Born: September 24, 1927; Las Palmas, Canary Islands
Died: September 10, 1999; Madrid, Spain
A leading lyric tenor of his generation, Alfredo Kraus parlayed his vocal and artistic gifts into one of the longest and best managed careers in recent memory. Always careful -- both in choice of roles and in the regulation of his performing schedule -- not to overextend himself, he achieved a degree of consistency and longevity that kept him active professionally well into his sixties, always applauded for his youthful tone and delivery. AmongRead more his vocal assets were an admirable top extension -- which included an enviable D above high C -- a warm tone, and an instinctive feel for the shape of phrases, especially in French repertory. He, Carlo Bergonzi, and Nicolai Gedda were noted for their style, refinement, and musicianship in an era when, especially in Italian opera, tenors often neglected such qualities. He starred in the title role of Viladamot's 1959 film Gayarre, a biography of the famous Spanish tenor.
While he studied music as a youngster, Kraus had no intention of becoming a professional singer, until friends and family began encouraging him to do so. In taking up vocal studies, Kraus avoided heavier repertory and focused on the bel canto tenore di grazia parts that he knew were right for his voice. At the age of 28, he won first prize at the Geneva Competition, and a representative of the Cairo Opera, who was present at the auditions, offered him the role of the Duke in Rigoletto; he made his professional opera debut at the Cairo Opera in that role in 1956. His great success there was followed by equally gratifying appearances in Venice, Turin, and Barcelona, and in 1958, he appeared in La Traviata with Maria Callas in Lisbon -- the Lisbon Traviata. In 1959, he sang Arturo in I Puritani for the first time, made his La Scala and Covent Garden debuts, followed by his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1965 and Salzburg debut in 1968. In Rome, he sang his first Werther, a role that, like Arturo, was to become one of his signatures.
Aside from his fine sense of the musical nuance and phrasing, his portrayal of the mentally unstable, morbid, masochistic, and manipulative character of Werther has been acclaimed as one of the most effective and insightful readings ever. During the 1980s, he began to limit the number of his performances even further (at the peak of his career, he never sang more than 50 in a year), and started to turn his attention to teaching, although even in the 1990s he still had an active performing schedule. Kraus died on September 10, 1999, after an extended illness. Read less
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 548163
Release Date: 07/31/2020
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Gioachino Rossini,
Giuseppe Verdi,
Vincenzo Bellini
...
Performer:
Teresa Berganza,
Heather Harper,
Thomas Allen,
Elisabeth Gale
...
Conductor:
Daniel Barenboim,
Bernard Haitink,
Wolfgang Sawallisch,
Karl Böhm
...
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 546617
Release Date: 07/31/2020
Number of Discs: 12
Composer:
Georges Bizet,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Giacomo Puccini,
Giuseppe Verdi
Performer:
Xavier Depraz,
Michel Hamel,
Ernest Blanc,
Victoria de los Angeles
...
Conductor:
Sir Thomas Beecham,
Otto Klemperer,
Carlo Maria Giulini,
Georges Prêtre
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française,
Philharmonia Orchestra,
Philharmonia Chorus
...
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 571553
Release Date: 06/08/2018
Number of Discs: 15
Composer:
Charles Gounod
Performer:
Placido Domingo,
Nicolai Ghiaurov,
Mirella Freni,
Michèle Command
...
Conductor:
Georges Prêtre,
Michel Plasson,
Jean-Claude Hartemann,
Michel Corboz
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Paris Opera Chorus,
Paris Opera Orchestra,
Toulouse Capitole Orchestra
...
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 563841
Release Date: 09/15/2017
Composer:
Giacomo Puccini,
Gaetano Donizetti,
Giuseppe Verdi,
Gasparo Spontini
...
Performer:
Maria Callas,
Renato Cioni,
Rolando Panerai,
Nicola Zaccaria
...
Conductor:
Carlo Felice Cillario,
Herbert von Karajan,
Gianandrea Gavazzeni,
Oliviero de Fabritiis
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra,
Coro del Teatro alla Scala di Milano,
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
...
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 563467
Release Date: 09/15/2017
Number of Discs: 45
Composer:
Giuseppe Verdi,
Richard Wagner,
Gioachino Rossini,
Vincenzo Bellini
...
Performer:
Amalia Pini,
Maria Callas,
Gino Bechi,
Gino Sinimberghi
...
Conductor:
Vittorio Gui,
Erich Kleiber,
Oliviero de Fabritiis,
Tullio Serafin
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Orchestra del Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli,
Italian Radio Symphony Orchestra Rome,
Italian Radio Chorus Rome
...
