He was born in Matzleinsdorf, close to Vienna, on 02/04/1928. He studied in Vienna under Elisabeth Radóand and, while still a student, he toured around the Netherlands with an operetta company. His artistic career began with lyric roles and small Wagnerian roles. Gradually he assumed "heroic" tenor roles. His first professional appearance was in the role of Faust [Faust] in Leoben (1950). During the 1950s, he appeared in Graz (1952-53), Lucerne (1953-54), Oberhausen (1954-56) and Wuppertal (1956-58), wehre he began to sing "heroic" tenor roles. In 1957, he joined the State Opera of Bavaria (Munich), while, at the same time, he was regularle called in to the State Operas in Vienna and Stuttgart. As a leading Wagnerian tenor, he was repeatedly invited to Bayreuth, where he appeared as Kunz Vogelgesang [The Master-Singers of Nuremberg/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg] (1957-58), Erik [The Flying Dutchman/Der fliegende Holländer] (1959-61), Loge [The Rhine Gold/Das Rheingold] (1958), Melot [Tristan und Isolde] (1957-59), Siegmuind [The Valkyrie/Die Walküre; (1961-64),Ffirst Knight [Parsifal] (1958), etc. Moreover, he was regularly called in to the festival in Salzburg (1968-1985), where he appeard in roles such as Florestan [Fidelio] and Drum Major [Wozzeck] (1971-72). He also sang contemporary repertoire. He appeared in prominent opera houses around the world, including: the Paris Opera House, the Royal Monnaie Theatre in Brussels, the Royal Opera House in London, as well as in Florence, San Francisco, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Osaka, etc. He taught at the Conservatory of Vienna (1981 onwards). He discography is extensive (Line Music, Sony, Universal, Orfeo, BMG-Ariola, Polygram, CBS, DG, etc.). He died in 2001 in Munich. He appeared with the GNO on one occasion, as Florestan (Herodeion, Athens Festival, 1972).