The time of change
The most striking and probably most formative singing challenge of my entire career at the Vienna State Opera unfolded during the tenure of Dominique Meyer and his General Music Director Franz Welser-Möst.
The desire for an artistic change was kindled in me a decade ago by my esteemed friend and mentor Marcel Prawy. Despite my initial reluctance and the warnings associated with the change from lyric tenor to Wagnerian heldentenor, Prawy's insistent words could not let me go in the end.
My debut as a heldentenor was the opening of the new directorate under Dominique Meyer with Paul Hindemith's opera "Cardillac". I was deeply grateful to return to the Vienna State Opera after a decade, especially when I was entrusted with the role of the "Officer". It was a truly heroic leap into the unknown to stand on this stage again, combined with great joy, but also not without risks. But accepting the challenge was unavoidable for me.
As a result, my switch to the heldentenor repertoire proved to be a success. Dominique Meyer quickly recognized me as the ideal house and heldentenor. So I was privileged to perform in extraordinary and grandiose roles until his departure from the Vienna State Opera.
I embodied "Bacchus" in Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos", "Paul" in "Die tote Stadt" by Erich W. Korngold, the title role in Richard Wagner's "Lohengrin", "Peter Grimes" by Benjamin Britten, "Jim Mahoney" in "Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny" by Kurt Weill, "Loge" in Wagner's "Rheingold", "Erik" in "Der fliegende Holländer", "Siegmund" in "Die Walküre", the Tambourmajor in Alban Berg's "Wozzeck" and "Alwa" in "Lulu", also by Alban Berg.
