Marko Rothmuller was born in Trnjani (Croatia) in 1908. He studied in Vienna with Franz Steiner and Reine Weiss around 1928. For a short time, he also studied with Alban Berg. His debut was in Hamburg (Der Freischütz, 1932). Later that year he sang his first Rigoletto. Because of the rise of the Nazi regime in Germany, he returned to Croatia where he sang Rigoletto, Di Luna, Amonasro and Telramund at the National Opera in Zagreb. He appeared regularly at Covent Garden but spent the war years in Zurich where his artistry blossomed.
After the war Rothmuller sang in Glyndebourne and Edinburgh in the baritone roles of Cosi fan tutte, Macbeth, The Rake’s Progress and La forza del destino. Returning to Covent Garden, he appeared in Pique Dame, Rigoletto, Salome, Il Trovatore and Tosca. At the Vienna State Opera he sang 65 performances in 18 different roles. In the US he sang Gunther in Kirsten Flagstad’s last Ring performances.
After retiring from the stage he settled in Bloomington, Indiana to teach (at Indiana University) and research Jewish music. It was at IU that I met him – during the 1960s and 70s there were several of the old guard on campus: Eileen Farrell, Martha Lipton, Margaret Harshaw, Zinka Milanov, Marko Rothmuller, Charles Kullman and Gianna D’Angelo.
Rothmuller is one of the greatest baritones of the past century, but he is not well known. Fortunately, many of his records have been reissued on CD and they are easily found at Amazon.com or H&B Direct.