Originally he was
employed in the state telegraph service. His voice was noticed in an amateur
competition. Then he trained as a singer in the opera school of the Royal
Copenhagen Opera under Vilhelm Herold and Valdemar Lincke. He supplemented this
with studies with Albert Huberty in Paris. In 1928 he made his debut at the
Copenhagen Opera as Mephisto in Gounod's "Faust" and remained active
for a long time until 1969 at this largest Danish opera house. In almost 40
years he sang a multitude of very different roles. His repertoire included
Basilio in "Barbiere di Siviglia", Osmin in "Entführung aus dem
Serail", Sarastro in "Zauberflöte", Figaro in "Figaros
Hochzeit", Leporello in" Don Giovanni ", Salomon in "Saul
og David" and Henrik in "Maskarade" by C. Nielsen, Daland in
"Fliegende Holländer", Landgrave in "Tannhäuser", King
Heinrich in "Lohengrin", Pater Guardian in "La Forza del
Destino" and Porgy in" Porgy and Bess" by G. Gershwin. He has
made guest appearances in Hungary, France and the Scandinavian countries and
has been a successful concert and oratorio soloist, making recordings under the
labels of Columbia, HMV, Tono, Parlophon and Haydn Society. He also appeared on
the radio. He was a teacher at the Funen Music Conservatory and chairman of the
Music Students' Association (1956-1960). Married to the pianist Guldborg
Laursen (1903 - 2002). Father of the actress Ghita Nørby and opera singer Claus
Nørby. He became a Knight of Dannebrog in 1942.
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