Born in Schleswig, Kruse first sang in a children's choir and completed an apprenticeship with a health insurance company.
In 1986 he took part in the premiere of Hans-Jürgen von Bose's Die Leiden des jungen Werthers at the Schwetzinger Festspiele.
[citation needed] From 1987 he sang as a heldentenor, in roles such as Florestan in Fidelio (Staatstheater Mainz 1988), Erik in The Flying Dutchman (Staatsoper Berlin 1991), the title role in Parsifal (Staatstheater Braunschweig 1988/89), Loge in Das Rheingold (Staatsoper Hannover 1991, Hamburg 1992), Siegmund in Die Walküre (Hanover 1991), Tristan (Theater Kiel 1991, Hamburgische Staatsoper 1996, Deutsche Oper Berlin 1996) and the Kaiser in Die Frau ohne Schatten (Braunschweig 1992, Semperoper Dresden 1996) as well as Walther von Stolzing in the Meistersinger (Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe 1992–93).
[citation needed] A highlight of his singing career in Hamburg in 1993 was the title role in Siegfried, which he also sang at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1995, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris in 1994–95 and in the Aalto Theatre in Essen in 1996.
During his appearance as Siegfried at Het Muziektheater in Amsterdam in 1998, he fell after his fight with the dragon and dislocated his arm; the performance had to be stopped.