
Béla Mavrák (born 7 April 1966) is a
Hungarian tenor singer.
Early life and studies
Béla Mavrák was born in
Baden bei Wien
Baden (Central Bavarian: ''Bodn''), unofficially distinguished from Baden (disambiguation), other Badens as Baden bei Wien (Baden near Vienna), is a spa town in Austria. It serves as the capital of Baden (district of Austria), Baden District in t ...
(
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
) of Hungarian parents and grew up in the city of
Zrenjanin
Zrenjanin ( sr-Cyrl, Зрењанин, ; ; ; ; ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Central Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The city urban area has a population of 67,129 inh ...
in
SAP Vojvodina,
SR Serbia
The Socialist Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Социјалистичка Република Србија, Socijalistička Republika Srbija), previously known as the People's Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / " ...
,
SFR Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
.
From an early age he followed piano lessons in the local music school. He finished the high school medicine education and was preparing for a medical university study, but during his compulsory year in the army he got more involved with music and started trying to write his own songs. After his military duty was fulfilled he asked a friend of the family who was a music professor to help him develop his composition abilities. It was this professor Bursać who first noticed Mavrák's vocal talent and who encouraged him to enroll in the
Belgrade Music Academy in 1989, where he was taught by Yugoslavian tenor Zvonimir Krnetić.
At the invitation of his uncle, a saxophonist who lived in Germany, Mavrák moved to
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
in 1991 to continue his studies there.
Alongside his education under Wilfried Jochims at the prestigious Cologne University of Music, he received private lessons by
Franco Corelli
Franco Corelli (8 April 1921 – 29 October 2003) was an Italian tenor who had a major international opera career between 1951 and 1976. Associated in particular with the spinto and dramatic tenor roles of the Italian repertory, he was ce ...
in Milano and
Gianni Raimondi in Bologna. He also followed master classes with Gianni Raimondi as well as with
Nicolai Gedda
Harry Gustaf Nikolai Gädda, better known as Nicolai Gedda (11 July 1925 – 8 January 2017), was a Swedish operatic tenor. Debuting in 1951, Gedda had a long and successful career in opera until the age of 77 in June 2003, when he made his final ...
.
In 1994, he completed his studies and received his arts diploma.
He lives in Cologne up till this day.
Career
In 1993, Mavrák won the gold medal and first prize in the international singing competition in Santa Margherita Ligure (Italy) with Rodolfo's aria from
Puccini
Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, s ...
's opera
La bohème
''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
. He also sang in a CD production of
Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...
's
Petite messe solennelle. Following his success in Santa Margherita Ligure, the Belgrade State Opera hired him for his first operatic role, Rodolfo in the 1994 production of La bohème.
He sang in a CD production of Vivaldi's
Magnificat
The Magnificat (Latin for "y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary or Canticle of Mary, and in the Byzantine Rite as the Ode of the Theotokos (). Its Western name derives from the incipit of its Latin text. This ...
as well as appearing in the Beethoven Hall (
Bonn
Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
, Germany) together with the Philharmonica Hungarica in a production of Verdi's
Requiem
A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...
.
In the Cologne Philharmony he sang in the world premier of Marianna Martinez' In Exitu Israel and Dixit Dominus.
He reprised his role in the Requiem a year later in the
Teatro Colón
The Teatro Colón () is a historic opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acoustics expert Leo Beranek among leadin ...
in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
and the Teatro Municipal in
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
(Brazil).
Also in 1995, he sang the main role of Faust in Berlioz'
Damnation of Faust in the Salzburg Festspielhaus (Austria).
He continued this role in a new setting when the German National Theater in
Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...
contracted him for two years in 1998 as part of the Weimar
European Capital of Culture
A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can ...
festivities. Over the course of these two years he starred in ten different opera productions.
Amongst his roles were those of Faust in
Gounod
Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...
's Faust, Don Ottavio in
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
's
Don Giovanni
''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...
, Pinkerton in Puccini's
Madame Butterfly
''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa.
It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lut ...
and the Italian singer in
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...
