GRAF, HERBERT

GRAF, HERBERT (1904–1973), opera producer and administrator. Graf, who was born in Vienna, was the son of the critic Max Graf. He studied at the University of Vienna with guido adler , graduating in 1925, after which he worked as stage director at the opera houses of Muenster, Breslau, Frankfurt on the Main, and Basle until 1934, when he left Germany. Thereafter he worked in the United States with the Philadelphia Opera and, from 1939 to 1960, at the Metropolitan (where he was general director of productions until 1949). He was head of the Curtis Institute of Music's opera department from 1949. As an opera producer, he worked at almost all the important world opera houses and festivals. Graf was director of the Zurich Opera (1960–63) and of the Grand Theatre, Geneva, from 1965 until his death. His many publications include Opera for the People (1951) and Producing Opera for America (1961). (Max Loppert)