Ladislav Mráz: Méphistophélès' aria "Le Veau D'Or" from Gounod's "Faust"

Thanks to Sean, who has been sending me this wonderful material, and whose idea it was to start a series of the great Czech voices of the past. Following Beno Blachut and Eduard Haken, this name is a little bit less known because of an ill fate.

Ladislav Mráz
25th September 1923 Strakonice - 7th May1962 Prague
Bass-baritone. Studied at the conservatory in Prague, then he started singing at the South-Bohemian Theatre in Tábor (1943-44), he continued studying singing with H.Vávra and E. Fierlingerová. He sang in Pilsen (1944-45), Great Theatre of the 5th May (1945-48) and the National Theatre.

In 1956 Mráz won a prestigious singing competition in the Netherlands. He excelled in Wagnerian roles, expecially the Dutchman and Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger. He was a great success as a regular guest in Leipzig. He was to sing at the Bayreuth festival, where he would have gained an international attention, but his career was interrupted by a deadly disease. Mráz died at a mere 38 years of age.

Pictures: Ladislav Mráz in civilian clothes,
as Hans Sachs (Die Meistersinger),
and as Wozzeck in the opera of the same name by A.Berg

Видео Ladislav Mráz: Méphistophélès' aria "Le Veau D'Or" from Gounod's "Faust" канала frufruJ