Zdeněk Kroupa (15 November 1921 in Adamov – 7 January 1999 in Brno) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

opera singer Opera is a form of Western 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 lib ...

. His wife became lifelong soloist of the National Theatre in Mira Figarova.

Life

Kroupa inherited his talent from his mother, who worked in amateur theater. Kroupa worked in construction before he began taking private lessons in singing and joining the Czech State Theatre in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

. He had his first solo in August 1946. In 1970, he joined the Provincial Theatre in

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

, working there until his retirement in 1991. He received two significant awards during his tenure with the Provincial Theatre. In 1973, he received an award for artistic achievement for his performance in ''Příhody lišky Bystroušky'' (''Cunning Little Vixen''), an opera by

Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, Music theory, music theorist, Folkloristics, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian folk music, Moravian and other Slavs, Slavic music, includin ...

. In 1979, the Czech Ministry of Culture came him a Medal of Merit for the dissemination of works by that same composer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kroupa, Zdenek 1921 births 1999 deaths People from Adamov (Blansko District) 20th-century Czech male opera singers Operatic basses Czechoslovak male opera singers