German singer who sang bass in the Comedian Harmonists, a popular Berlin ensemble founded in 1927 by Harry Frommermann.
Biberti was expelled from school in 1914 at the age of twelve and went into a woodcarving apprenticeship with his father, a once famous opera singer, who had previously ruined his voice with alcohol and an unhealthy lifestyle. However, he sparked his son’s interest in music: Biberti sang in operas and theatres, where he eventually met Roman Cycowski and Asparuch Leschnikoff, two other members of the later Comedian Harmonists.
After reading a newspaper advertisement for a new ensemble, he auditioned in 1927 in Frommermann’s apartment in Berlin-Friedenau. Both men had a preference for the sound of the American band, The Revelers. They decided to found a similar German-speaking ensemble, the Comedian Harmonists. In 1941, after the ensemble had broken up as a master sextet following the emigration of Jewish members, Biberti was drafted by the Berlin air raid warning centre.
Between 1950 and 1980 he maintained an antique trading business and wrote articles about the Comedian Harmonists for broadcasting. However to make his livelihood he managed the royalties from the Comedian Harmonists’ releases.
On 2 November 1985 he died at the age of 83 of kidney failure. Biberti was portrayed by Ben Becker in Joseph Vilsmaier’s 1997 film Comedian Harmonists.
Link to Wikipedia biography (German)