Met plucks two singers from Where?furt

Met plucks two singers from Where?furt

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norman lebrecht

December 07, 2016

Two ensemble members of the Erfurt Theatre have been cast in the Met’s next season.

Vazgen Ghazaryan is a bass, Won Whi Choi a tenor. Both are fulltime ensemble members, little known outside Erfurt.

 

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A city of 400,000 in the dead centre of Germany, Erfurt has a year-round opera theatre and symphony orchestra.

The two singers have been sworn to silence on their Met roles.

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The Erfurt intendant Guy Montavon says: ‘The public here has long known that these are outstanding singers. This is a major career boost for them.’

Comments

  • John Groves says:

    The intendant at Erfurt is quite right! People ignore the ‘smaller’ German opera houses but they often produce outstanding work. Erfurt has a lovely modern theatre – and the city itself is priceless!

    • Naama Zahavi-Ely says:

      Won Who Choi is a fabulous tenor with a gorgeous voice and terrific acting talent. I look forward to hearing and seeing him in any role.

  • phf655 says:

    Choi has recently sung at the New York City Opera and has a United States manager.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/25/arts/music/review-florencia-in-the-amazon-new-york-city-opera.html

  • Olga says:

    Erfurt of Thuringia is a beautiful city with some architecturally outstanding churches and buildings. Weimer, another cultural point of interest, is just nearby. Both cities are attractive for tourists. So it is not a big surprise that Erfurt has an opera house where outstanding singers perform. I’m delighted to know that new good voices will be heard at the Met soon.

  • Esfir Ross says:

    Meinengen of Thuringia city of 21000 people has his opera, symphony orchestra, repertoire theatre-the loveliest town. Thuringia’s beautiful, green, historical, cultural town.

  • Sneakeater says:

    Won Wi Choi is actually sort of known in New York as a result of his excellent work with LoftOpera (“La Boheme”) and the revived City Opera (“Florenzia”).

  • V.Lind says:

    Looks like their scouting is comprehensive. Good on them.

  • Theodore McGuiver says:

    A word needs to be added about the house’s Generalintendant, Guy Montavon. He possesses extraordinary nouse in sniffing out talent and improves every theatre he runs, beit it Giessen, Erfurt or wherever. More power to his, and Erfurt’s, elbow.

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