Karel Hruška
Karel Hruška (14 June 1891 – 17 October 1966) was a Czech tenor, radio personality, and actor of the stage and film. He was an unusual singer for his day in that he recorded and performed both classical and popular music. Possessing a great comic talent, he specialized in creating character parts on the opera stage. He was a much loved Principál komediantů in Bedřich Smetana's The Bartered Bride, notably portraying the role a total of 855 times during his career.[1]
Biography[]
Born in Plzeň, Hruška studied singing with Josef Branzovský before making his professional opera debut as Beppe in Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci at the J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň in 1911. He was committed to that opera house for the next eight years. In 1919 he joined the roster of singers at the National Theatre in Prague where he portrayed mainly comprimario roles for many years. He notably created the role of the Executioner in the world premiere of Jaromír Weinberger's Schwanda the Bagpiper on 27 April 1927.[2]
Between 1928-1943 Hruška made several gramophone record recordings of popular music, including a number of recordings with Vlasta Burian. He also had his own program on Czech Radio and sang on a number of complete opera recordings made on the Supraphon label.
Hruška made his first movie appearance in the 1913 Czech feature film Prodaná nevěsta. He appeared in seven more Czech feature films during his career: Červená karkulka (1922), Josef Kajetán Tyl (1926), (1929), (1938), Zvony z rákosu (1951), Anna proletářka (1953), and (1955).
References[]
- ^ "Study Guide to The Bartered Bride" (PDF). Opera Boston. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2011.
- ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Schwanda, the Bagpiper, 27 April 1927". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
External links[]
- Karel Hruška at IMDb
- 1891 births
- 1966 deaths
- Musicians from Plzeň
- People from the Kingdom of Bohemia
- Czech male film actors
- Czech male silent film actors
- 20th-century Czech male actors
- Czech operatic tenors
- Czech radio personalities
- 20th-century opera singers
- 20th-century male singers
- Actors from Plzeň