Otakar Kraus OBE (10 December 1909 — 28 July 1980) was a Czech (later British), operatic baritone and teacher.
He himself was the teacher of a number of important British basses, including Robert Lloyd, Willard White, John Tomlinson, Gwynne Howell and Colin Iveson.
[citation needed][1] He made his operatic debut as Amonasro in Aida in Brno in 1935.
His roles at Covent Garden and worldwide included Don Pizarro in Fidelio, Iago in Otello and Scarpia in Tosca, as well as Alberich in the Ring cycle at the Bayreuth Festival from 1960 to 1962.
He created the roles of Nick Shadow in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, Tarquinius in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia, King Fisher in Michael Tippett's The Midsummer Marriage, Diomede in Walton's Troilus and Cressida, and the Sheriff in Gian Carlo Menotti's Martin's Lie.