Gianluca Margheri to add Papageno to repertory in 2019

Gianluca Margheri in The Fairy Queen (Photos: Attila Nagy)

Italian barihunk Gianluca Margheri will add the role of Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute (Il Flauto Magico) to his repertory in January 2019.

He will be appearing as the lovelorn birdcatcher at the Teatro Massimo Bellini di Catania from January 20-27. The cast also includes Karl Huml as Sarastro, Christina Poulitsi as the Quuen of the Night, Elena Galitskaja as Pamina and Giovanni Sala as Tamino. Tickets are available online.

Gianluca Margheri in the finale to Don Giovanni with Peter Fried:

This will be Margheri's sixth Mozart role, as he's already taken on Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, Publio in La Clemenza di Tito, the title role in Don Giovanni and Figaro and the Count in Le nozze di Figaro.

Other roles next season include Garibaldo in Handel's Rodelinda at the Gran Teatre del Liceu and a return to the Hungarian State Opera in Purcell's The Fairy Queen.

Thomas Tatzl's pa-pa-pa-passionate Papageno

Thomas Tatzl as Papageno (photos by Sandra Then)

Austrian barihunk Thomas Tatzl is one of the few singers who has performed Papageno by two different composers, having frequently sung Mozart's in Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), but also Peter von Winter’s in his production of Das Labyrith at the Salzburger Festspiele. Now he's also one of the few singers to have performed the role in a dress (topless with a chorus of transsexual nuns!) .

Tatzl, who has sung 10 Mozart roles in his young career, will perform Papageno through March 28th at the Theater Basel. He'll be singing some additional Mozart at Sage One in Newcastle, England on February 5th when he performs the composer's Mass in C-minor with an all-star cast that includes Sally Matthews, Rosemary Joshua and Stuart Jackson with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Chorus.

Tickets for the Magic Flute are available online.

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