Jozef Kundlák

Jozef Kundlák (born October 12 1956 in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia now Slovakia) is a famous tenor opera singer from Slovakia.

Early career

Kundlák was born in Bratislava and studied at the Conservatory in Bratislava in Prof. Ida Černecka's class. After finishing his studies he participated in the Summer Opera Course of the European Opera Center in Belgium in 1984. In 1983 he became a member soloist of the Slovak National Theatre and with it he participated in projects in Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Bolsoy Theater in Moscow. After the Awards he won in the A. Dvořak Contest (1978) and M. Schneider Trnavsky Contest (1981), he won the Luciano Pavarotti's Singer's Contest in Philadelphia in 1985.

Performances

Thanks to his extraordinary clear and bright tenore expression Jozef Kundlák performed in Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Carlo Felici in Genoa, in Rome, Florence, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, in the Frankfurt Opera House, in Deutsche Oper in Berlin, in Philadelphia, in Vienna State Opera and many other opera scenes in Europe. He cooperated with many outstanding and renowned conductors, like Bruno Bartoletti, Riccardo Muti, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Peter Schreier, F. Luisi, Ch. Thielemann and others.

1990s

In bicentenary year of Mozart's death, 1991, Kundlák sang Mozart's Requiem with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Riccardo Muti in Carnegie Hall in New York and in the Academy of Music (Philadelphia). He also sang diverse Oratories and Masses in the Vienna Concert Hall, in Stuttgart, Milan and Salisburg. He introduced himself in 1991 as Belmonte in Mozart's opera "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" in Deutsche Oper in Berlin and Bavarian State Opera in Munich. In this era he added new roles to his repertoire, like Alfredo in "La Traviata", Fenton in "Falstaff", Faust in Gounod's "Faust" and Boito's "Mefistofele", Lensky in "Eugene Onegin" and a very successful introduction of Werther in the even-named piece from J. Massenet. A great success was his guest performance in July 1997 on the Light Opera Festival in Triest in the role of Camille de Rossillon in F. Lehár's "Die Lustige Witwe". Also successful was his performance in a well-cast production of Lindsay Kemp's "Zauberflöte" from W. A. Mozart on a prestigious festival in Spanish city of Peralada.

Present career

As a soloist of the Slovak National Theatre he performs at home in diverse roles of lyrical repertoire: Prince in Dvořak's "Rusalka", Elvino in Bellini's opera "La Sonnambula", Belmonte in "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" from W. A. Mozart, Tamino in "Zauberflöte", Don Ottavio in "Don Giovanni", Fenton in Verdi's "Falstaff", Count of Mantova in Verdi's "Rigoletto", Edgardo in Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor", Nemorino in Donizetti' "L'elisir d'Amore", Werther in "Werther" from Massenet, Laertes in "Hamlet" and King in "The Maid of Orleans" from P. I. Tchaikovsky. His latest premieres were "The Kiss" from B. Smetana, Janáček's "Káťa Kabanová" and The Players from J. Beneš. Kundlák has performed Alfredo in La Traviata, on the Slovak National Theatres Japan tour on late 2004.

Besides acting on opera stages he regularly performs on many European and world concert stages. Kundlák performs a large Mozart and Haydn repertoire, concert works from Dvořák, Janáček, Stravinskij. He also performed in Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis" in Graz and in Shostakovic's "De la poésie Juive" in Paris. For Salisburg he learnt "Johannes Passion" and "9th Symphony" from L. v. Beethoven. In Leipzig he performed "Messiah" from Händel with the conductor Fabio Luisi. With the same conductor he participated also in the Anniversary Strauss Concert with the Munich Philharmonic.

In other seasons he participated in concerts on many European stages with Dvořák's oratorial pieces and Verdi's "Requiem".

Jozef Kundlák, with his tenor voice, is nowadays performing a wide repertory of roles. His repertory covers the period from classicism up to composers of the 20th century, that means from W. A. Mozart to Leos Janacek. Kundlák collaborates with outstanding home conductors and directors permanently, as well as with guest conductors and directors. He premieres a new production every opera-season. Werther is the best example of all. Kundlák was awarded Honour of Slovak Literary Foundation for the creation of this role.

In the repertory of his "home"- Slovak National Theatre, he sings 12 principal opera roles. They are:

:W. A. Mozart: Don Giovanni, Zauberflöte :G. Donizetti: Elisir d´amore, Lucia di Lammermoor :G. Verdi: La Traviata, Rigoletto, Falstaff :P. I. Čajkovský: Virgin of Orléan :J. Massenet: Werther :B. Smetana: The Kiss :L. Janáček: Káťa Kabanová :J. Beneš: The Players

Kundlák provides the regular guest performances in Prague (Czech Rep.).In their National Theatre he sang the main role in the opera Montezuma (L. Ferrero), in their world premiere. Kundlák sings also at the Prague State Opera house, where he features the Verdi's Traviata and Rigoletto. For the Janacek's Theatre of Brno (Czech Republic) he performs Traviata and Mefistofele by Arrigo Boito, which opening night Kundlák sang on December 2003.

For the next season, (2005-6), is he preparing Rusalka by A. Dvořak and "Eugene Onegin" by Tchaikovskij.

External links

* [http://www.kundlak.sk Jozef Kundlák homepage]