Jean Löhe got an unusually late start as a singer, making his debut in Koblenz only in 1941, at age 40; he had been an
adman before. Shortly after that debut, he was drafted, fought WWII and was taken prisoner of war.
When coming home after the war, he resumed (or actually began) his tenor career in Altenburg and Plauen. In 1948, he came to
Berlin, where he sang operetta at the Neues Operettentheater, and opera at the Städtische Oper (Nadir and Chapelou, among
others). He soon focused on making records and singing on RIAS Berlin, an important radio station, where he had great success in a
1950 Pêcheurs de perles production with Rita Streich and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. He was renowned for his excellent top.
He sang until 1959.
Reference: Kutsch & Riemens
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