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Anton Dermota
Tenor
Born: January 4, 1910 Kropa, Yugoslavia
Died: June 22, 1989 Vienna, Austria
Site Reviews: 2
My Favorite Role: Don Ottavio (Mozart, Don Giovanni)
My other favorite tenor. He died on my third birthday. How's that for a coincidence? (And no, that's not why he's one of my favorites!)
Dermota dates from the earliest era of recordings, so most of his stuff is recorded in mono, but as one of the best tenors of his time he did get recorded quite a lot and by people with good equipment. Plus, some of the remastering voodoo that they can do now is really amazing.
Anton Dermota was one of the best interpreters of Mozart ever. The thing about it is that his voice just by itself isn't particularly astonishing - there are plenty of voices that are richer in tone - but his technique and style absolutely cast a spell.
I highly reccomend his Ferrando (sadly underrepresented due to cuts) under Böhm, as well as his really spectacular Belmonte under Rudolf Moralt. I recently bought his recording of "Die Schöne Müllerin" (with his wife Hilde at the piano), but I wasn't really impressed with it. (Yes, even my idols can have their bad days. And recordings.) However, do find a copy of his solo CD , which is just called "Anton Dermota" (sometimes listed as "Anton Dermota Sings Arias" or something of the sort). It's wonderful, and it's obvious he knows what he's good at - half the CD is Mozart arias. Other great tracks are "Gott! welch Dunkel hier" from Beethoven's Fidelio and "Durch die Wälder" from Weber's Der Freischütz.
He made it onto one video, the 1945 Furtwängler Don Giovanni, as Don Ottavio. See this. It's wonderful anyway, with a really fantastic cast, but Dermota's Ottavio has never been matched, despite the oodles of Don Giovanni videos out there. (Also look out for a CD of him as Ottavio, since "Dalla sua pace" isn't in the movie.)
Site Reviews:
Così fan tutte (Ferrando)
Don Giovanni (Don Ottavio) (VIDEO)
*image source: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Dermota-Anton.htm
