Born: December 10, 1909 - Prague, Czechoslovakia
Died: July 28, 1980 - London, England

The Czech-born English baritone, Otakar Kraus, was a student of Konrad Wallerstein in Prague and of Fernando Capri in Milan.

Otakar Kraus made his operatic debut as Amonasro in Brno in 1935. He then sang in Bratislava. At the outbreak of World War II, he went to England, where he sang with the Carl Rosa Opera Company in 1940. Then, in 1946, he joined the English Opera Group, creating Tarquinius in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia. He sang with the Netherlands Opera from 1950 to 1951. He created Nick shadow in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress in its world premiere in Venice in 1951. Subsequently, from 1951 to 1973 he appeared at London’s Covent Garden, where he created in 1954 Diomede in Walton’s Troilus and Cressida and, in 1955 King Fisher in Tippett’s The Midsummer Marriage. He also appeared as Alberich at the Bayreuth Festivals from 1960 to 1962.

After his retirement, Otakar Kraus devoted himself to teaching. In 1973 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

Source: Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20^th Century Classical Musicians (1997)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (August 2001)

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