Zoltán Vongrey

A native of Gelnica, Slovakia, baritone Zoltán Vongrey studied singing at the Conservatoire in Košice and at the Academy of Music in Bratislava, and subsequently frequented master classes with Carlo Bergonzi in Siena, Italy. While still a student, he worked with the Chamber Opera in Bratislava. He spent two years in engagement with the Vienna Chamber Opera, and has to his credit a record of concert tours in Japan, Germany, Ukraine, and Austria. Since 1995 he has been a soloist of the State Opera in Banská Bystrica, apart from which he has been guest appearing at the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava and the State Theatre in Košice. His repertoire is centered around Italian opera roles, including among others Verdi’s Giorgio Germont (La traviata), Don Carlo (Ernani), Luna (Il trovatore), Ezio (Attila), Renato (Un ballo in maschera), Simon Boccanegra and Macbeth; Puccini’s Scarpia (Tosca) and Marcello (La bohème); Leoncavallo’s Tonio (I pagliacci); Mascagni’s Alfio (Cavalleria rusticana); Donizetti’s Riccardo (I puritani), apart from which he is an equally accomplished interpreter of Czech and German opera characters, such as Tomeš (Smetana’s The Kiss), Krušina (Smetana’s The Bartered Bride); Foreman (Janáček: Jenůfa), Ottokar and Kilian (Weber’s Der Freischütz); or Guglielmo (Mozart’s Così fan tutte). In the 2010/2011 season, he will create the role of Francesco Foscari in the Slovak National Theatre’s new production of Verdi’s opera I due Foscari, conducted by Friedrich Haider. He previously guest appeared at the Prague State Opera in the 2004/2005 season, as Scarpia.