 |
Sebastian Holecek (born 27 March 1964) is an Austrian operatic baritone. He has been part of the ensemble of the Vienna Volksoper since 2006.
|
Sebastian Holecek (born 27 March 1964) is an Austrian operatic baritone. He has been part of the ensemble of the Vienna Volksoper since 2006.
Born in Vienna, [1] Holecek is the son of the Viennese singer and folk artist Heinz Holecek (1938-2012) and met a number of famous artists at a young age who frequented his parents' home, including Cesare Siepi, Luchino Visconti and Franco Zeffirelli. As a teenager, he was one of the most enthusiastic standing-room visitors to the Vienna State Opera. At a school event he sang an aria from Cornelius' The Barber of Bagdad , but did not know that his father had brought colleagues Oskar Czerwenka and Eberhard Waechter. Their summary: "He does have a voice, he just can't sing at all. But he has a great presence. He belongs on stage!" [2] So it came about that Holecek followed in his father's footsteps and studied singing at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and in Italy.
Already during his studies he gave guest performances in Holland, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In 1990 he became an ensemble member at the Gärtnerplatztheater in Munich, where he sang Figaro, Don Giovanni and Harlequin (in Ariadne auf Naxos ), among others. Engagements followed at major opera houses worldwide, including the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, as well as Paris, New York, Cape Town, Monte Carlo, Santiago de Chile, Madrid, Barcelona, Amsterdam, St. Gallen, Turin, Naples, Rome, Düsseldorf, Saarbrücken and Stuttgart, and the Bregenz Festival. He made his debut at the Vienna State Opera in October 1991 with his longstanding parade role, Papageno in the magic flute by Schikaneder and Mozart. So far he has performed this role 24 times at the Haus am Ring. Parallel to his Munich engagement, he has also sung regularly at the Vienna Volksoper.
Since the 2006/2007 season Sebastian Holecek has been a member of the ensemble of the Vienna Volksoper. Holecek has a broad repertoire ranging from Mozart (Figaro, Giovanni, Masetto, Papageno and Sprecher) to the present. In the German repertoire he sings Pizzaro and Don Fernando in Beethoven's Fidelio , Peter in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel , Kaspar in Weber's Freischütz , the Heerrufer in Wagner's Lohengrin , Johannes Freudhofer in Kienzl's Der Evangelimann and Moruccio in d'Albert's Tiefland . In Italian he succeeded as Schaunard in La Bohème , as Scarpia in Tosca and as Fléville in Andrea Chénier . His Verdi roles include Germont in La traviata , Christian in Un ballo in maschera and Marullo in Rigoletto , and his Strauss roles include, in addition to Harlequin, Jochanaan in Salome and Count Dominik in Arabella . Other important roles include Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen , the title roles in the modern operas Il prigioniero (by Dallapiccola) and Gesualdo (by Alfred Schnittke), as well as the Barak in Ferruccio Busoni's Turandot'] and the Theseus in Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream . Holecek also enjoys singing operetta and has been seen and heard as Danilo in Lustige Witwe , as Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus and as Homonay in Der Zigeunerbaron , among others. In 2014/2015 he gave the Ghost Messenger in the premiere of Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Bavarian State Opera.
As a concert singer, Holecek has performed at the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, as well as at Carnegie Hall in New York. In August 2015, he made his debut at the Salzburg Festival as Don Fernando in a Fidelio new production by Claus Guth and Franz Welser-Möst at the Großes Festspielhaus. [3] Holecek also sang this role at the Vienna State Opera in June 2015.
Holecek's daughter Jamileh is a scenic designer, his son Nicholas performed as an extra in the Volksoper when he was only 9 years old.
Walter Berry was an Austrian lyric bass-baritone who enjoyed a prominent career in opera. He has been cited as one of several exemplary operatic bass-baritones of his era.
Eberhard Freiherr von Waechter was an Austrian lyric baritone, celebrated for his performances in the operas of Mozart, Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. After retiring from singing, he became intendant of the Vienna Volksoper and the Vienna State Opera.
Christian Boesch is an Austrian operatic baritone. He is the son of the soprano Ruthilde Boesch, and studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, from 1959 to 1964. He was the pupil of Alfred Jerger, and made his official debut at the Stadttheater, Bern, in 1966. He joined the Vienna Volksoper in 1975.
