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Christopher Schaldenbrand
Hailed for his "beautifully phrased and nuanced" baritone (Opera), Christopher Schaldenbrand returns to the Metropolitan Opera in the 2010-11 season for Romeo et Juliette, Don Carlo, and Capriccio. Last season, he reprised his trademark role of Don Giovanni with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, joins Cincinnati Opera for Schaunard in La bohème, and returned the Metropolitan Opera for various roles in The Nose.
Recently the baritone sang Albert in Werther, Schaunard in La bohème, and Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with the Metropolitan Opera; Marcello in La bohème and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly at the Met in the Parks concerts; Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with New York City Opera and Glimmerglass Opera; and the title role of Don Giovanni with Boston Lyric Opera, the Compañía Nacional de Ópera de Bellas Artes at the Festival del Centro Histórico de México, New York City Opera, New Orleans Opera, Utah Opera, Tulsa Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, Prague State Theater, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He was also heard in the role of Clayton in the world premiere of Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree with Houston Grand Opera as well as later with Omaha Opera, Malatesta in Don Pasquale with San Diego Opera and New York City Opera, Marcello in La bohème and the Doctor in the American premiere of The Elephant Man with Minnesota Opera, and Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with Connecticut Opera and at the Spoleto Festival U.S.A.
His international engagements include Schaunard in La Bohème with Staatstheater Stuttgart and Opéra National de Paris following his debut with the company as Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus; Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas with the Capella de Ministrers in Valencia, Spain; and Claudio in Béatrice et Benedict for Netherlands Opera. The baritone also joined Seiji Ozawa on tour in Japan for performances of Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus.
Among the baritone’s other recent engagements are Albert in Werther with Michigan Opera Theatre; De Siriex in Fedora, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and the title role in Eugene Onegin with Palm Beach Opera; Albert in Werther with Glimmerglass Opera; Marcello in La bohème for Connecticut Opera, Opera Pacific, Vancouver Opera, and New Israeli Opera, and Schaunard in La bohème with Seattle Opera and with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Robert Spano (a recording of which is available on the Telarc label).
A former member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Program and winner of the company’s National Council Auditions, he made he company debut as Silvano in Un ballo in maschera on tour in Japan. His house debut came later in the same season as Yamadori in Madama Butterfly. Since then he has sung over 150 performances at the Metropolitan Opera in productions that also include Les Troyens, Rusalka, Death in Venice, Rigoletto, La forza del destino, Pelléas et Mélisande, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Otello, Les contes d‘Hoffmann and Andrea Chénier.
Mr. Schaldenbrand was presented in recital at the Covent Garden Festival and was recently heard in an operatic gala concert in Puerto Rico alongside Roberto Alagna (now available as a commercial DVD). He performed in An Uncertain Hour, a staged song recital commissioned for the Lincoln Center Serious Fun Festival in New York with the Netherlands Dance Theater. A frequent oratorio soloist, he has performed Duruflé's Requiem at Alice Tully Hall and has sung Messiah with the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Christopher Hogwood as well as with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Mr. Schaldenbrand has sung Messiah with the Orchestra of Saint Luke‘s and Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, both at Carnegie Hall. He has also performed Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra. He joined the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in the opening concert of its 1996-97 season and was invited by the Laurence Tibbet Archivies to be the featured soloist in a gala performance commemorating the centennial anniversary of the birth of the legendary singer.
Mr. Schaldenbrand's recordings include L’Isola Disabitata (Enrico) and La Fedeltà Premiata (Perucchetto) by Haydn for the Arabesque Label, as well as Werther (Albert) for BMG Classics.
Christopher Schaldenbrand was born in Detroit and studied at Indiana University.
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