Michal Lehotský

Slovak tenor Michal Lehotský studied singing privately with Stano Mjartan. In 1996 he completed a study stay at the Mozart Academy in Krakow (with Eva Blahová and Kerstin Meyer), master classes in Piešťany (with Peter Mikuláš) and in Bayreuth. He is a laureate of the singing competitions of Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský, Ema Destinnová and a two-time semifinalist of the Hans Gabor – Belveder competition in Vienna (1996, 1997). In 1996–2001 he was engaged by the opera ensemble in Košice, in 2004–2008 he was a soloist of the Slovak National Theater (SND) in Bratislava, and since 2008 he has been working as a freelancer. In the SND, where he is still a regular guest, he has created a number of roles (Duke in Rigoletto, Rodolfo in Bohemia, Manrico in Troubadour, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Gustav III in Masquerade Ball, Radames in Aida, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Don José in Carmen, Turiddu in The Peasant Cavalier, Canio in the Comedians, Kalaf in Turandot, Peter Grimes, Otello, Macduff in Macbeth, Jeník in The Bartered Bride, Prince in Rusalka, Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia, Herman in The Queen of Spades, etc.). He has performed abroad at the Vienna State Opera (Duke of Rigoletto and Števa in Her Godmother), the Berlin German Opera, Wexford in Ireland (Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and George in Jacobin), the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest, the National Theater in Bucharest, in China and Japan. From 2002 to 2011 he was a regular guest of the Prague State Opera. For the role of Cania (Comedians) at the Brno National Theater, he was nominated for the prestigious Thalia Award 2008. Michal Lehotský is also intensively involved in concert activities, collaborating with major orchestras such as the Czech Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln and Liverpool Royal Philharmonic. He performed in a stage performance of Janáček’s Notebook Disappeared in Rimini, Italy, and in Shostakovich’s opera Players with the Liverpool Royal Philharmonic under the baton of Vasily Petrenko. In his discography he has two recordings of Dvořák’s Jacobin (a recording from Wexford, the Fonè label, and with the WDR orchestra under the baton of Gerd Albrecht for the Orfeo label) and another Dvořák’s opera, The King and the Coal Miner (WDR orchestra / Gerd Albrecht, Orfeo). Two CDs (Shostakovich: Players and Veniamin Fleishman: Rothschild’s Violin) were created in collaboration with the Liverpool Royal Philharmonic.