Jochen Kowalski

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kowalski at the Elbland Festival Wittenberge 2008

Jochen Kowalski (born January 30, 1954 in Wachow , Nauen district ) is a German opera singer with an alto tone .

Life

Jochen Kowalski grew up as the son of a butcher from Poland and a mother from Brandenburg with two older brothers near Nauen , where he graduated from high school in 1972. Since his first two applications at the music college had been rejected, he first became a prop master at the German State Opera Unter den Linden in Berlin .

From 1977 to 1983 he studied singing at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin. After initial attempts as a tenor , he trained as a countertenor with Marianne Fischer-Kupfer in the final year of his studies . During this time, Kowalski was engaged at the international Handel Festival in Halle (Saale) in 1982 . After completing his studies, he became a member of the ensemble at the Komische Oper Berlin , largely supported by Harry Kupfer and Werner Rackwitz .

Since 1985 he has also been obliged to tour the house - also in the western part of Europe. During a guest appearance in 1985 at the Hamburg State Opera , Rolf Liebermann invited him to a planned performance of Titus and suggested further training with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf . From then on Kowalski appeared at the opera houses in Vienna, where he made his debut as Prince Orlofsky in Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus in 1987. Karl Dönch arranged the appearance at the Volksoper in Georg Friedrich Handel's Giustino . After the end of the GDR , Kowalski sang in Paris , London , Tokyo and at the Salzburg Festival . In 1994 he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. There he sang on December 31, 1999 in the Fledermaus performance of the Millennium Gala. With the Capital Dance Orchestra he is frequently on the road in German-speaking countries with the Stars go swing program .

The milestones of his career include leading and title roles in the following works: Christoph Willibald Gluck's : Orfeo ed Euridice (Orpheus) and Georg Friedrich Handel's Giustino , Belshazzar (Daniel) and Julius Caesar in Egypt (Caesar).

Unlike most countertenors, Jochen Kowalski does not devote himself exclusively to early music , but also interprets art songs , operettas and salon music . In 2013 he created the role of Max Wallstein in the world premiere of Villa Verdi , based on the film Il Bacio di Tosca by Daniel Schmid at the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (director: Johann Kresnik , text: Chistoph Klimke , composition and arrangements: Walter Main ). In 2016 he appeared in the speaking role of the dead Hamlet in Anno Schreier's opera Hamlet in the Theater an der Wien .

Awards

Jochen Kowalski bears the title of chamber singer .

Discography (selection)

  • Georg Friedrich Handel: Cantatas. Capriccio, EAN: 4006408103233 (CD)
  • Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantatas. Capriccio, EAN: 4006408105237 (CD)
  • Heinrich Schütz: swan song. Swv 482–494, edel records, EAN: 0782124107123 (CD)
  • Arias by Mozart and Handel, Capriccio, 1987
  • Christoph W. Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice , Hartmut Haenchen, Capriccio, 1988
  • Schumann, Mozart and Beethoven: Lieder , Capriccio, 1992
  • Schubert: Die Schöne Müllerin , piano: Markus Hinterhäuser, Capriccio, 1997
  • The Capital Dance Orchestra & Jochen Kowalski 2007

literature

  • The countertenor Jochen Kowalski: Conversations with Susanne Stähr , Bärenreiter, Kassel / Henschel, Leipzig 2013.

Web links

Commons : Jochen Kowalski  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Countertenor Jochen Kowalski: "That's my voice!" , Interview in the series Im Interview , broadcast on September 19, 2018 on Deutschlandfunk Kultur , moderation: Katrin Heise ( mp3 , (32 MB, about 33 min) )
  2. ↑ Kleine Zeitung: Big gala for award winners . Article dated June 19, 2018, accessed June 19, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Kowalski, Jochen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German opera singer (countertenor)
DATE OF BIRTH January 30, 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Wachow , Nauen district , GDR