Robert Opratko

Austrian composer, arranger, producer and conductor, born 17 March 1931 in Vienna, Austria, died on 9. September 2018 in Purbach am Neusiedlersee, Austria.
After studying double bass at the Vienna Conservatory, Opratko was active in several orchestras, including The Austrian All Stars and Das Radio-Tanzorchester Wien. He became famous as an arranger and tour accompanist for Caterina Valente, Vico Torriani, Peter Kraus, Freddy Quinn and Udo Jürgens, among others. From 1965 to 1974 he was conductor at the Theater an der Wien.
Opratko also worked as an arranger for television: he produced TV shows with Peter Alexander and Harald Juhnke, composed for years for the ORF children's program "Am Dam Des" and conducted the orchestra in Austria's contributions to the Eurovision Song Contest.