Hans Kaart had a very unusual career. He was born Joannes Jansen (Kaart was his mother's maiden name). His uncle Johan Kaart
was a drama actor, and that's what he, too, wanted to be. He made his debut in 1936, at the tender age of 16, and played with
various companies throughout the Netherlands until 1955, becoming quite well-known, and appearing also in movies.
In the 1950s, though, he decided he would be a singer instead; from 1954, he studied voice in Milano, then in Detmold. His only
studio recordings were made before his debut as a tenor, in 1956; the recording sessions were the first time that he sang with
an orchestra.
His debut followed in January 1957, as Canio in Karlsruhe; in March, he sang in the Netherlands for the first time, in a
concert at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, followed by Canio at the Nederlandse Opera two weeks later. But in his native country,
his singing efforts were not quite taken seriously, and he never had much success. For the 1957/58 season, he returned to the
drama theater and the movie screen, and as a singer restudied with a new teacher in Den Haag.
In December 1958, he made his debut at Covent Garden, as Calaf to Amy Shuard's Turandot; for the next two years, he sang
primarily at Covent Garden, with good success, but also in Amsterdam. From December 1960, he was at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein
in Düsseldorf and Duisburg; other than that, he made guest appearances in Liège, Amsterdam again, and Chicago.
In June 1963, he went to a hospital in Switzerland (where he lived) for a small routine surgery on his ear. Unexpectedly, he
suffered a heart attack while with anesthesia, and died.
His operatic repertory was small – just nine tenor roles, and surprisingly, two bass-baritone roles: Canio, Calaf, Don
José, Radames, Ollendorf (Bettelstudent), Manrico, Witch (Hänsel und Gretel), Mephisto (Doktor
Faust by Ferruccio Busoni), Otello, Samson, Zsupan (Zigeunerbaron). Kaart was married to the Scottish mezzosoprano
Caroline Raitt.
Reference 1, reference 2: Dutch Divas
