Robert Hutt (1878-1942) was a magnificent Heldentenor who spent the majority of his career in Germany. Possibly because of competition from such contemporaries as Karel Burian, Walter Kirchoff, Erik Schmedes, Jacques Urlus, Johannes Sembach and Leo Slezak, Hutt is underrated as an artist and largely forgotten today. Born in Karlsruhe, he enjoyed singing from an early age but began his career as an engineer. While still in his early twenties, he became acquainted with the Bayreuth conductor Felix Mottl, who was greatly impressed with Hutt’s singing abilities. Mottl strongly advised the young man to pursue a singing career…advice which Hutt took to heart. Hutt began studies in Karlsruhe with celebrated tenor Wilhelm Guggenbühler and later Julius Kneise, director of the artists’ development program at Bayreuth. In 1903, the fledgling tenor began his singing career in Karlsruhe. The following year, Hutt was hired in Dusseldorf, where he sang the role of Christian in the (then) popular opera Der Polnische Jude by Karl Weis. Hutt made his first appearances at Frankfurt Opera House in 1910 and in 1913 he was in London for the first time as Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger. With a string of successes under his belt, Robert Hutt seemed poised for a major international career. Sadly, it was not to be. Just as things were beginning to take off for him, Hutt was stopped in his tracks by the First World War. Wartime travel restrictions kept him in Germany and Hutt made the best of the situation. In 1917, he made his debut at the Berlin Hofoper and the following year, he sang the first of many performances at the Berlin Staatsoper. During his decade at the Staatsoper, he sang the local premieres of Tosca and Die Frau Ohne Schatten. His long delayed North American debut came in 1923, when he sang with a touring ensemble called the German Opera Company. During this tour, Hutt sang the role of Aurelius Galba in the U.S. premiere of the opera Die Toten Auge in New York. Another U.S. tour followed in 1924, after which Hutt returned to Europe for good. He remained a beloved figure at the Berlin Staatsoper until his retirement in 1927 at the relatively youthful age of forty-nine. Robert Hutt passed away in Berlin on February 5, 1942.
