Paul Franke
Paul Franke was an American tenor, long associated with the Metropolitan Opera in character and supporting roles.
In the Pristine catalogue he appears repeatedly in Verdi, Puccini, Wagner and Strauss, including Metropolitan Opera broadcasts and major RCA-linked recordings.
Franke’s craft was the essential operatic craft of timing, clarity and reliability across many different repertories.
His repeated catalogue presence ma...
VERDI Otello
Live broadcast performance, 1958
Total duration: 2 hr 13:32 (including radio announcements)
Otello - Mario Del Monaco
Desdemona - Victoria de los Angeles
Iago - Leonard Warren
Orchestra & Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera
conducted by Fausto Cleva
WAGNER Parsifal
Live broadcast performance, 1954
Total duration: 4hr 24:04
Parsifal - Set Svanholm
Kundry - Astrid Varnay
Amfortas - George London
Gurnemanz - Hans Hotter
Orchestra and Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera
Conducted by Fritz Stiedry
R. STRAUSS Salome
R. STRAUSS Elektra
Live recordings, 1952
Total duration: 3hr 12:58
Ljuba Welitsch – Salome
Hans Hotter – Jochanaan
Set Svanholm – Herodes
Astrid Varnay – Elektra
Elisabeth Höngen – Clytemnestra
Paul Schöffler – Orest
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
conducted by Fritz Reiner
MASCAGNI Cavalleria Rusticana
LEONCAVALLO Pagliacci
Studio recordings, 1953
Total duration: 2hr 20:44
Turiddu - Jussi Björling
Santuzza - Zinka Milanov
Alfio - Robert Merrill
Mamma Lucia - Margaret Roggero
Lola - Carol Smith
Canio - Jussi Björling
Nedda - Victoria de los Angeles
Tonio - Leonard Warren
Silvio - Robert Merrill
Beppe - Paul Franke
The Columbus Boychoir
The Robert Shaw Chorale
RCA Victor Orchestra
conducted by Renato Cellini
BUSONI Doktor Faust
Live US concert première, 1964
Total duration: 2hr 6:12
Doktor Faust - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Wagner - Malcolm Smith
Mephistopheles - George Shirley
Duke of Parma - Paul Franke
Duchess of Parma - Ingrid Bjoner
American Opera Society Chorus and Orchestra
Chorus Director: Margaret Hillis
Conducted by Jascha Horenstein