J ulius Patzak was born 9 April 1898 in Vienna. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all schoolteachers. He attended school in Vienna, and then completed his military service in what was then Serbia. On the advice of his father, he became a civil servant and worked in the office of the Youth Council of Vienna. At the same time he attended lectures at the University of Vienna with the intention of becoming a conductor. He studied musicology and conducting under Franz Schmidt, Guido Adler, Grädener, Wellesz, and Mandyczewski.

H owever, Patzak was destined for a different career. Although he allegedly never took voice lessons, his gift for singing distinguished him during an amateur concert of the Viennese Schubert Society. He was subsequently offered a contract for what would be his operatic debut at the Reichenberg Theater in Bohemia on 3 April 1926, in the role of Radames (Aida). After spending the 1927/28 season in Brno (Brünn), he joined the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich, and was their leading tenor from 1928-1945.

P atzak's first wife, Hedwig, died soon after his move to Munich. The couple had one daughter, Eva. In 1931 he married Maria Walter, grandaughter of the famous operatic singer Gustav Walter. After the second world war, Patzak left Munich and sang with the Vienna Staatsoper from 1945 until he retired in 1960. He appeared regularly in the Salzburg Festivals, including the world premieres of Von Einem's Danton's Tod and Martin's Le Vin Herbé. He also taught at the Salzburg Mozarteum from 1962 to 1966 and at the Music Academy in Vienna from 1948 until his death.

B est known for his interpretations of Mozart's Tamino and Belmonte, Beethoven's Florestan and Pfitzner's Palestrina, Patzak had a repertoire of some 70 roles which ranged from Singspiel and operetta through the lighter Wagner roles and Richard Strauss to Verdi, Puccini and Mussorgsky. He was in great demand as a soloist in oratorios and as a lieder singer. Patzak only appeared in the United States once; the 1954 Cincinnati May Festival. Late in his career he was still a marvellously subtle and stylish performer of Viennese Heurigen songs and he also took up conducting again. He died in Röttach-Egern, Bavaria, Germany, on 26 January 1974 at the age of 75.