Above: Rainelle Krause, photo by Suzanna Vinnick
The untimely death of Tampa-born coloratura soprano Rainelle Krause has been announced; she passed away after a short illness.
As a young singer, Ms. Krause won prizes at numerous voice competitions. Following her début with Nashville Opera as Lucia di Lammermoor, she was hailed in the press as “a dream”.
In her signature role, the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, Rainelle delighted audiences in Atlanta, at the English National Opera, the Royal Danish Opera, Dutch National Opera, Staatsoper Berlin Unter den Linden, Nashville Opera, València, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Theater Basel, Oper Köln, and Opera Orchestre Montpellier Occitanie.
Earlier this season, the soprano made her Metropolitan Opera debut as the Queen of the Night in Julie Taymor’s English-language production. I attended one of these performances, and later had this to say about her:
“Rainelle Krause, a recent Met debutante, has sung the Queen of Night frequently in her career to date. This afternoon, she excelled in her opening aria wherein she was right at home: her high notes brilliant, and her top-F spot on. Later, in her vengeance aria, the soprano touched brightly and skillfully on the high-F’s and then scored a knockout with a sustained, titanic high B-flat on “Swear!” Her solo bow at the opera’s end drew massive applause and loud cheers.”
I came home from her performance and immediately befriended her on Facebook. She’d already been re-engaged for more Met performances of the Queen in the 2026-2027 season, and I had already put one of her matinees on my calendar. I imagined her becoming a Met regular, singing roles like Zerbinetta, Lucia, and Olympia.
It seems unfair that Rainelle should be taken from us just as she was attaining a career pinnacle. She leaves behind several souvenirs of her singing, among them this “Vengeance Aria”: watch and listen here.
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