HANS BRAUN Hans Braun, baritone
The Viennese-born baritone Hans Braun was born in 1917. As a child he
sang in the Vienna Boys' Choir, before studying with two famous Viennese singers
Hermann Gallos and Hans Duhan. His début took place in early 1938 in
Königsberg as the Count in Figaro. This was followed by engagements
in Bremerhaven, Saarbrücken and the Deutsches Opernhaus, Berlin. His first
Viennese appearance was as a guest at the State Opera in 1939. It was not until
1945, however, that he joined the company, singing German and Italian rôles
in addition to Tarquinius in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia and John
Sorel in Menotti's The Consul. In 1947 Braun was a member of the Vienna
Company which visited Covent Garden in London, and he returned as a guest in
1948-49 to sing the Count in Figaro and Melot in Tristan, and
again in 1953, as Orest in Elektra under Erich Kleiber. He also appeared
in Italy and Spain, and in 1953 sang the Herald in Lohengrin at the Bayreuth
Festival.
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