660102-04bk Mozart US 20/3/04 1:04 pm Page 12 Peter Köves DDD Peter Köves was born in Hungary and studied vocal pedagogy at the Academy of Music in Budapest. He continued his studies in Vienna, where he graduated with honours in Lied and Oratorio from the Musikhochschule. After an OPERA CLASSICS 8.660102-04 apprenticeship in the opera studio of the Vienna State Opera, he became a member of the ensemble in 1987. Since then he has appeared in a variety of bass rôles and sung under the conductors Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa and Sir Charles Mackerras. He has enjoyed repeated success as Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Colline in La bohème, Ferrando in Trovatore and Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, having performed the last rôle on the occasion of MOZART the State Opera’s first visit to China. Peter Köves has also sung with the State Opera on tour in Israel and Japan, with the Vienna Volksoper and at the Salzburg Festival. Invitations to sing on radio and television have taken him to all parts of Europe. His broad concert repertory includes the Passions and Christmas Oratorio of Bach, the oratorios of Le Nozze di Figaro Haydn, Handel’s Messiah, the Requiems of Mozart and Verdi, the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven, the Fourteenth Symphony of Shostakovich, Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex and the Cantata Profana of Bartók. Skovhus • Mescheriakova • Halász • Girolami • Breedt Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia Sima • Monarcha • Roider • Klinger • Sáfár • Köves The Hungarian-based Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia was formed in 1992 by Ibolya Tóth, recording producer of the Hungarian Phoenix Studio, initially as a recording orchestra for Naxos. Under its permanent conductor, Béla Drahos, the Sinfonia also undertakes public concerts. The orchestra consists of the leading players in Budapest, including Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia • Michael Halász string and wind principals of the major Hungarian orchestras, many of whom have already recorded concertos for Naxos. The Sinfonia ranges in size from a Baroque string orchestra to an ensemble suitable for Haydn or Mozart, or, augmented, for performance of Beethoven. The orchestra’s recordings of Haydn and Beethoven symphonies and Beethoven’s Fidelio have met with particularly warm critical acclaim and its recording of Vanhal symphonies (Naxos 8.554341) received a Cannes Classical Award at Midem 2000. Michael Halász Michael Halász’s first engagement as a conductor was at the Munich Gartnerplatztheater where, between 1972 and 1975, he directed all operetta productions. In 1975, he moved to Frankfurt to work as principal Kapellmeister under Christoph von Dohnanyi and here he conducted the most important works of the Operatic repertoire. Many engagements as a guest conductor followed and in 1977 Dohnanyi took him to the Staatsoper in Hamburg as principal Kapellmeister. From 1978 to 1991 he was General Musical Director of the Hagen Opera House and in 1991 he took up the post of Resident Conductor at the Vienna State Opera. For Naxos Michael Halász has recorded works by Tchaikovsky (ballets), Wagner (operatic excerpts), symphonies by Beethoven, Schubert and Mahler, Rossini’s overtures and two volumes of Liszt’s symphonic poems, the latter described by the Penguin Guide as “one of the most successful collections of Liszt’s symphonic poems to have emerged in recent years”. Beyond the standard and purely orchestral repertoire he has recorded Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Orfeo, Fauré’s Requiem, Mozart’s Mass in C minor and his Kyrie in D minor, Richard Strauss’s Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Beethoven’s Creatures of Prometheus, cello concertos by Dvofiák, Elgar, Dohnányi and Lalo, and Rubinstein’s Violin Concerto (8.555244). For Marco Polo Michael Halász has recorded Rubinstein’s ballet music and Don Quixote, Goldmark’s Symphony No. 2, Miaskovsky’s Symphonies 7 & 10, Schmidt’s Symphony No. 1 and a pioneering recording of Schreker’s opera Die ferne Klang. Building on his growing prowess in the opera house, Halász has directed recordings of two greatly acclaimed complete operas, Fidelio (8.660070-71) and Die Zauberflöte. For the latter he won high praise from Gramophone and other reviewers. His most recent opera recording was of Don Giovanni (8.660080-82). 