Hans Braun
The Viennese-born baritone Hans Braun was born in 1917. As a child he sang in the Vienna Boys’ Choir, before studying with two famous Viennese singers Hermann Gallos and Hans Duhan. His début took place in early 1938 in Königsberg as the Count in Figaro. This was followed by engagements in Bremerhaven, Saarbrücken and the Deutsches Opernhaus, Berlin. His first Viennese appearance was as a guest at the State Opera in 1939. It was not until 1945, however, that he joined the company, singing German and Italian rôles in addition to Tarquinius in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia and John Sorel in Menotti’s The Consul. In 1947 Braun was a member of the Vienna Company which visited Covent Garden in London, and he returned as a guest in 1948–49 to sing the Count in Figaro and Melot in Tristan, and again in 1953, as Orest in Elektra under Erich Kleiber. He also appeared in Italy and Spain, and in 1953 sang the Herald in Lohengrin at the Bayreuth Festival.