'
Der Rosenkavalier
(''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from Louvet de Couvrai's novel ''Les amours du cheva ...
. In 1999, still as a part of the Cultural Capital program, he sang in the European premier of
Giya Kancheli's Music for the living.
1999 also saw what Mavrák considers one of the high points of his career: he sang in a concert in aid of the Menuhin Fund, conducted by Yehudi Menuhin himself.
In 2000 Mavrák, together with Gary Bennett and Thomas Greuel, became one of the three Platin Tenors.
From 2000 till 2003 Mavrák was hired as a guest singer by several German theatres. Roles from this period are amongst others: Prince Sou Chong in
Lehar's
The Land of Smiles
''The Land of Smiles'' (German: ') is a 1929 romantic operetta in three acts by Franz Lehár. The German language libretto was by Ludwig Herzer and Fritz Löhner-Beda. The performance duration is about 100 minutes.
This was one of Lehár's late ...
, Sandor Barinkay in
Johann Strauss
Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well as a violinist. He compose ...
's
Der Zigeunerbaron and Edwin in
Emmerich Kálmán
Emmerich Kálmán ( ; 24 October 1882 – 30 October 1953) was a Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian composer of operettas and a prominent figure in the development of Operetta#Austria–Hungary, Viennese operetta in the 20th century. Among his most p ...
's
Die Csárdásfürstin.
He sang in the first Berlin performance of
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...
's
Liverpool Oratorio
''Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio'' is a live album by Paul McCartney and Carl Davis, released in 1991. It is McCartney's first major foray into classical music. Composed in collaboration with Carl Davis to commemorate the Royal Liverpool Phi ...
, in the Konzerthaus Gendarmenmarkt in 2003.
In 2004, he sang in
Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...
's
Lobgesang in the Berlin Philharmonic Hall.
In that year he appeared more than 20 times as Tamino in
The Magic Flute
''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...
by Mozart.
In 2005 he sang the role of Alfredo in Verdi's
La traviata in the Budapest State Opera.
Starting in 2005, Mavrák started working with
André Rieu
André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu (, ; born 1 October 1949) is a Dutch violinist and conductor best known as the founder of the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra.
Rieu and his orchestra tour worldwide, often playing in stadiums. He resides ...
in his role as one of the Platin Tenors. Up till now they have performed more than 600 times in locations all over the world such as
Semperoper
The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the Th ...
in Dresden,
Schönbrunn Palace
Schönbrunn Palace (Austrian German, German: Schloss Schönbrunn ) was the main summer residence of the House of Habsburg, Habsburg rulers, located in Hietzing, the 13th district of Vienna. The name ''Schönbrunn'' (meaning "beautiful spring") ha ...
in Vienna and
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...
in New York. They also appeared in several CD and DVD productions.
In 2008, the city of
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...
(the Netherlands) awarded Mavrák the gold honorary medal of merit, in recognition of his contributions to the city as part of André Rieu and the Strauss Orchestra.
A new direction
In 2010, Mavrák recorded his solo CD in
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
, ''Un soplo en el aire'' (a breeze in the wind).
During the recording of the CD in the Abdala Studio and
Radio Progreso in
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.[Buena Vista Social Club
Buena Vista Social Club was a musical ensemble primarily made up of Cuban musicians, formed in 1996. The project was organized by World Circuit (record label), World Circuit executive Nick Gold, produced by American guitarist Ry Cooder and dire ...](_bl ...<br></span></div>, he worked together with the stars of <div class=)
. Amongst them are such prominent Cuban musicians as
Guillermo Rubalcaba and José "Maracaibo Oriental" Castañeda. The CD was first released in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
in November 2010, and since then it keeps appearing in more and more countries and attracted the attention of the
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...
. Mavrák has chosen for a combination of traditional Cuban songs mixed with classic Hollywood songs and more traditional songs from his childhood.
References
External links
*
Mavrák's page on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mavrak, Bela
1966 births
Hungarian operatic tenors
Living people
Musicians from Baden bei Wien
20th-century Hungarian male opera singers
21st-century Hungarian male opera singers