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Ensemble - Deutsche Oper Berlin

Mika Kares

Mika Kares

© Saara Salmi
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Der finnische Bass Mika Kares hat sich sehr schnell zu einem der interessantesten Interpreten seiner Generation entwickelt. Sein breit gefächertes Repertoire reicht von Händel und Mozart zu den großen italienischen und deutschen Meistern (Verdi, Puccini, Wagner) sowie den bedeutendsten Werken der Belcanto-Tradition.

Nach seinem Studium an der Sibelius Academy Helsinki, gab er sein Operndebüt als Figaro / LE NOZZE DI FIGARO und startete damit seine internationale Karriere. Von 2005 bis 2010 war er Ensemblemitglied des Badischen Staatstheaters in Karlsruhe.

Im Sommer 2008 gab er sein Debüt beim Savonlinna Opern Festival in der Titelrolle von Boitos MEFISTOFELE, für die ihm der Preis für den „Künstler des Jahres“ verliehen wurde. Sein US-Debüt gab er als Attila an der Oper in Seattle im Januar 2012. Weitere Erfolge feierte er unter der Leitung namhafter Dirigenten wie Zubin Mehta, Nikolaus Harnoncourt und Marc Minkowski, unter Letzterem u. a. bei der Mozartwoche in Salzburg und im Rahmen einer Tournee durch Europa als Daland / DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER, die zu einer Einspielung durch das Labels Naïve führte, die für den Grammophone Award 2013 nominiert wurde.

Auch seine künstlerische Präsenz als Commendatore in der SONY Music-produzierten und von Teodor Currentzis geleiteten Produktion von DON GIOVANNI in Perm sorgte für Resonanz – und die von SONY veröffentlichte Einspielung wurde u. a. mit dem BBC Music Magazine Award 2017 in der Kategorie Oper ausgezeichnet. Ebenfalls von der Kritik gefeiert wurde die im August 2018 erschienene Aufnahme von Rossinis „Stabat Mater“ mit dem Rundfunkchor und -Orchester München unter Howard Arman.
In den vergangenen Spielzeiten feierte er Erfolge u. a. am Theater an der Wien als Claudio / AGRIPPINA, als Commendatore / DON GIOVANNI an De Nationale Opera in Amsterdam und bei den Salzburger Festspielen unter Alain Altinoglu sowie als Balthazar / LA FAVORITE und Raimondo / LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR an der Bayerischen Staatsoper und bei den Münchner Opernfestspielen. Weitere Highlights waren sein Debüt an der Wiener Staatsoper mit Gremin / EUGEN ONEGIN und seine Darstellung des Ramfis / AIDA in Brüssel ebenfalls unter der Leitung von Alain Altinoglu, Colline / LA BOHÈME am Teatro Real de Madrid, Sarastro / DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE am Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Walter / LUISA MILLER in Zürich, Ferrando / IL TROVATORE an der Opéra national de Paris sowie Massimiliano / I MASNADIERI in Bilbao. Kares‘ Debüt als Wotan / DAS RHEINGOLD bei der RuhrTriennale im Sommer 2015 unter der Leitung von Teodor Currentzis wurde von Presse wie Publikum gefeiert.

Mika Kares ist zudem ein sehr gefragter Konzertsänger. Sein breit gefächertes Konzertrepertoire beinhaltet Schlüsselwerke wie Bachs „Matthäus-Passion“, Rossinis „Stabat Mater“, Beethovens 9. Sinfonie und „Missa solemnis“, Verdis „Messa da Requiem“, Mahlers 8. Sinfonie, Schostakowitschs 13. und 14. Sinfonie, Ralph Vaughan Williams‘ „Songs of Travel“, Berlioz‘ „Roméo et Juliette“ sowie Mozarts „Requiem“ und Haydns „Die Schöpfung“, die er u. a. mit renommierten Orchestern wie den Wiener Philharmonikern, dem Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, dem Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra oder dem Rundfunkorchester und Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks aufgeführt hat.

An der Deutschen Oper Berlin gab er in der Saison 2019/2020 sein Hausdebüt in der Partie des Zaccaria / NABUCCO.

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13
DEC

Adventskalender im Foyer: Das 13. Fensterchen

Today in the Rangfoyer on the right: Arias and duets from Mozart's COSÌ FAN TUTTE
with Nina Solodovnikova (soprano), Chance Jonas-O'Toole (tenor) and Leonard Martynek (piano)
5:00 p.m. / Rangfoyer on the right
Duration: approx. 25 minutes / free admission

‘La scuola degli amanti’ – “The School for Lovers” is the subtitle of the third and final collaboration between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte. And the four characters who attend this school in the course of COSÌ FAN TUTTE do indeed learn a great deal: about life, about love and, above all, about themselves. At the beginning, we meet four young people who firmly believe in the moral convictions that have been drummed into them from an early age. However, this foundation becomes increasingly fragile as the opera progresses. In the end, Ferrando and Guglielmo, Fiordiligi and Dorabella are faced with the realisation that they have to live with uncertainty about their own feelings and those of others. An uncertainty, however, without the acceptance of which understanding and love are not possible.