Adrian Eröd is an Austrian operatic baritone. He is the son of composer Iván Erőd.
Johan Reuter is a Danish baritone and opera singer.
Lisa Della Casa was a Swiss soprano most admired for her interpretations of major heroines in operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Richard Strauss, and of German lieder. She was also described as “the most beautiful woman on the operatic stage”.
Elisabeth Kulman is an Austrian classical singer who has performed operatic roles in soprano, mezzo-soprano and contralto repertory. She has appeared at opera houses in Vienna and internationally. She has performed early operas such as Legrenzi's Il Giustino as well as new works, creating the role of Gora in the premiere of Reimann's Medea at the Vienna State Opera. She recorded Lieder by Mussorgsky, Bach's Christmas Oratorio with Peter Schreier and Beethoven's Missa solemnis with Nikolaus Harnoncourt. From 2015, she has focused on concert singing.
Rosl Schwaiger was an Austrian operatic coloratura soprano. She was a member of the Vienna State Opera and the Bayerische Staatsoper, known for singing Mozart roles such as Blonde, Susanna and Zerlina. She appeared at European opera houses and festivals and was especially popular at the Salzburg Festival, where she appeared for decades in opera and sacred concerts.
Hans Duhan was an Austrian operatic baritone. He belonged to the ensemble of the Vienna State Opera for 26 years and was the first Count Almaviva and the first Papageno of the Salzburg Festival.
Hermann Gallos was an Austrian operatic tenor and academic teacher. He was a long-standing ensemble member of the Vienna State Opera and performed regularly at the Salzburg Festival from 1922 to 1950, in roles such as Pedrillo in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Valzacchi in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss.
Michael Volle is a German operatic baritone. After engagements at several German and Swiss opera houses, he has worked freelance since 2011. While he first appeared in Mozart roles such as Guglielmo, Papageno and Don Giovanni, he moved on to title roles such as Verdi's Falstaff, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and Alban Berg's Wozzeck. He has performed at major opera houses in Europe and the Metropolitan Opera, in roles including Mandryka in Arabella and Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. His awards include Singer of the Year by Opernwelt and Der Faust.
William Wernigk was an Austrian operatic tenor, who was a member of the ensemble of the Vienna State Opera for 44 years, in roles such as Pedrillo in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte, Cassio in Verdi's Otello and Goro in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, as well as many comprimario roles. He appeared as a guest around Europe and performed at the Salzburg Festival both in concert and on stage, taking part in the world premiere of Gottfried von Einem's Dantons Tod there in 1947. He performed in early complete opera recordings such as Der Rosenkavalier by Strauss with Robert Heger in 1933, and Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with Arturo Toscanini in 1937.
Karl Ettl was an Austrian operatic bass singer. He was an ensemble member of the Vienna State Opera from 1924 to 1945 and made regular guest appearances at the Salzburg Festival.
Michael Kraus is an Austrian operatic baritone.
Gottfried Hornik is an Austrian operatic baritone and voice teacher. He was a member of the Vienna State Opera for 25 years and appeared worldwide in leading roles. His signature role was Beckmesser in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. He was awarded the title of an Austrian Kammersänger.
Heinz "Honzo" Holecek was an Austrian bass-baritone, known as an opera and operetta singer as well as a lied interpreter, was also a Viennese "all-round artist" – actor, parodist, and entertainer.
Florian Boesch is an Austrian bass-baritone, voice teacher and opera singer, who is especially known as a Lieder interpreter.
Clemens Unterreiner is an Austrian operatic baritone. He is professionally active internationally as well as a soloist and ensemble member of the Vienna State Opera. His operatic repertoire ranges from lyric to German-Italian-French cavalier and heroic baritone roles to masses, oratorios and classical Lieder, and also includes operetta and modern music.
Paul Armin Edelmann is an Austrian operatic baritone. He received first musical training as a member of the Wiener Sängerknaben. After five years as an ensemble member at the Theater Koblenz, he has worked as a free-lance singer based in Vienna since 1997, appearing at major opera houses and festivals internationally, often together with his brother Peter Edelmann, also a baritone. Focused on Mozart roles such as Don Giovanni and Papageno, he also appeared at the Schwetzingen Festival in the world premiere of Salvatore Sciarrino's Luci mie traditrici.
Roman Sadnik is an Austrian operatic tenor.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
