Josip Rijavec was born in a region that is now part of Italy, but was at the time Austrian-Hungarian and thus part of
Krain (which was the Austrian name for Slovenia). He studied in Gorica and Ljubljana, then in Vienna with Franz Schreker und H. Graedener.
He made his debut in 1916 as Sänger in Rosenkavalier at the Zagreb Opera, where he stayed until 1926.
During that time, he made guest appearances in Belgrade and Ljubljana.
Outside Yugoslavia, he appeared under the stage names José Riavez and Joseph Rijavek. In 1926, he made guest appearances in Berlin, including the Krolloper, and was a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin during 1927-29,
where he sang in the following premieres: Cavalleria rusticana as Turiddu, September 15, 1927;
Stravinskij's Solovej (Nightingale) as Fisherman, December 16, 1927; L'amore dei tre re as Avito, May 11, 1928; Madama Butterfly as Pinkerton,
June 8, 1928; Fedora as Loris on January 22, 1930 (already as a guest).
In 1931-32, he made guest appearances in Vienna (Staatsoper, Carmen on January 7, 1932 and Manon on November 20, 1931), and starting in 1931, he sang regularly
at the Teatro Colón (Lakmé, Walther,
Narraboth) in Buenos Aires.
During 1932-37, he was a member of the German Opera in Prague (Il trovatore).
He sang in 1927 in Dresden and in 1929 at the Nationaltheater in Prague.
He gave concerts in Paris (1929), Hamburg (1936, 1937), Copenhagen (1932), and Budapest. He also appeared
in symphonic concerts (Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Verdi's Requiem, Lied von der Erde).
He returned to Yugoslavia and sang for another 10 years in Zagreb, Belgrade and Ljubljana.
He taught singing, starting in 1948 at the Conservatory in Belgrade, among his students were: Biserka Cvejić (born November 5, 1928 Krilo-Jesenice),
Olivera Miljaković (born April 26, 1934 Belgrade) and Inca Polic (born September 28, 1925 Zagreb).
His son Mario Rijavec (born 1911) was a conductor.
with Ignjat Borštnik, Ivan Levar, Rudolf Bukšek, Irma Polak, Hinko
Reference: Kutsch & Riemens
Reference 2
Reference 3: Detlef Meyer zu Heringdorf: Das Charlottenburger Opernhaus von 1912 bis
1961, Bd. 2, Berlin 1988.
