his name as a Tenorbuffo in roles such as Jacquino in "Fidelio," Monostatos in "Zauberflöte," Pedrillo in "Entführung aus dem Serail" and in many Lortzing operas. In the 1920s, he moved away from operas to operettas, performing at all major operetta theaters in Berlin. Very popular on stage, radio, and records, Kuttner recorded several hundred titles between 1906 and 1932. His releases appeared primarily on Grammophon and related labels and Lindström labels like Beka, Odeon, and Parlophon, but also on dozens of smaller labels such as Artiphon and its sublabels (1923-1932, ca. 50 titles), Vox (3) (1925-1928, ca. 130 titles), Homocord, and Tri-Ergon (ca. 52 titles from 1928-1931). Apart from his own name, Kuttner also used several pseudonyms on recordings, such as Fred Carlo, Alfred Senger, Max Steinert, [a701482], or Carlo Arimondi. In 1906, Kuttner started recording solo or in duet with Carl Nebe, Lucie Bernardo, or Hedwig Zimmer. Some of his earliest releases appeared on Grammophon records under the pseudonym Fred Carlo; other early recordings were on Edison Amberola cylinders. In the 1910s, he was part of the popular Nebe-Quartett. In the 1920s, he became a sought-after performer on radio and gramophone. His trained tenor voice easily overcame the limitations of the acoustic recording process used until 1926. Around 1929/1930, his success faded due to changing public tastes. As a trained opera singer, he sounded too stiff and formal to an audience in love with ever faster foxtrots. Late in 1938, Kuttner left Germany and emigrated to Shanghai, China, where he acted for several years at an emigré theater under the direction of Alfred Dreyfus. By November 1946, Kuttner had returned to Berlin; in August 1947 he settled in Straubing, Bavaria, where he died six years later.