Madin was born in
Lugoj, a city in
Timiș County,
Banat, belonging today to
Romania. He was one of the longest serving singers of the
Vienna State Opera. In the years 1908 to 1959 he sang more than 250 roles in more than 7,000 performances, mainly in smaller and medium parts. He is regarded as the singer with the highest number of performances ever in any opera house. He was named
Kammersänger, an honour awarded to distinguished State Opera singers. He was especially successful in the Da Ponte/Mozart roles of Masetto in
Don Giovanni and Antonio in
Le nozze di Figaro as well as Faninal in
Der Rosenkavalier by Hofmannsthal and Strauss. Sometimes he also sang major parts such as Klingsor in
Parsifal, Alberich in
Der Ring des Nibelungen and Don Alfonso in
Così fan tutte. In
Der Rosenkavalier over a period of forty-five years (1911-1956) he switched between five roles - 89 times Lakai der Marschallin, once the Notario, 265 times Haushofmeister bei der Feldmarschallin, 201 times Polizeikommissär and 52 times Faninal. In 1955 he was awarded the
Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria, and in 1966 he was appointed Honorary Member of the Vienna State Opera. From 1922 to 1946 he was a regular guest at the
Salzburg Festival. In the first opera performance of the Festival –
Don Giovanni, conducted by
Richard Strauss on August 14, 1922 – he sang Masetto. Through all the political changes – from
First Republic,
Ständestaat,
Third Reich and
Second Republic – he sang the role of the gardener Antonio in all the Salzburg productions of
Le nozze di Figaro from 1922 to 1946. Madin died in Vienna. == Literature ==