Emil Burian (12 December 1876 – 9 October 1926) was a Czech

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

tic

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

. He was the father of poet and composer

Emil František Burian Emil František Burian (11 June 1904 – 9 August 1959) was a Czech poet, journalist, singer, actor, musician, composer, dramatic adviser, playwright and director. He was also active in Communist Party of Czechoslovakia politics. Early life an ...

and the grandfather of Czech songwriter and poet

Jan Burian Jan Burian (born March 26, 1952) is a Czech pianist, lyricist, songwriter, TV presenter. Burian was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, the son of Emil František Burian. He performed in tandem with Jiří Dědeček in the years 1973-1985. Czech ...

.Emil Biography at operissimo.com (in German)
/ref> Born in

Rakovník Rakovník (, german: Rakonitz) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 15,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrative parts Rakovník ...

, he was the younger brother of the famous Czech tenor

Karel Burian Karel may refer to: People * Karel (given name) * Karel (surname) * Charles Karel Bouley, talk radio personality known on air as Karel * Christiaan Karel Appel, Dutch painter Business * Karel Electronics, a Turkish electronics manufacturer * ...

, and, like his brother, was a pupil of singing teacher in Prague. Burian made his professional opera debut in 1895 at the

Cologne Opera The Cologne Opera (German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers both to the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and to its resident opera company. History of the company From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in the city's court th ...

. He sang then at the

National Moravian-Silesian Theatre The National Moravian-Silesian Theatre ( cs, Národní divadlo moravskoslezské; NDM) is a professional theatre company based in Ostrava in the Czech Republic. It is one of ten opera houses in the country, and the largest theatre company in the ...

in Ostrava and the

National Theatre Brno The National Theatre Brno ( cs, Národní divadlo Brno) is an opera, ballet and drama company in the Czech Republic, that nation's second busiest. It was established in 1884 on the model of the National Theatre company in Prague. Today it runs th ...

. From 1899 until 1901 he performed at the

Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb The Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb ( hr, Hrvatsko narodno kazalište u Zagrebu), commonly referred to as HNK Zagreb, is a theatre, opera and ballet house located in Zagreb. Overview The theatre evolved out of the first city theatre opened ...

and from 1902 until 1904 he worked at the Divadlo Josefa Kajetána Tyla in Plzeň. From 1904 to 1906 he was on the roster of singers at the theatres of Nuremberg and Freiburg im Breisgau. He sang alongside his brother at the

Semperoper The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the ...

in Dresden from 1906 until 1907, and then performed at the

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: Staatsoper Hamburg) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''General ...

from 1908 to 1910. In 1910 Burian joined the roster of singers at the National Theatre in Prague. He was one of the most important singers at that house up until his death at the age of 49 in 1926 in Prague. He particularly excelled in the Czech repertoire, including Přemysl in

Bedřich Smetana Bedřich Smetana ( , ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival." He has been regarded i ...

's ''

Libuše , Libussa, Libushe or, historically ''Lubossa'', is a legendary ancestor of the Přemyslid dynasty and the Czech people as a whole. According to legend, she was the youngest but wisest of three sisters, who became queen after their father died; s ...

'', Tomeš in Smetana's '' The Kiss'', Vladislav in Smetana's '' Dalibor'', and the title role in

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...

's ''

The Jacobin ''The Jacobin'' (''Jakobín'' in Czech), Op. 84 (B. 159), is an opera in three acts by Antonín Dvořák to an original Czech libretto by Marie Červinková-Riegrová. Červinková-Riegrová took some of the story's characters from the story by Al ...

''. Other high points in his repertoire included Telramund in

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's ''

Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in Germany, German Arthurian literature. The son of Percival, Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which fi ...

'', Amfortas in Wagner's ''

Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival'' ...

'', and Figaro in ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was base ...

''. He appeared as Krušina in a of ''

The Bartered Bride ''The Bartered Bride'' ( cz, Prodaná nevěsta, links=no, ''The Sold Bride'') is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The work is generally regarded as a major contribution towards the ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burian, Emil 1876 births 1926 deaths People from Rakovník People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Czech operatic baritones 19th-century Czech male opera singers