Kwangchul Youn | |
---|---|
Born | 1966 (age 57–58) Chungju, South Korea |
Education | |
Occupation | Operatic bass |
Organizations | |
Title | Kammersänger |
Kwangchul Youn | |
Hangul | 연광철 |
---|---|
Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Yeon Gwang-cheol |
McCune–Reischauer | Yŏn Kwangch'ŏl |
Kwangchul Youn (born 1966) is a South Korean operatic bass and academic voice teacher. He made an international career based in Germany,from 1994 to 2004 at the Berlin State Opera. He has performed leading roles at international opera houses and festivals,such as Gurnemanz in Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival,Mephisto in Faust at the Vienna State Opera,and King Marke in Tristan und Isolde at the Metropolitan Opera.
Youn was born in 1966 in Chungju [1] [2] to a family of farmers. He first trained to become an architect,but then turned to voice studies at Cheongju University at age 19. [1]
In 1988,he made his debut at the Seoul State Opera as de Sirieux in Giordano's Fedora . He continued his studies from 1990 to 1991 at the Sofia Academy of Music with Lesa Koleva and from 1991 to 1993 at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin with Herbert Brauer. [1] During this time,he received several awards at national and international competitions. He won the Operalia competition in Paris in 1993. [3]
From 1993 to 1994,Youn appeared as Sarastro in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and as the Commendatore in Don Giovanni at the Leipzig Opera. [1] From 1994 to 2004,he was a member of the Berlin State Opera, [4] where he appeared as the King in Aida, the Minister in Fidelio, King Marke in Tristan und Isolde, Bertram in Robert le diable, Colline in La bohème and Lodovico in Otello . [3]
In 1996,he made his Bayreuth Festival debut as a night watchman in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg . He appeared as the Landgrave in Tannhäuser in 2002,Titurel in Parsifal in 2004,King Marke in Tristan und Isolde in 2005,and Fasolt in Das Rheingold and Hunding in Die Walküre in 2006. [4] In 2008,he performed as Gurnemanz in Parsifal for the first time,directed by Stefan Herheim. [5] From 2014,he appeared as Daland in Der fliegende Holländer . [4]
He appeared as Gurnemanz also at the Vienna State Opera,Teatro Real in Madrid,Bavarian State Opera, [3] the Teatro Regio di Torino and the Lyric Opera in Chicago. [6] Since 2007,he has been working with Oper Frankfurt,where he appeared as Philipp II in Verdi's Don Carlo . [6] He has also performed at the Liceu in Barcelona and the Washington National Opera,among others. He appeared at the Vienna State Opera as Mephisto in Gounod's Faust ,at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City as King Marke in Tristan und Isolde,and at the London Royal Opera House as the King in Wagner's Lohengrin in 2009. [3]
Youn has appeared in concert at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome as well as at the Wiener Musikverein,the Vienna Konzerthaus (e.g. in March 2010 in Gustav Mahler's Eighth Symphony) and at the Salzburg Easter Festival. [7]
He has given recitals with his piano partner Helmut Oertel,such as in the summer of 2007 at the Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth and in the autumn of 2007 at the Oper Frankfurt. In December 2009,he sang Schubert's Winterreise with pianist Myung-Whun Chung at the Art Center in Seoul. He regularly sings the bass part in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 at New Year's Eve concerts at the Konzerthaus in Berlin. He has worked with conductors such as Christian Thielemann,Mark Minkowski,Fabio Luisi,Michael Gielen,Myung-Whun Chung,Zubin Mehta,James Levine,Horst Stein and Thomas Hengelbrock in opera and concert as well as in CD productions. [7]
He appeared in recordings of Le nozze di Figaro, Cosìfan tutte ,Don Giovanni and d'Albert's Tiefland with conductor Bertrand de Billy. [7] He recorded Meistersinger in Bayreuth conducted by Barenboim,and Keiser's Croesus conducted by RenéJacobs. [7] A recording of Daphne by Richard Strauss,conducted by Semjon Bychkov,was nominated for the Grammy Awards 2006 as best opera production. [7]
From 2010 to 2017,Youn was a professor of the College of Music of the Seoul National University. He was awarded the title Kammersänger from the Berlin State Opera in 2018,the second singer from Asia to be so honoured. [8]
Youn's roles have included: [9]
Kurt Moll was a German operatic bass singer who enjoyed a widely renowned international career.
Matti Kalervo Salminen is a Finnish operatic bass, now retired, who has sung at the most important opera houses of the world, including the Metropolitan and Bayreuth Festival. He is distinguished by an imposing figure and height, a cavernous, heavy, dark voice with an expansive upper register, and an expressive face. According to one reviewer, in his prime Salminen was "... simply the largest bass voice in captivity. It is not just its roar in powering over Wagner's maximum orchestra, but the way he carves the sonority and forms the color."
René Pape is a German operatic bass. Pape has received two Grammys, was named "Vocalist of the Year" by Musical America in 2002, "Artist of the Year" by the German opera critics in 2006, and won an ECHO award in 2009.
Ludwig Weber was an Austrian bass.
Arnold van Mill was a Dutch bass opera singer.
Rúni Brattaberg is a bass opera singer from the Faroe Islands, who works in operas around the world. He has been building his repertoire with Wagner and other leading bass roles such as Osmin/The Abduction from the Seraglio, Timur/Turandot, Sparafucile/Rigoletto, Sarastro/The Magic Flute, Kaspar/Der Freischütz, the Doctor/Wozzeck, Rocco/Fidelio, and Basilio/The Barber of Seville in the ensembles of the Mainz, Ulm, Detmold, Bern, and Mannheim opera companies. In January 2017 he received the Faroese Cultural Prize.
Karl Ridderbusch was a German operatic bass, associated in particular with the music of Wagner. He was recognised as a notable exponent of the role of Hans Sachs.
Franz Mazura was an Austrian bass-baritone opera singer and actor. He performed at the Bayreuth Festival from 1971 for 25 years and at the Metropolitan Opera for 15 years. He was made a Kammersänger in 1980 and an Honorary Member of the Nationaltheater Mannheim in 1990. He most often played villains and strange characters, with signature roles including Klingsor in Wagner's Parsifal. Mazura took part in world premieres, such as the double role of Dr. Schön and Jack the Ripper in the world premiere of the completed version of Alban Berg's Lulu at the Paris Opera in 1979, and as Abraham in Giorgio Battistelli's Lot in 2017. Two of his recordings received Grammy Awards. His voice was described as with dark timbre, powerful and like granite, with perfect diction. His acting ability was described as "well-supplied with vivid imaginative touches, whether deployed in comic roles or characters of inexorable malevolence. Mazura could achieve more impact with a lifted eyebrow or a belligerently thrust chin than many artists could with a ten-minute monologue." He had a long career, appearing at the Staatsoper Berlin the night before his 95th birthday.
Mikhail Petrenko is an opera singer who sings bass.
Franz-Josef Selig is a German operatic bass.
Paul Bender was a German operatic bass.
Andreas Bauer Kanabas is a German classical bass in opera and concert. Prior to December 2018, he performed under the name Andreas Bauer. A member of the Oper Frankfurt, he has performed major roles at German and international opera houses. Besides Mozart's Sarastro, and kings in operas by Verdi and Wagner such as Philip II of Spain and Marke, he has portrayed characters such as Bluebeard, Tiresias, and Ibn-Hakia.
Victor von Halem was a German operatic bass. He was a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin for nearly 30 years as well as a guest singer in the major opera houses and festivals of Europe and North America. He sang a wide repertoire encompassing over 100 roles, including King Philipp in Verdi's Don Carlo and Hans Sachs in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
Albert Dohmen is a German operatic bass-baritone who is known internationally for performing leading roles by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. He has also worked in concert halls and given lieder recitals.
Siegfried Vogel is a German operatic bass. Based at the Berlin State Opera, he performed internationally at major opera houses and festivals, including the Salzburg Festival and the Bayreuth Festival. He began in Mozart roles, but expanded his repertoire, including world premieres of operas.
Günther Groissböck is an Austrian operatic bass. Anthony Tommasini, chief classical music critic for The New York Times, described Groissböck's "imposing and good-looking" portrayal of Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, as "a revelation". James Jorden of the New York Observer praised Groissböck's "innovative take" on the role and his "big, virile sound". A 2018 recording of the Met performance was nominated for Grammy Award in the Best Opera Recording.
Georg Stern was a German operatic bass.
Matthias Hölle is a German bass in opera and concert who has made an international career. He performed regularly at the Bayreuth Festival in major roles such as Hunding in Die Walküre, King Marke in Tristan und Isolde, and Gurnemanz in Parsifal. He appeared in the world premieres of Stockhausen's Donnerstag aus Licht and Samstag aus Licht at La Scala in Milan.
Karl-Heinz Lehner is an Austrian operatic and concert bass-baritone.
Walter Kreppel was a German bass singer, known for his performances in operatic roles in Europe and the US. Starting his career in his native Nuremberg he progressed to membership of major opera companies, including the Bavarian State Opera and the Vienna State Opera. Among his roles on record, the best known is Fasolt in the first published recording of Das Rheingold (1958).