Tom Krause

Tom Krause (born July 5, 1934) is a Finnish operatic baritone particularly associated with Mozart roles.

Born in Helsinki, he first studied medicine, while singing and playing the guitar in a jazz band. His vocal talent led him to leave his medical studies for serious voice studies at the Vienna Music Academy where he was a pupil of Margot Skoda, Sergio Nazor, and Rudol Bautz. He made his operatic debut in Berlin, as Escamillo, in 1959, and quickly gained a reputation in opera and concert throughout Germany and Scandinavia.

He joined the Hamburg State Opera, where he sang mostly Mozart, Verdi, and Wagner roles, but also such rarities as Rossini 's La pietra del paragone and Handel 's Jephtha. He began making guest appearances in Munich, Amsterdam, Brussels, and made his debut in Bayreuth, as the Herald in Lohengrin, in 1962.

His English debut took place in 1963, at the Glyndebourne Festival as the Count in Capriccio, his American debut in 1967, at the Metropolitan Opera, as the Count in Le nozze di Figaro. From 1968, he appeared regularly at the Salzburg Festival, as Don Giovanni and Guglielmo, notably.

The year 1973 saw him making debut at the Opéra de Paris, the Royal Opera House in London, and the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

His wide repertory includes lead baritone roles in opera such as; L'elisir d'amore, Don Pasquale, Rigoletto, La traviata, Fidelio, Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde, La bohème, Andrea Chénier, Faust, Carmen, etc.

He took part in the premiere of Krenek 's Der Goldene Brock, in 1964, and Searle 's Hamlet, in 1968, both in Hamburg.

Krause was also very active as a recitalist of German Lieder, as well as songs by Modest Mussorgsky and Jean Sibelius, in all of which, one can appreciate a firm, resonant voice, a sound technique and a vivid power of characterization.