Mark Milhofer is an English operatic
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors i ...
, who has performed at major international opera houses, beginning his career in Italy. Besides the standard repertoire, the singer has appeared in
historically informed performances such as Monterverdi's ''
L'incoronazione di Poppea
''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' (Stattkus-Verzeichnis, SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian List of operas by Claudio Monteverdi, opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Buse ...
'', in 20th-century operas by
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...
and
Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian composer, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept ...
, and in premieres of new operas.
Career
Born in England, Milhofer studied voice as a choral scholar at
Magdalen College, Oxford. He studied further at the
Guildhall School of Music
The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and j ...
in London.
He appeared as Giannetto in Rossini's ''
La gazza ladra
''La gazza ladra'' (, ''The Thieving Magpie'') is a '' melodramma'' or opera semiseria in two acts by Gioachino Rossini, with a libretto by Giovanni Gherardini based on ''La pie voleuse'' by Théodore Baudouin d'Aubigny and Louis-Charles Cai ...
'' with the
British Youth Opera
British Youth Opera (BYO) is an opera company in the United Kingdom. It aims to give young singers, conductors, directors and production staff training and experience through workshops and full-scale operatic productions at venues such as the Pe ...
, and was then invited to study with
Renata Scotto
Renata Scotto (born 24 February 1934) is an Italian soprano and opera director.
Recognized for her sense of style, her musicality, and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation.
Since ...
and
Leyla Gencer
Ayşe Leyla Gencer (, née Çeyrekgil; 10 October 192810 May 2008) was a Turkish people, Turkish operatic soprano.
Gencer was a notable ''bel canto'' soprano who spent most of her career in Italy, from the early 1950s through the mid-1980s, an ...
in Italy.
He made his international debut at the
Teatro Regio in Parma in Rossini's ''
La Cenerentola
' (''Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant'') is an operatic '' dramma giocoso'' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the libretti written by Charles-Guillaume Étienne for the opera ''Cendrillo ...
''. He appeared in ''
Il matrimonio segreto
' (''The Secret Marriage'') is a dramma giocoso in two acts, music by Domenico Cimarosa, on a libretto by Giovanni Bertati, based on the 1766 play '' The Clandestine Marriage'' by George Colman the Elder and David Garrick. It was first performe ...
'', Donizetti's ''
Don Pasquale
''Don Pasquale'' () is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti with an Italian libretto completed largely by Giovanni Ruffini as well as the composer. It was based on a libretto by Angelo Anelli for Stefano Paves ...
'', Rossini's ''
La scala di seta
''La scala di seta'' (''The Silken Ladder'' or ''Die seidene Leiter'') is an operatic '' farsa comica'' in one act by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa. It was first performed in Venice, Italy, at the Teatro San Moisè on ...
'' and ''
Il Turco in Italia
''Il turco in Italia'' ( English: ''The Turk in Italy'') is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The Italian-language libretto was written by Felice Romani. It was a re-working of a libretto by Caterino Mazzolà set as an opera (w ...
'', Puccini's ''
La Rondine
''La rondine'' (''The Swallow'') is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, based on a libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and . It was first performed at the Grand Théâtre de Monte Carlo (or the Thé� ...
''. He performed in 20th-century operas such as Britten's ''
Billy Budd
''Billy Budd, Sailor (An Inside Narrative)'' is a novella by American writer Herman Melville, left unfinished at his death in 1891. Acclaimed by critics as a masterpiece when a hastily transcribed version was finally published in 1924, it quick ...
'', ''
The Turn of the Screw
''The Turn of the Screw'' is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James which first appeared in serial format in ''Collier's Weekly'' (January 27 – April 16, 1898). In October 1898, it was collected in ''The Two Magics'', published by Macmilla ...
'' and as the Madwoman in his ''
Curlew River
''Curlew River – A Parable for Church Performance'' (Op. 71) is an English music drama, with music by Benjamin Britten to a libretto by William Plomer. The first of Britten's three 'Parables for Church Performance', the work is based on the J ...
'', and as the Magician in Menotti's ''
The Consul
''The Consul'' is an opera in three acts with music and libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, his first full-length opera.
Performance history
Its first performance was on March 1, 1950 at the Schubert Theatre in Philadelphia with Patricia Neway as t ...
''. He took part in the world premieres of Marcello Panni's ''The Banquet'',
Marco Tutino
Marco Tutino (born May 30, 1954) is an Italian composer.
His emergence during the late 1970s was as the spearhead of an Italian ''Neo-Romantico'' group, founded with two other composers, Lorenzo Ferrero and Carlo Galante. He graduated from the M ...
's ''Federico II'' and
Alessandro Solbiati
Alessandro Solbiati (born 9 September 1956) is an Italian composer of classical music, who composed instrumental music for chamber ensembles and orchestra, art songs and operas. He received international commissions and awards, and many of his wor ...
's ''Leggenda''.
Milhofer appeared in leading roles at opera houses in Europe, such as Belmonte in Mozart's ''
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
' () ( K. 384; ''The Abduction from the Seraglio''; also known as ') is a singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's ''Belmont und Constanze, oder D ...
'' at the Landestheater Salzburg and in
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine departm ...
, Ramiro in ''
La Cenerentola
' (''Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant'') is an operatic '' dramma giocoso'' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the libretti written by Charles-Guillaume Étienne for the opera ''Cendrillo ...
'' in Bern, Almaviva in Rossini's ''
Der Barbier von Sevilla'' at the
Graz Opera
The Graz Opera (German: Oper Graz) is an Austrian opera house and opera company based in Graz. The orchestra of the opera house also performs concerts as the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra (''Grazer Philharmonisches Orchester'').
History
Opera h ...
. He performed the role of Ferrando in
Giorgio Strehler
Giorgio Strehler (; ; 14 August 1921 – 25 December 1997) was an actor, Italian opera and theatre director.
Biography
Strehler was born in Barcola, Trieste; His father, Bruno Strehler, was a native of Trieste with family roots in Vienna and di ...
's staging of Mozart's ''
Così fan tutte
(''All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers''), K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte ...
'' in Beijing and Moscow.
In 2017, he appeared in a production of Monteverdi's ''
L’incoronazione di Poppea
''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' ( SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, and was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni ...
'' for the reopening of the
Staatsoper Unter den Linden
The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from ...
in Berlin,
staged by Eva Höckmayr and conducted by
Diego Fasolis
Diego Fasolis (born 19 April 1958) is a Swiss classical organist and conductor, the leader of the ensemble I Barocchisti. He has conducted operas in historically informed performance at major European opera houses and festivals, and has made award- ...
. He was Arnalta, Poppea's nurse, alongside
Anna Prohaska
Anna Prohaska (born 1983) is an Austrian lyric soprano. She lives in Berlin.
Career
Anna Prohaska studied in Berlin at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music. Prohaska made her debut in 2002 at the Komische Oper in Harry Kupfer’s production of Br ...
as Poppea and
Max Emanuel Cencic
Max or MAX may refer to:
Animals
* Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog
* Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE)
* Max (gorilla) ...
as Nerone. A critic called his performance the surprise of the evening, and noted his unity of voice and character in comic and tragic action, dressed as a parody of the butler Riff Raff in ''
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 Musical film, musical comedy horror film by 20th Century Fox, produced by Lou Adler and Michael White (producer), Michael White and directed by Jim Sharman. The screenplay was written by Sharman an ...
''.
In concert, Milhofer sang Britten's
Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
The ''Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings'', Op. 31, is a song cycle written in 1943 by Benjamin Britten for tenor, solo horn and a string orchestra. Composed during the Second World War at the request of the horn player Dennis Brain, it is a ...
in Rome and Parma, Orff's ''
Carmina Burana
''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreveren ...
'' at the
Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz
The Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz (''State Theatre at Gärtnerplatz''), commonly called the Gärtnerplatztheater, is an opera house and opera company in Munich. (The "Gärtnerplatz" is an urban square in the borough Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt.) ...
, in Zagreb, Monte-Carlo and Rome, Rossini's ''
Petite messe solennelle
Gioachino Rossini's ''Petite messe solennelle'' (Little solemn mass) was written in 1863, possibly at the request of Count Alexis Pillet-Will for his wife Louise to whom it is dedicated. The composer, who had retired from composing operas more ...
'' at the
Aldeburgh Festival
The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the Aldeburgh area of Suffolk, centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall.
History of the Aldeburgh Festival
T ...
, and Handel's ''
Judas Maccabeus
Judah Maccabee (or Judas Maccabeus, also spelled Machabeus, or Maccabæus, Hebrew: יהודה המכבי, ''Yehudah HaMakabi'') was a Jewish priest (''kohen'') and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleuci ...
'' at
The Proms
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert H ...
with
The King's Consort
The King's Consort is a British period music orchestra founded in 1980 by the English conductor and harpsichordist Robert King (b. 1960, Wombourne). The ensemble has an associated choral group, Choir of The King's Consort. Together, they have mad ...
.
References
External links
*
*
Mark MilhoferOperabase
Mark Milhoferartsglobal.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milhofer Mark
English tenors
Living people
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Year of birth missing (living people)