Detlef Kraus

Detlef Kraus ( born November 30, 1919 in Hamburg, † 7 January 2008) was a German pianist. He was a world-renowned interpreter of Brahms.

Life

Detlef Kraus gave his first concert at sixteen with the Well-Tempered Clavier (Book 1 and 2) by Johann Sebastian Bach. Later emphasis was the work of Johannes Brahms, which he together with conductors such as Heinz Wallberg, Ferenc Fricsay, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Eugen Jochum, Knappertsbusch, Keilberth, Kurt Masur, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Hans Schmidt- Isserstedt around the world, under including New York City, Tokyo, London and Berlin, aufführte, including as premieres.

From 1982 on, he was president and later honorary president, the Johannes-Brahms -Gesellschaft in Hamburg; there he initiated the first Brahms Competition. He taught as a professor of piano at the Conservatory, among others, Osnabrück and at the Folkwang School in Essen. Kraus has published numerous essays on Brahms.

Detlef Kraus died in January 2008 at the age of 88 years to a heart attack.

Honors and Awards

• Brahms Prize of the City of Hamburg ( 1975)
• Johannes Brahms Medal of the Senate of the city of Hamburg ( 1989)
• Brahms Prize of the Brahms Society Schleswig -Holstein ( 1997)