Kurt Moll played cello and guitar in his youth and sang in his school choir. He went on to study singing both at the Cologne Conservatory and with Emmy Müller at Krefeld. While still a student he sang with the Cologne Opera and made his formal operatic stage debut in 1961 as Lodovico / Otello with the Aachen Opera, of which he was a member from 1961 to 1964; subsequently he sang with the companies at Mainz, (1964–1965), Wuppertal, (1965–1967) and Cologne (1967–1970).

At the Bayreuth Festival Moll’s first appearance was in 1968, as the Night Watchman / Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Later roles at Bayreuth included Fafner / Der Ring des Nibelungen (1972, 1974–1975), King Mark / Tristan und Isolde (1974–1976) and Pogner...