Otakar Kraus

Otakar Kraus (born December 10, 1909 in Prague , Kingdom of Bohemia , † July 28, 1980 in London , England ) was a Czech-British opera singer ( baritone ) and singing teacher.

Life

Kraus studied singing with Konrad Wallerstein in Prague and with Fernando Capri in Milan and made his debut as Amonasro ( Aida ) in Brno in 1935 . From 1936 to 1939 he sang in Bratislava , 1939–1941 at the Prague National Theater , and from 1941 in Covent Garden . Although he sang all over the world (including Alberich at the Bayreuth Festival ), his discographic legacy is not very large. His artistic immortality is based, apart from his students, on his long-time impersonation of Nick Shadow from Igor Stravinski's The Rake's Progress , of which he was the first interpreter. He was also the interpreter of Tarquin at the premiere of Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia , 1946 in Glyndebourne .

Kraus was the teacher of the three greatest British basses of the past 30 years, Robert Lloyd , Willard White and John Tomlinson . The somewhat lesser-known Welsh bass Gwynne Howell was also one of his students.

personal data
SURNAME	Kraus, Otakar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Czech-British opera singer (baritone) and singing teacher
DATE OF BIRTH	December 10, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH	Prague , Kingdom of Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH	July 28, 1980
Place of death	London , England