Born in Annemasse, France, he was the son (and pupil) of a well known German Heldentenor, Fritz Windgassen (who was also the teacher of Gottlob Frick).
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Both Windgassen's parents were longtime mainstays of the Staatsoper Stuttgart.
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Windgassen was the Siegfried in several complete, live Rings from Bayreuth that have been issued commercially on CD, conducted by such now-legendary figures as Hans Knappertsbusch, Clemens Krauss, Joseph Keilberth, and Karl Böhm.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Johann Wolfgang von Goethe | Wolfgang Rihm | Wolfgang Tillmans | Wolfgang | Wolfgang Petersen | Wolfgang von Schweinitz | Wolfgang Pauli | Wolfgang Sievers | Wolfgang Puck | Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein | Wolfgang Zinser | Wolfgang Wagner | Wolfgang Köhler | Wolfgang Knabe | Wolfgang Grams | Wolfgang Benz | Wolfgang Becker | Wolfgang (band) | Wolfgang Wickler | Wolfgang von Trips | Wolfgang Tiefensee | Wolfgang Schmidt | Wolfgang Rösch | Wolfgang Loitzl | Wolfgang Kramer | Wolfgang Hutter | Wolfgang Droege | St. Wolfgang im Salzkammergut | Wolfgang Zuckermann |
Because of the quality of his voice, John Culshaw cast him as Siegfried in the Decca recording of Der Ring des Nibelungen, but his ailing health (kept as a secret by him at that time), which prevented him mastering the role within the short period of time given him by Decca led to his unfortunate replacement at the last minute by Wolfgang Windgassen.