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 563917
Release Date: 09/15/2017
Composer:
Giuseppe Verdi
Performer:
Alfredo Kraus,
Alessandro Maddalena,
Piero de Palma,
Maria Cristina de Castro
...
Conductor:
Franco Ghione
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Lisbon San Carlos National Theater Orchestra,
Lisbon San Carlos National Theater Chorus
Label: Opus Arte
Catalog: OA1237D
Release Date: 05/26/2017
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Gaetano Donizetti
Performer:
Roderick Kennedy,
Stafford Dean,
Alfredo Kraus,
Robin Leggate
...
Conductor:
Richard Bonynge
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra,
Royal Opera House Covent Garden Chorus
Recommendation
Label: Idis
Catalog: 6711
Release Date: 02/12/2016
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Vincenzo Bellini
Performer:
Nicolai Ghiuselev,
Alfredo Kraus,
Dame Joan Sutherland,
Clifford Grant
...
Conductor:
Richard Bonynge
Orchestra/Ensemble:
San Francisco Opera Orchestra,
San Francisco Opera Chorus
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 554003
Release Date: 01/29/2016
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer:
Hannelore Steffek,
Walter Berry,
Giuseppe Taddei,
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
...
Conductor:
Karl Böhm
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Philharmonia Chorus,
Philharmonia Orchestra
Recommendation
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 553645
Release Date: 01/08/2016
Number of Discs: 6
Composer:
Alfred Newman,
Richard Strauss,
John Williams,
Richard Wagner
...
Performer:
Ernest Blanc,
Nicolai Gedda,
Gary Hoffman,
Gérard Caussé
...
Conductor:
Paul Bateman,
Rudolf Kempe,
Geoff Love,
Mariss Jansons
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Ensemble Jean-Marie Leclair,
The Hungarian Quartet,
Il Giardino Armonico
...
Label: Hardy Classics
Catalog: 6018
Release Date: 11/25/2014
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Jules Massenet
Performer:
Vittorio Pandano,
Franco Bordoni,
Franco Ventriglia,
Virginia Zeani
...
Conductor:
Ugo Rapalo
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Orchestra del Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli,
Coro del Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli
Label: Andromeda
Catalog: 9095
Release Date: 11/11/2014
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Giuseppe Verdi
Performer:
Alfredo Kraus,
Ettore Bastianini,
Renata Scotto,
Fiorenza Cossotto
...
Conductor:
Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Florence Maggio Musicale Chorus,
Florence Maggio Musicale Orchestra
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 280462
Release Date: 07/16/2013
Number of Discs: 5
Composer:
Jean-Baptiste Lully,
Jean-Philippe Rameau,
Christoph W. Gluck,
André Modeste Grétry
...
Performer:
Véronique Gens,
Miguel Villabella,
Solange Petit-Renaux,
Patricia Petibon
...
Conductor:
Christophe Rousset,
Maurice Cauchie,
John Eliot Gardiner,
Henri Tomasi
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Les Talens Lyriques,
Les Folies Françoises,
Monteverdi Choir
...
Label: Warner Classics
Catalog: 828722
Release Date: 03/12/2013
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Vincenzo Bellini,
Giuseppe Verdi
Performer:
Montserrat Caballé,
Agostino Ferrin,
Julia Hamari,
Alfredo Kraus
...
Conductor:
Riccardo Muti,
Gianandrea Gavazzeni,
Carlo Maria Giulini,
Anton Guadagno
Recommendation
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 167332
Release Date: 01/22/2013
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Giuseppe Verdi
Performer:
Alfredo Kraus,
Renata Scotto,
Beverly Sills,
Sherrill Milnes
...
Conductor:
Riccardo Muti,
Julius Rudel,
Herbert von Karajan,
Lamberto Gardelli
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Philharmonia Orchestra,
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra,
Berlin Deutsche Oper Chorus
...
Label: Decca
Catalog: 001746202
Release Date: 10/16/2012
Number of Discs: 16
Composer:
Giuseppe Verdi
Performer:
Jon Vickers,
Robert Merrill,
Rita Gorr,
Leontyne Price
...
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rome Opera House Orchestra,
Rome Opera House Chorus,
Santa Cecilia Academy Rome Chorus
...
Recommendation
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 5134
Release Date: 10/09/2012
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Richard Strauss,
Richard Wagner,
James Horner,
John Williams
...
Performer:
David Bell,
Manuel Barrueco,
Steve Morse,
Maria Callas
...
Conductor:
Klaus Tennstedt,
Mariss Jansons,
David Abel,
Geoff Love
...