Richard Kubla

Already at 7 years old, Richard Kubla appeared in concert, playing the violin. He later decided to have his voice trained, first in Prague, where he was unhappy with his teachers, then in Vienna, where he made his debut at the Volksoper in 1914, as Rodolfo. He sang in Vienna and in Graz for the next six years. From 1920 to 1924, he was at the German Theater in Prague, and from 1923 to 1945 at the Czech National Theater – never as a member, but as a permanent guest. He returned to the Vienna Volksoper for the 1932/33 season, and from 1936 to 1938; he also appeared at the Vienna Staatsoper, in Hamburg, Munich, Budapest, Belgrade, Trieste and Chicago. He had a repertory of about 130 roles, from Parsifal, Siegmund and Radames to Duca and Jeník, and to operetta. He was a heroic tenor with secure high notes. His best roles were: Calaf, Turiddu, Canio, Don José, Cavaradossi, Hoffmann, Dalibor, Lukáš (Hubička) and Albert Gregor (Věc Makropulos).

Reference: Kutsch & Riemens

I would like to thank Vladimir Efimenko for the recording (Hubička) and pictures (top three).

I wish to thank Michal Pekárek for the picture (bottom), recording (Dalibor) and some of the biographical information.