3 CDs 8.660102-04 12 660102-04bk Mozart US 20/3/04 1:04 pm Page 2 Janusz Monarcha Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Janusz Monarcha has been a bass soloist with the Vienna State Opera since 1991. He received his Master of Arts Degree from the Music Academy in Wroclaw (Breslau) and made his début at the opera there, before moving to Vienna. International recognition began through awards at competitions including the Belvedere in Vienna and first Le Nozze di Figaro prize in the 1984 Callas competition in Athens. He has received the Order of Cultural Merit from the Polish Ministry of Culture. Among rôles he has performed in Vienna are those of Boris Godunov, Gremin in Eugene Onegin, Sarastro (The Marriage of Figaro) in Die Zauberflöte, Zacharias in Nabucco, and Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola. Concert performances and recordings include Verdi’s Requiem, Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Verdi’s Rigoletto. Opera buffa in Four Acts Michael Roider Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte The tenor Michael Roider was born in Salzburg where he graduated from the classical secondary school before entering the famous Mozarteum, pursuing both vocal and violin studies. While there he served as a violinist in the The Count of Almaviva . Bo Skovhus Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, the Camerata Academica and the Salzburg Pro Arte String Quartet. As a singer he was awarded prizes in the Salzburg International Mozart Competition as well as in the Schubert-Wolf-Lied- The Countess of Almaviva . Marina Mescheriakova Competition of the Vienna Musikverein. He made his operatic début as Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the Susanna, betrothed to Figaro . Judith Halász Basel Theater. After engagements and guest-appearances at numerous opera-houses, including those of Leipzig, Geneva, Karlsruhe, Bern and Graz, he was engaged by the Vienna Volksoper, where he made his début in 1994, and Figaro . Renato Girolami in the following year by the Vienna State Opera, where he continues as a member of the company. At both Viennese Cherubino, the Count’s page . Michelle Breedt opera-houses Michael Roider sings a wide range of various rôles, ranging from Lehár and Johann Strauss to major rôles of the lyric and character tenor repertory, including those of Herod in Salome, Laca in JenÛfa, Loge in Rheingold, Marcellina . Gabriele Sima the Painter in Lulu and Captain Vere in Britten’s Billy Budd. At the same time he enjoys a career in the concert and Bartolo, a doctor in Seville . Janusz Monarcha recital hall. Basilio, music-master . Michael Roider Alexander Klinger Don Curzio, counsellor at law . Alexander Klinger Alexander Klinger was born in 1972 in Vienna. He began his voice studies in 1997 at the Vienna Conservatory, and there attended the operetta class and participated in master-classes with Hilde Zadek and Walter Berry. He sang Ajax Antonio, the Count’s gardener and Susanna’s uncle . Peter Köves in Die schöne Helena in Blindenmarkt, Barinkay in Der Zigeunerbaron in Schloß Wolfpassing, Anthony Candolino Barbarina, . Orsolya Sáfár in Meisterklasse with the Vienna Volkstheater and at the Bavarian State Theatre in Munich, Jan in Der Bettelstudent daughter of Antonio and Rittmeister Koltay in Viktoria und ihr Husar at the Bad Hall Stadttheaterl, Rosillon in Die lustige Witwe at Two Ladies . Orsolya Sáfár & Gabriele Sima Ingolstadt, Mozart in Mozart und Salieri in the Radio Kulturhaus/ORF, Orlowsky in Die Fledermaus in Japan and Arzt and Bürger in Das Traumfresserchen at the Vienna State Opera. He has toured throughout Europe as Lieutenant Niki in Ein Walzertraum, Josef in Das Wienerblut and Georg in Opernball. In winter 2003 he took the part of Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus in St Pölten. Chorus of peasants, girls and others Orsolya Sáfár Born in 1979 in Zalaegerszeg the Hungarian soprano Orsolya Sáfár studied singing at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest, completing her training there in 2004. She has participated in master-classes under Júlia Hamari, Agnes Hungarian National Chorus (Matyás Antal, Chorus master) Giebel, Ralf Döring, Bernd Weikl, Éva Marton, Anna Reynolds and Evgenij Nesterenko, and regularly gives recitals and concerts. She has collected a number of prizes at international singing competitions, including third prize and an Continuo: David Aronson • Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia extra prize at the International Joseph Haydn Competition in Hungary in 2003. For her outstanding work in Hungarian Michael Halász contemporary music she received the Artisjus prize in the same year. 8.660102-04 2 11 8.660102-04 660102-04bk Mozart US 20/3/04 1:04 pm Page 10 Wieland’s Das Märchen der 672. Nacht with the Vienna Chamber Opera. In 2001, she recorded the opera Serenata CD 1 71:54 ) No. 10 Aria: Non più andrai, interrotta by Louis Scarmolin. In the same year she sang Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail in Vienna. farfallone amoroso (Figaro) 4:01 From 2001 to 2003 Judith Halász was a member of the Vienna State Opera, where she performed the rôles of Najade 1 Sinfonia 4:07 in Ariadne auf Naxos, Woglinde in Rheingold and Götterdämmerung, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Tigerlilly in Peter ACT II Pan, Ida in Die Fledermaus, and a Blumenmädchen in Parsifal. ACT I ¡ No. 11 Cavatina: Porgi amor 2 No. 1 Duettino: Cinque … dieci … qualche ristoro (Countess) 3:51 Renato Girolami venti …trenta (Figaro, Susanna) 2:45 ™ Recitativo: Vieni, cara Susanna 3:53 The baritone Renato Girolami was born in Italy and studied singing in Rome with Sesto Bruscantini. After receiving 3 Recitativo: Cosa stai misurando 0:42 (Countess, Susanna, Figaro) his degree from the Munich Musikhochschule, where he studied with Ernst Haefliger, he participated in master-classes (Susanna, Figaro) £ Recitativo: Quanto duolmi, Susanna 1:31 in Berlin with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.