Patrick Egersborg, who appears twice in our new Barihunks Calendar, will be kicking off the Oslo Opera Festival 10 year anniversary celebration on October 10th. He'll be joined by soprano Gjøril Songvoll and accompanist Berit Billingsø in the newly renovated Østbanehallen.
Egersborg will sing Don Giovanni's Catalog Aria, Bess, You Is My Woman Now from Porgy & Bess and join Gjøril Songvoll for Là ci darem la mano from Don Giovanni. There will also be music by Alf Prøysen, Francesco Cilea and Giuseppe Verdi.
We've had a sudden uptick in Reader Submissions from Scandinavia while we've been covering the Queen Sonja Vocal Competition in Oslo (which wraps up on August 21st). The latest is Norwegian bass-barihunk Patrick Egersborg, who graduated with a masters degree from the National Opera Academy in Oslo. He has also studied at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler" in Berlin and in London on a scholarship. He is also was awarded a scholarship from Opera Grange Park to further his studies.
While at the Opera Academy, he sang in the full
production of Cavalli's L’Ormindo, as well as excerpts from numerous operas. Last year he performed Don Alfonso' in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte and in 2013 he sang The Operator in the world premiere of Mæland's Ad Undas at The Norwegian National Opera.
In 2010, Egersborg sang the role of Spurio and The Executioner at the Grimeborn Festival in the first complete showcase of Jools Scott's jazz-opera Vice, which also played at the Soho Theatre. In 2012, he sang the role of Zoroastro in the Norwegian premiere of the Handel's Orlando at Åmot Operagard. In 2013, he sang Dottore Spinnelloccio/Notaro and Talpa in Puccini's Il Trittico at a Master Class at the Norwegian National
Opera under the baton of Magnus Loddgard and last year he appeared as Sam in Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti at the Oslo Opera Festival.
He also sings regularly for the Oslo Opera Festival and has appeared in concert at Universitetets aula, the Romerike Symphony Orchestra and at the summer concerts on the balcony at the Norwegian National Opera. You can hear him singing Mozart's Se vuol ballare from Le nozze di FigaroHERE.
Upcoming performances include an appearance with OperaSalong in Ringsakeroperaen in September and Zuniga in Bizet's Carmen in November at the Ringsakeroperaen. He will also be appearing in our 2016 Barihunks Charity Calendar, which is due out on October 1st.
Our latest reader submission is Norwegian barihunk Håvard Stensvold who made his debut at the Royal Theater in Copenhagen as Masetto in Don Giovanni in 1997. He has gone on to sing Masetto, Don Giovanni and the Commendatore in Mozart's Don Giovanni. He's made his mark in other Mozart roles, as well, including Papageno in the Magic Flute, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro and Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte. He sings primarily in Scandinavia, although he's performed in Belgium, Austria and Spain.
He started performing as a boy soprano with
the Norwegian boys choir Sølvguttene. He went on to study at the Royal
Opera Academy in Copenhagen at the Royal Danish Music Conservatory,
where one of his instructors was the famed baritone Håkan Hagegård.
Håvard Stensvold sings "Ho capito" from Don Giovanni:
He's also made his mark in contemporary opera, singing the lead roleBo Berg inKnutVaage'sKhairos at Norske Opera, Kjell Habbestad's The Maid Of Norwayin Bergen, Nielsen's The Little Mermaid, Cecilie Ore's Dead Beat Escapement at Norske Opera, The Soldier in the world premiere of Palmar Johansen's Madonna Furiosa, and one of the leading roles in the world premiere of Anitra Tumsevica’s opera Red.
He also appears as Zebul on the CD of Handel's Jephtha under Fabio Biondi, as well as three recording with with pianistTorEspenAspaas, WinterHolidays, Schubert's Winterreise and a Brahms lieder recital.
We've featured Audun Iversen before and were thrilled to see that he was named the "Artist of the Month" by the British magazine "Opera Now," (not the American podcast of the same name). Here is what they wrote:
Norwegian-born Audun Iversen is making himself quit at home in Britain these days. This spring saw the 34-year-old baritone make his Covent Garden debut as Albert in Werther opposite Rolando Villazon, and he'll be appearing as Marchello in La boheme and as Lescaut in Massenet's Manon at the same house this season.
Last season also saw Iversen on the road around the UK as Don Giovanni with Glyndebourne Touring, and he's back at the Glyndebourne Festival next summer as the Count in a new production of The Marriage of Figaro. Meanwhile, this autumn finds him at the English National Opera singing the title role in a new production of Eugene Onegin directed by Deborah Warner. 'I find Onegin an exciting character," he says. 'He's a blank canvas that directors and singers can paint in so many ways. So far, he's my favourite among the roles that I sing."
Audun Iversen and Elina Garanca sing "Là Ci Darem La Mano" from Don Giovanni:
Iversen has had several outings as Onegin, including a new production at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen in 2009 directed by Peter Konwitschny, and another on tour in Europe with the Bolshoi Opera last summer. His sonorous voice combines a rich lower register with a free top and a shimmering and flexible vibrato throughout. It's just perfect for Mozart, and it appears that he's already stepping into some big shoes: 'I was just dumbstruck when I was singing the Count in a revival of a vintage production of Mozart's Nozze di Figaro at Deutsche Oper in Berlin and finding the name-tag Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau sewn into one of the overcoats I was wearing!'
Like his legendary predecessor, Audun treasures the Lieder repertoire. The voice, however, also holds the promise of more dramatic things to come, and the singer says that he is looking forward to tackling Verdi's mighty baritone roles. With his commanding stage presence and strong acting instincts, Verdi's overcoats are bound to fit him every bit as well as Mozarts when the moment comes.
###
Audun Iversen can next be seen at the English National Opera performing Eugene Onegin from November 12 through December 3. Visit their website for tickets and additional performance information.
Norwegian baritone Audun Iversen began singing at the age of 22. In July 2007 Audun Iversen was a finalist in the “Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition” in Vienna. He won the “Queen Sonja International Singing Competition” in Oslo in August 2007, in addition to being the first singer to win the newly founded “Ingrid Bjoner Scholarship”.
His next performance will be in Britten's War Requiem with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Later this year he will perform the title role in Eugene Onegin at Opéra de Lille in France and the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
