Karel Burian

Karel Burian (also Carl Burrian ) (* January 12, 1870 Rousínov Rakovníka; † September 25, 1924 Senomaty Rakovníka ) was a Bohemian- Czech opera singer in the vocal range Tenor.

Life

Karel Burian was the son of a carpenter and was recommended as a gifted student academic secondary school in Prague. He then studied at the Law Faculty of Charles University, but left this early and devoted himself under the direction of Morice Wallerstein singing.

The tenor Karel Burian began his singing career in Brno, where he sang in the opera Dalibor Jeník. In 1892, he tried to get a role in the National Theatre in Prague, but was rejected. He went looking abroad and has enjoyed success in Leipzig, Vienna, Cologne, Tallinn, Hannover, Budapest and was first tenor in Hamburg.

Later he returned and celebrated at the Prague National Theatre with great success. After internal disputes, he left the theater again, went abroad again and sang in Budapest, then in Dresden. Here he sang especially in the works of Richard Wagner, and in the premiere of the opera Salome by Richard Strauss, the King Herod. It was followed by appearances with Ema Destinnová in Berlin and from 1906 to 1913 he guested regularly in New York, including in works that were conducted by Gustav Mahler and Arturo Toscanini.

In 1907 he sang in the German Theatre in Prague on the Wagner Festival. After further abroad, he returned in 1908 back to the National Theatre in Prague, but the career lasted only a year since he fell ill on the vocal cords. It was not until 1922 he returned briefly returned to the stage. On a tour of Slovakia, he became seriously ill and spent several weeks in the hospital. Karel Burian died in his home community.

Person

Burian had a full, beautiful, noble tenor voice that easily slips into the voice of baritone. He was not only an excellent singer but also a very good actor. Burian sang in six different languages ​​roles of heroes but also lyrical text. After the performance at the Metropolitan Opera, he was designated as a Czech Caruso. Caruso himself said of him: " Burian can sing anything, I just have. " With great concentration he also played roles from the operas by Bedřich Smetana.