Martin Gurbaľ (1974) hails from Slovakia. From 1991–1997 he studied at the conservatory in Košice with Ľudmila Šomorjaiová and then progressed to solo singing at the University of Ostrava, where since 2015 he commenced his pedagogical carreer in the department of solo singing.
He successfully participated in several singing competitions and (among others) won the International Antonín Dvořák Singing Competition in Karlovy Vary in 1996, took second place in the Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský Competition and in the International Lucia Popp Competition in Bratislava.
From 1995 to 2001 he was a soloist at the Opera in Košice (Slovakia) and since 2001 has been a soloist of the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre in Ostrava (Czech Republic). He is a regular guest of the National Theatre in Prague and Brno, Slovak National Theatre, and other theatres in the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and Poland.
His vocal and technical expertise allows him to interpret a wide repertoire of opera, cantata, oratory and song creations, particularly the works of Giuseppe Verdi, Antonín Dvořák and Leoš Janáček.His repertoire includes numerous significant roles (bass – low baritone):
Béla Bartók – BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE (Bluebeard),
Benjamin Britten – THE RAPE OF LUCRETIA (Collatinus), A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (Theseus)
Gaetano Donizetti – ANNA BOLENA (Henry VIII.), DON PASQUALE (Don Pasquale)
Charles Gounod – FAUST (Méphistophélés), ROMEO AND JULIET (Fr?re Laurent)
Paul Hindemith – CARDILLAC (The gold merchant)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO (Bartolo / Count Almaviva), DON GIOVANNI (Don Giovanni), COS? FAN TUTTE (Guglielmo / Don Alfonso), LA CLEMENZA DI TITO (Publio), THE MAGIC FLUTE (Sarastro)
Sergei Prokofiev – THE FIERY ANGEL (Inquisitor)
Giacomo Puccini – MANON LESCAUT (Geronte di Ravoir), LA BOH?ME (Colline), TURANDOT (Timur)
Gioachino Rossini – THE BARBER OF SEVILLE (Basilio), THE ITALIAN GIRL IN ALGIERS (Mustaf?)
Richard Strauss – ARIADNE ON NAXOS (Truffaldin)
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – EUGENE ONEGIN (Prince Gremin)
Ambroise Thomas – HAMLET (Claudius)
Giuseppe Verdi – NABUCCO (Zaccaria), ERNANI (Don Ruy Gomez de Silva), MACBETH (Banco), THE TROUBADOUR (Ferrando), THE SICILIAN VESPERS (Jean Procida), THE POWER OF FATE (Padre Guardiano), DON CARLOS (Ikvizitor), AIDA (The King of Egypt / Ramfis)
Richard Wagner – TANNHÄUSER (Hermann)
Czech repertoire
Antonín Dvořák – ARMIDA (Hydraot), RUSALKA (Water goblin)
Leoš Janáček – JENŮFA (Mayor), THE EXCURSIONS OF MR. BROUČEK TO THE MOON AND TO THE 15TH CENTURY (Sacristan / Lunigrove / Domšík from the Bell), KÁŤA KABANOVÁ (Savël Prokofjevic Dikój), THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN, (Forester), THE MAKROPULOS AFFAIR (Lawyer Dr. Kolenatý)
Bohuslav Martinů – THE GREEK PASSION (Grigoris), MIRANDOLINA (Marchese di Forlimpopoli)
Bedřich Smetana – THE BRANDENBURGERS IN BOHEMIA (Old villager), THE BARTEREDIn addition to his operatic work, he has sung many of the great choral and orchestral vocal works with the world’s most distinguished Czech conductors Jiří Bělohlávek, Tomáš Hanus, Tomáš Netopil and Jakub Hrůša. He has guest appeared in numerous opera houses and concert venues throughout Europe, where he often sings at concerts, for example: Haydn’s Creation, Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Te Deum, Requiem, Biblical Songs, Verdi’s Requiem, Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass (also in the Opera di Firenze), song series of Romantic composers, or other less known pieces. Martin Gurbaľ has performed at concert halls in many European countries with the Czech Philharmonic, the Slovak Philharmonic, Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra di Guiseppe Verdi di Milano (Verdi’s Requiem), Odense Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra ec.
He has frequently performed at the International opera and music festival Janáček Brno (2010 and 2014: THE EXCURSIONS OF MR. BROUČEK TO THE MOON AND TO THE 15TH CENTURY, 2012: KÁŤA KABANOVÁ), has appeared at the Opera Festival in Miskolc (Bartók + Verdi, 2001), and OPA Pisa – Anima Mundi (10th September 2016 with Svatá Ludmila /Saint Ludmila/ by Antonín Dvořák).
He recorded Janáček’s THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN (Forester; Lesník in Czech) – an animated version produced by the BBC.
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