On July 8, 2026, Czech baritone Martin Matoušek has died at the age of 53.

According to Opera Plus the baritone died of an aortic rupture.

Born on Feb. 21, 1973, Matoušek began studying clarinet, piano, and saxophone at the Army School of Music and in 1991 began studying voice at the Prague Conservatory. He continued his studies from 1996 at the Faculty of Music of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and graduated in 2001. He went on to win the International Singing Competition in Trnava and the competition show of Czech conservatories.

In 1997, Matoušek made his debut at the J. K. Tyl Theatre in Pilsen in the role of Aeneas in Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas” and became a regular guest on this stage. In Pilsen he went on to perform numerous roles and for five years he also sang at the Liechtenstein Palace in Prague. In 2001, he became a soloist of the opera of the Municipal Theatre in Ústí nad Labem and in the same year he began to make regular guest appearances at the Prague State Opera. In 2003, the baritone also appeared at the Opera Open Air festival in Gars am Kamp, Austria.

Throughout his career, Matoušek went on to perform numerous roles including Masetto in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” Guglielmo in “Così fan tutte,” Bartolo and Fiorillo in Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville,” Schaunard in Puccini’s “La Bohème,” Marullo in “Rigoletto,” and Marbuel in Dvořák’s opera “The Devil and the Cat.” He also performed in operetta including “Die Fledermaus.”