Michal Lehotský

The Slovak tenor Michal Lehotský studied voice privately with Stano Mjartan. In 1996, he took a guest course at the Mozart Academy in Cracow (with Eva Blahová and Kerstin Meyer), as well as attending master classes in Piešťany (with Peter Mikuláš), and in Bayreuth. He has to his credit laureateships from the Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský and Ema Destinnová Competitions, and was twice semifinalist of the Hans Gabor-Belvedere Competition in Vienna (in 1996 and 1997). From 1996 – 2001, he was engaged with the opera company of Košice, Slovakia. Between 2004 and 2008, he was a soloist of the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava, and since 2008 he has pursued his career as a free-lance artist. On the stage of the Slovak National Theatre, where he still regularly guest appears, he has created a formidable gallery of roles (among others, the Duke in Rigoletto, Rodolfo in La bohème, Manrico in Il trovatore, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Gustav III in Un ballo in maschera, Radames in Aida, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Don José in Carmen, Turiddu in Cavaleria rusticana, Canio in I pagliacci, Calaf in Turandot, Peter Grimes, Macduff in Macbeth, Jeník in The Bartered Bride, the Prince in Rusalka, or Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia).

Touring extensively, he has guest appeared at the Vienna State Opera (as the Duke in Rigoletto, and Števa in Jenůfa), the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, at Wexford, Ireland (as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and Jiří in The Jacobin), the Budapest State Opera, the National Theatre in Bucharest, as well as in China and Japan, among other venues. He was cast in a stage version of Janáček’s Diary of One Who Disappeared in Rimini, Italy, and in a production of Shostakovich’s opera, The Gamblers, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Vasily Petrenko. Since 2007, he has worked with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, singing solo parts in Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust, Dvořák’s cantata The Spectre’s Bride, and Vítězslav Novák’s The Tempest. His discography includes two sets of Dvořák’s The Jacobin (a live recording from Wexford on the Fonè label, and a version with the WDR Orchestra conducted by Gerd Albrecht, released by Orfeo), and a recording of another Dvořák opera, The King and the Charcoal Burner (WDR Orchestra, Gerd Albrecht, Orfeo). His collaborations with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra are documented on two CDs (Shostakovich’s The Gamblers, and Veniamin Fleishman’s Rothschild’s Violin).

In the 2011/2012 season, Michal Lehotský will appear in the Slovak National Theatre’s new productions of Otello (the title role) and Jenůfa (Laca). His creation of Canio (I pagliacci) at the National Theatre in Brno earned him a nomination for the prestigious Thalia Award in 2008. The beginning of his creative association with the Prague State Opera dates back to 2002.