Zdeněk Kroupa was a Czech opera singer. His wife became lifelong soloist of the National Theatre in Mira Figarova.

Life

Kroupa inherited his talent from his mother, who worked in amateur theater. Kroupa worked in construction before he began taking private lessons in singing and joining the Czech State Theatre in Brno

Brno

Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...

. He had his first solo in August 1946. In 1970, he joined the Provincial Theatre in Linz

Linz

Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...

, working there until his retirement in 1991.

He received two significant awards during his tenure with the Provincial Theatre. In 1973, he received an award for artistic achievement for his performance in Příhody lišky Bystroušky (Cunning Little Vixen), an opera by Leos Janacek

Leoš Janácek

Leoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...

. In 1979, the Czech Ministry of Culture came him a Medal of Merit for the dissemination of works by that same composer.