Václav Talich
In 1934 Kalaš succeeded in landing a contract with the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava, where he began to assail mainly roles from the standard Czech repertoire like Kecal in Bedřich Smetana's "The Bartered Bride" and the High priest in Antonín Dvořák's "Vanda". Renowned conductor Václav Talich attended several of his performances at the theatre and, impressed with the young bass, poached him for the National Theater in Prague.