Today's advent calendar programme focuses on two characters: Fiordiligi, sung by Nina Solodovnikova, and Ferrando, sung by Chance Jonas-O'Toole.

Listen to the recitative of the two ‘Barbara perché fuggi’ (‘Cruel! Why do you flee?’), in which Ferrando, instigated by Don Alfono, tries to seduce Fiordiligi into being unfaithful to her lover. This is followed by the aria ‘Ei parte... senti... ah, no! / Per pietà, ben mio, perdona‘ (’Oh forgive me, forgive me, my love‘), in which Fiordiligi expresses all her doubts and her inner conflict between loyalty and betrayal. Ferrando, on the other hand, is still quite confident in his aria from the first act – “Un aura amorosa” (’The Breath of Love"). The poison of the cynic Alfonso has not yet entered his veins; he still believes himself to be wrapped in the deep, eternal love of Dorabella. It is one of Mozart's most famous tenor arias and a declaration of love to love itself. Tonight's programme concludes with the duet ‘Fra gli amplessi’ (Towards his arms I hasten), which represents the emotional climax of the second act. Fiordiligi, who has long resisted all advances and is still hesitant at the beginning of the duet, finally surrenders completely to her passion and to Ferrando in disguise. The music emphasises this overcoming of doubt and the passionate union through an increasing fusion of the singing voices.

‘Let us embrace, my dear love,
let us take comfort, after so much torment,
in dying of sweet love,
in sighing with bliss.’

Nina Solodovnikova, who was born in Moscow in 1993, will join our ensemble in the 2024/25 season as a scholarship holder of the Förderkreis (scholarship Stiftung für die Deutsche Oper Berlin / Bettina Volle). She completed her studies in Bologna and finished her studies in the Young Artist Program of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and at the Chigiana Music Academy. She completed her training in the Donizetti repertoire at the Academy of Teatro alla Scala and in the baroque repertoire at the Philharmonic Academy of Bologna. She has won numerous international competitions. At the Deutsche Oper Berlin she has appeared in the roles of, among others, Lady Macbeth's chambermaid / MACBETH, Violetta Valéry / LA TRAVIATA, Musetta / LA BOHÈME, Gretel / HÄNSEL UND GRETEL, Pamina / DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE and The Voice of the Falcon / DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN.

Chance Jonas-O'Toole is a scholarship holder (Theodora Schnauck-Betow / Dr Constanze and Olfert Landt Scholarship) in his second season at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In the 2024/25 season, he will be seen in the roles of David / DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG, Steuermann / DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER, Tamino / DAS MÄRCHEN VON DER ZAUBERFLÖTE, as well as in operas such as DAS SCHLAUE FÜCHSLEIN, LA TRAVIATA, LES VÊPRES SICILIENNES and SALOME. Last season, he could be seen as Sir Hervey / ANNA BOLENA, John and Angel 3 / WRITTEN ON SKIN and Tschekalinskij / PIQUE DAME. In 2022 and 2023, he returned to the Merola Opera Program during the summer months. In 2023, he came second in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition Western Region and was a finalist in Dallas Opera's Biennial Lone-Star Vocal Competition; in 2022, he was selected as a finalist in the Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition.

Leonard Martynek was born in Berlin as the son of a German-Czech family. He studied piano, accompaniment and song interpretation at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar and completed his master's degree with distinction at the University of Music and Theatre Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Leipzig. He won several prizes at sight-reading competitions and as an accompanist at singing competitions. During his studies, Leonard Martynek gained his first experiences in rehearsing various operas and was engaged as a pianist for vocal masterclasses. Internships and engagements eventually led him to the Chemnitz Theatre and the Leipzig Opera. Leonard Martynek received the Richard Wagner Scholarship in 2016 and has been engaged as a solo repetiteur at the Chemnitz Theatres since the 2019/20 season. There he was involved in the rehearsals of TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, LOHENGRIN, DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN, HÄNSEL UND GRETEL, CARMEN and DIE FLEDERMAUS. Since the winter semester of 2021, he has been teaching the subject of part study in the opera class at the Leipzig University of Music. In 2023/24 Leonard Martynek was musical director of the Semperoper's Young Ensemble. From the 2024/25 season, Leonard Martynek will be deputy director of studies and répétiteur at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.