German baritone Willi Domgraf-Fassbänder (1897-1978) was born in Aachen he studied in Berlin and later in Milan with Giuseppe Borgatti (as had Heddle Nash). Returning to his home city he made his début in 1922 as the Count in Le nozze di Figaro. In 1928 he became a member of the Berlin State Opera where he would remain until 1946. He also sang Papageno in Die Zauberflöte under Toscanini at the 1937 Salzburg Festival. Domgraf-Fassbänder’s Glyndebourne years were 1934-35 and 1937, and his rôles there included Papageno, Figaro and Guglielmo, his admirable stage presence greatly admired. His post-war career was spent in Hanover, Vienna, Munich and Nuremberg. After 1954 he taught at the Nuremberg Conservatory where his pupils included his daughter, the much admired Brigitte Fassbaender.
