Frederick and Rose Plaut

Frederick ("Fred") Plaut was born in Munich, Germany, on May 12, 1907. He graduated from the Technische Hochschule of the University of Munich with a degree in electrical engineering. From 1933 to 1940 Plaut lived in Paris, where he founded and operated his own recording studio. At the same time he worked as a consulting engineer for Polydor Records, where he designed and built a complete recording installation.

In Paris, Fred Plaut met his future wife, Rose Kanter, a Polish-American soprano pursuing vocal studies in France. They were married on September 24, 1938. She performed in France, England, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy, returning to the United States in June 1940, just as Paris was falling into Nazi hands. She continued her singing career in the United States under the name Rose Dercourt, making her American debut at Town Hall in April 1944. She was a close friend of Francis Poulenc, who dedicated some of his songs to her and maintained a steady correspondence with her until his death in 1963.

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