Braun, Carl
Braun, Carl
Braun, Carl, German bass; b. Meisenheim, Prussia, June 2, 1885; d. Hamburg, April 19, 1960. He studied with Hermann Gausche in Kreuznach and later with Eugen Robert Weiss. He sang at the Wiesbaden Opera (1906–11) and at the Vienna Court Opera (1911–12); then was engaged at the Berlin City Opera (1912–14). He also appeared at the Bayreuth Festivals (1906–31). On Feb. 8, 1913, he made his American debut at the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y. as King Marke, but was dismissed as an enemy alien in the spring of 1917 when the U.S. entered the war against Germany. In 1922–23 he made a South American tour; also sang in the U.S. in 1928 and 1931. In 1933 he was engaged as a stage director at the German Opera in Berlin, and in 1935–36 held similar posts at the Berlin Volksoper and at the Danzig Municipal Theater. In 1937 he retired from the stage and was thereafter active mainly as a concert agent in Hamburg. He was particularly esteemed for his Wagnerian roles.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire