Gerhard Unger

Gerhard Unger (born November 26, 1916) is a German light tenor born in Bad Salzungen. He studied in Berlin and began singing concerts and oratorios in 1945, once the war was over. He had his debut as an opera singer in 1947 in Weimar. From 1949 to 1961 he sang with the Berlin State Opera. When the Berlin Wall was erected, he left for Stuttgart. After 1951 Unger sang regularly at the Bayreuth Festival. Unger was considered the David from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, which is confirmed by the number of times he recorded the role, including with Herbert von Karajan (1951), Rudolf Kempe (1951), Hans Knappertsbusch (1952) and Rafael Kubelík (1968).

Unger played Monostatos in the legendary Otto Klemperer recording of The Magic Flute (1963).