Introducing Israeli barihunk Oded Reich

Oded Reich and soprano Yael Levita (center)

Israeli barihunk Oded Reich, who is new to Barihunks, will open on July 3rd in the world premiere of Yoni Rechter's Schitz, which is part of a double-bill with Haim Permont's The Lady and the Peddler at the New Israeli Opera. Both operas feature all-Israeli casts.

Schitz has a libretto by Hanoch Levin and edited by Muli Meltzer. It tells the story of the Schitz family, a stereotypiccal Israeli family who want to get daughter Shprachtzi married. Desperate to get away from her parents, she meets a former IDF officer Tcharchess, sung by Reich.  She wants a wedding ring and a family, but he wants the family inheritance and schemes to get rid of the parents. War breaks out and things don’t quite go as planned for everyone involved.

The Lady and the Peddler is set in Russia of 1940 and centers on an exiled Jew trying to make his way through life. Performances run through July 10th. For tickets and more information for the double-bill, call (03) 692-7777 or order online.  

Oded Reich and Alla Vasilevitsky sing La ci darem la mano from Don Giovanni:

 

Oded Reich studied at the Jerusalem Music Academy before becoming a member of the Israeli Opera Studio in 2011 and the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv. At the Israeli Opera he performed the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Akko Festival, Prince Yamadori and the Imperial Commissar in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Marullo and Usciere in Verdi's Rigoletto, Marchese and Dr. Grenvil in Verdi's La Traviata, Montano in Verdi's Otello, Silvano in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera,  Luther in Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann and other roles.

He is also a founding-member of Profeti della Quinta, an ensemble of male voices performing a repertoire of Renaissance and early Baroque music.