Felix von Kraus

Felix von Kraus (October 3, 1870 - October 30, 1937) was an Austrian dramatic bass. Born in Vienna, he received a doctorate in musicology from the University of Vienna in 1894; as a singer, however, he was mainly self-taught. He made his debut at Bayreuth as Hagen in "Götterdämmerung" in 1899 and was heard thereafter at numerous Bayreuth Festivals and at other opera houses throughout Europe; he specialized in the works of Richard Wagner. In 1908 he became the artistic director of the Munich Opera; that same year he became a professor at the Munich Conservatory. Among his students was the Swiss tenor and early music specialist Max Meili. In 1899 Kraus married the American contralto Adrienne Osborne, also a Wagnerian. He retired from the stage in 1927 and died in Munich in 1937.

References

*David Ewen, "Encyclopedia of the Opera: New Enlarged Edition". New York; Hill and Wang, 1963.