  g(11696700)a(1393595))
www.weikl.to
Agencies:
Opéra et Concert
37, rue de la Chaussée d'Antin
75009 Paris
France
Fon: +33 1 42 96 18 18
Fax: +33 1 42 96 18 00
agence@opera-concert.com
www.opera-concert.com
Hilbert Artists Management
Maximilianstr. 22
80539 München
Deutschland
Fon: +49 89 290 474 50
Fax: +49 89 290 474 90
agentur@hilbert.de
www.hilbert.de
| | Weikl Bernd | | baritono |   
| Bernd Weikl, born in Vienna in 1942, grew up in Mainz, Germany and first studied economics at the Gutenberg University Mainz. Later in Linz and Vienna. At the Mainz Conservatory, he started his musical education in 1962, which he continued at the Music College in Hanover from 1965. He began his professional singing career in 1968, when he was hired by the Staatstheater in Hannover. This was followed in 1970 by the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf/Duisburg, where he was a member of the ensemble until 1973. His international breakthrough was in 1972 at the Bayreuth Festival, where he sang the role of Wolfram von Eschenbach in Goetz Friedrich's spectacular production of 'Tannhaeuser'. Invitations followed to the great opera houses in Hamburg, Vienna and Munich, as well as to the New York Metropolitan Opera, London's Royal Opera House, and again to the Bayreuth and Salzburg Festivals. |
| Today, Bernd Weikl is not only one of the most celebrated and sought-after baritones, but also one of the most versatile artists on the international opera stage. His repertoire comprises over forty opera roles, each in the original language; in fact, Weikl is virtually the only German-speaking singer who is an equally outstanding performer of German, Italian, French, and Russian roles at all the major opera houses around the globe. He has enjoyed a particularly close musical relationship with the Vienna State Opera from 1972 on, during the course of his now over 30-year-long career, he has given over 550 performances there alone. In the other musical capitals such as Hamburg, Munich, Milan, London and New York, he has been a long-time and regular guest, much celebrated by the audience and the press. Among his outstanding guest performances are 'Falstaff' at La Scala in Milan, 'Otello' in Stuttgart, Vienna and Hamburg, 'Salome' in Munich, Vienna and at New York's Metropolitan Opera, and more than 250 performances at the Bayreuth Festival. |
| He is known as an especially sensitive and expressive interpreter of the works of Richard Wagner. His performances in the roles of such different characters as Wolfram, Amfortas, Kurwenal and the Flying Dutchman are repeatedly greeted with ovations and have become landmarks in the history of Wagnerian singing. His star role, however, is undisputedly that of the wise shoemaker-poet Hans Sachs in 'Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg', which he sang for the 160th time on New Year's Eve of 2000 in a much celebrated performance conducted by Christian Thielemann at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. The warm, opulent timbre of his voice, his expressive intensity, and last but not least, the sensitivity of his acting make Bernd Weikl the leading interpreter of this role, which is the longest and most demanding of the baritone repertoire. |
| Bernd Weikl has collaborated regularly with just about all of the famous vocalists and conductors of the last three decades, including Karl Boehm, Herbert von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein, Sir Georg Solti, Lorin Maazel, Bernard Haitink, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Carlos Kleiber, James Levine and Zubin Mehta. He has recorded most of the roles of his repertoire for CD or video, and moreover has played a prominent role in numerous film and television productions as well as live broadcasts. |
| In January 2001 Bernd Weikl gave a splendid portrayal of the title role in a new production of Verdi's 'Falstaff' conducted by Zubin Mehta at the Bavarian State Opera to celebrate the Verdi year 2001, followed by successful guest appearances as Don Giovanni and Jochanaan in Hamburg, a tour to Tokyo with the Bavarian State Opera under the baton of Zubin Mehta and performances of 'Arabella' in Munich. Upcoming projects include concerts in Japan, 'The flying Dutchman' in Los Angeles, 'Falstaff' at Dresden´s Semperoper and a new production of 'Elisir d´amore' in Cologne. |
| Next to his opera and concert activities, Bernd Weikl has also established a reputation as a book author, teacher and panelist of prominent forums. His interests in this area are as versatile as his opera repertoire and comprise mainly philosophical, social, sociological, and economic, but also medical and phenomenological issues. In his lectures and publications, Weikl integrates these issues into comprehensive conceptual models, whereby his particular focus of interest is the role of the artist in the present-day conflict between culture and commerce. |
| Bernd Weikl is Dr. rer.oec. of the University of Vilnius, Lithuania, honorary doctor of musicology of the University of Almaty, Kazakhstan, "Kammersaenger" of Bavaria, Hamburg and Austria, honorary member of the Vienna State Opera, member of the managing committee of the European Music Academy, member of the Club of Budapest, and holder of Germany's Grand Cross for Distinguished Service and the Bavarian Order of Merit and the golden viennese medal of honour. |
|
|
|