Anna Kraus, Op. 30, is a radio opera in one act by composer Franz Reizenstein. The work uses an English language libretto by Christopher Hassall to tell the tragic tale of a German woman who is forced to leave her country due to oppression from the Nazi regime, as the Nazis did not like her political views.[1]
The opera was commissioned by the British Broadcasting Corporation following the popular success of Reizenstein's 1951 cantata Voices of Night.[2] The opera premiered on 25 July 1952 on BBC Third Programme with conductor Norman Del Mar leading the BBC Symphony Orchestra and singers Victoria Sladen (as Anna) and Lloyd Strauss-Smith (as Pavel).[3] [4] It was submitted by the BBC later that year for the Prix Italia.[5] Critical reaction to the work was mixed. The New Statesman described the work as "engaging" and a "worthwhile experiment". The Annual Register wrote that the opera "suffered from the composer's emotion being too closely engaged in the sufferings of the heroine, a refugee from political oppression".