Adolf Dallapozza

Adolf Dallapozza (born April 14th, 1940, in bilingual Bozen/Bolzano, as a German speaker) is an example that a big voice is no indispensable precondition to become a great singer. Dallapozza's voice was too small to really succeed at the Vienna Staatsoper, not even in the roles he sang there like e.g. Jaquino in Fidelio; but he was the uncrowned king of the Vienna Volksoper for many years from the late 1960s well into the 1990s, and his achievements there easily outdid much of what his more famous contemporary colleagues had to offer at the Staatsoper.

The Volksoper would stage works like Postillon de Lonjumeau or Fille du régiment exclusively for him, his Hoffmann had little competition in his generation, and I'm convinced I'll never again see a Rodolfo as breathtakingly convincing as his.

An objection that must be against him is that he made an unfortunate decision in his choice of a teacher for restudying after many successful seasons, in order to sound more Italianate – that Vienna teacher kind of damaged the placement of his voice and his pitch control, thus rendering his further performance unsteadier than before. Nevertheless, he was not only gifted with a top of rare quality, but also with an acting talent of uncommon intelligence and sensitivity.