Kristian Benedikt (Tenor)
Lithuanian tenor Kristian Benedikt began his career at the National
Opera of Vilnius, Lithuania, where he has sung more than twenty roles.
Although he began his career as a lyric tenor, in recent years
Kristian Benedikt has established himself as one of the world’s
most promising and exciting dramatic tenors of his generation.
In April 2013 Benedikt made an acclaimed debut at Bayerische
Staatsoper in Munich as Otello – a role he has also sung
in Modena, Piacenza, Cagliari and Yekaterinburg and will sing
in Vilnius (2013-14), Santiago (July-August 2014) and Basel (2014-15).
Other engagements for the 2013-2014 season include the title roles
of Ernani, Lohengrin and Otello as well as the roles
of Elйazar (La Juive), Radames (Aida), and Don Josй
(Carmen). His operatic repertoire moreover features some
of the most demanding roles, such as Manrico (Il
trovatore), Cavaradossi (Tosca), Canio (I pagliacci),
Giordano (Andrea Chйnier), Siegmund (Die Walkьre), Calaf
(Turandot), the title role in Rienzi and Dick
Johnson (La fanciulla del West). At the same time, he also
continues to sing more lyric roles, such as Edgardo (Lucia di
Lammermoor), and Hoffmann in Les Contes d’Hoffmann. As
a guest soloist, Benedikt has sung at such prestigious venues
as the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, the Mariinsky
Theatre in St Petersburg, the Royal Opera in Copenhagen,
the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki, the Dutch National Opera
in Amsterdam, the Estonian National Opera in Tallinn,
the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and theatres
in Piacenza, Modena and Cagliari in Italy. His international
breakthrough came in 2002 with Munich’s Rundfunk Orchestra where he
recorded Ponchielli’s La Gioconda with Marcello Viotti and Plбcido
Domingo. In 2004 at the Nederlandse Opera he sang in Verdi’s
Don Carlo under Riccardo Chailly. Other highlights include Don Josй
(Carmen) in 2005 at the Mariinsky Theatre and Canio
(I pagliacci) in 2006 at the Estonian National Opera
in Tallinn. From 2007 to 2009 he was a regular guest soloist
at opera companies throughout the Baltic States in roles such
as Hoffmann (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Cavaradossi (Tosca),
the Duke (Rigoletto), Manrico (Il trovatore)
and Alfredo (La traviata). In 2009 he made his debut
in Verdi’s Requiem with the European Union Choir
and the 2009-10 season saw important debuts in four roles
as Andrea Chйnier, Des Grieux (Manon), Corrado
in Ponchielli’s I lituani and Pinkerton (Madama
Butterfly). In 2010-11 he sang to great acclaim as Elйazar
(La Juive), the title role in Otello, Turiddu (Cavalleria
rusticana), and Calaf (Turandot) at opera houses
in Russia, the Baltic States and at the Danish Royal
Opera. He also appeared as Don Josй at an opera festival
in Sweden. Last season Benedikt made his debut as Edgardo
(Lucia di Lammermoor) in addition to numerous concerts
and performances as Otello, Elйazar, Jose, Des Grieux, Manrico
and Siegmund (Die Walkьre) at various opera houses. He also
performed as Dick Johnson (La fanciulla del West)
at the Finnish National Opera. On the concert platform, Kristian
Benedikt has sung Dubois’ Les Sept Paroles du Christ, Rossini’s Stabat
Mater and Verdi’s Requiem amongst other works. He has also taken part
in several oratorio performances, such as Handel’s
The Messiah, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde,
Rachmaninoff’s The Bells and Weber’s Requiem. Benedikt
has sung under the baton of numerous renowned conductors, among them
Marcello Viotti, Riccardo Chailly, Alberto Hold-Garrido, Maurizio Barbacini,
Paolo Carigniani, Asher Fisch and Giampaolo Bisanti in addition
to collaborating with the great stage directors Willy Decker, Dmitry
Bertman, Arnaud Bernard, Eimuntas Nekroљius, Pier Francesco Maestrini
and Igor Uschakov.
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