Ernst Kraus (June 8, 1863 – September 5, 1941) was a German
dramatic tenor
A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wid ...
best known for his performances in the operas of
Richard Wagner. He decided to embark on an operatic career when he heard leading singers performing in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
. He studied voice first in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
with
Cesare Galliera and then in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
with
Anna Schimon-Regan.
Kraus debuted in
Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...
as Tamino in ''
Die Zauberflöte
''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that includ ...
'' on March 26, 1893. He first came to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in 1894, where he was engaged as principal tenor of the
Damrosch Opera Company The Damrosch Opera Company was an American opera company which existed from 1894 until 1900.
The company was organized by Walter Damrosch, and was meant to present German opera; in this capacity it did much to advance the cause of Richard Wagner' ...
; he returned in 1895. He was appointed the leading tenor of the
Berlin Staatsoper in 1896, holding that position for 27 continuous years. During this period, he distinguished himself in the German repertory. In 1901, he appeared at the
Bayreuth Festival as Siegmund in ''
Die Walküre
(; ''The Valkyrie''), WWV 86B, is the second of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was performed, as a single opera, at the National Theatre Munich on ...
'', the role in which he made his
New York Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...
debut on November 25, 1903.
He retired from opera in 1924 in order to teach, and died in
Wörthsee
Wörthsee (Wörth lake) is a lake in the Starnberg district of Bavaria, Germany. It is one of the lakes of the Fünfseenland (Five lakes) region, which contains the remains of a great glacial lake.
Location
The Wörthsee is located to the eas ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, in 1941. His voice was noted in his prime for its exceptional power and solidity rather than for its beauty or suavity of phrasing. It is preserved in several
cylinders recorded for
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...
's German branch between 1905 and 1910, among them "Am Stillen Herd" from ''Die Meistersinger'' (no. 15194) and "Liebeslied" from ''Die Walkure'' (no. 15256), as well as a number of acoustically recorded discs made prior to
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
References
*David Ewen, ''Encyclopedia of the Opera: New Enlarged Edition''. New York; Hill and Wang, 1963.
*''The New York Times'', November 19, 1903: "More Opera Singers Here".
*Girard, Victor and Harold M. Barnes, ''Vertical-cut Cylinders and Discs.'' London: British Institute of Recorded Sound, 1964.
1863 births
1941 deaths
German operatic tenors
{{Germany-opera-singer-stub