Baum, Kurt

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Baum, Kurt

Baum, Kurt, Czech-born American tenor; b. Prague, March 15, 1908; d. N.Y., Dec. 27, 1989. He studied with Garbin in Milan and Scolari in Rome; in 1933, won the Vienna International Competition, then made his operatic debut in the premiere of Zemlinsky’s Der Kreidekreis in Zurich (Oct. 14, 1933). After singing with the German Theater in Prague (1934–39), he made his U.S. debut as Radames in Chicago in 1939, where he sang until 1941. On Nov. 27, 1941 he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as the Singer in Der Rosenkavalier, remaining on its roster until 1962, and again from 1964 to 1966; also made guest appearances at Milan’s La Scala (1947–48), the Florence Maggio Musicale (1952), London’s Covent Garden (1953), the San Francisco Opera, and in South America.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire