Kristian Benedikt – Dramatic Tenor. Lithuanian tenor Kristian Benedikt has built up a reputation as one of the leading international singers of Verdi’s Otello. He sang this most demanding role more than 120 times: at Opera de Bellas Artes in Mexico, Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, Wiener Staatsoper, Bavarian State Opera Munich, at the Mariinski Theatre in St. Petersburg, Modena, Piacenza, Cagliari, Palermo, Ekaterinburg, Santiago de Chile, Vilnius, Graz, Basel, Stockholm, Latvian Opera Festival and at Victoria’s Pacific Opera, Montreal Opera, Savonlinna Festival and others.
In 2018 he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with the role of Samson (Samson et Dalila) and his future engagements include Calaf (Turandot) at Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre (dir. R. Willson), Samson and Herman (with Asmik Grigorian) at Vilnius City Opera, Andre Chenier in Trieste, Calaf (with Maria Guleghina as Turandot) in Buenos Aires. Next season he will sing Don Alvaro (La forza del destino) in Lisbon and will be expected again in Metropolitan Opera as Herman (The Queen of Spades). In 2020 he will debut in Bilbao Theatre as Erik (The Flying Dutchman along with Bryn Terfel and Irene Theorin). Benedikt‘s first CD is released in 2019 by DELOS.
During his latest seasons Benedikt sung at the Wiener Staatspoer (Otello), London Royal Covent Garden Opera (Canio), Mariinsky Theatre (Otello, Samson, Lohengrin), Teatro Municipal de Santiago Chile (Otello, Calaf), Beijing NCPA (Samson), Moscow Bolshoi Theatre (Herman), Hungarian National Opera (Otello, Herman), Torino Regio (Samson), Barcelona Liceo (Rienzi), Bergamo Opera (Cavaradossi), Dresden Semperoper (Otello), Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet theatre (Alfredo, Corrado, Don Jose, Pinkerton, Duca, Eleazar, Otello, Ernani, Siegmund, Calaf), Finland National Opera (Dick Johnson), Odeon in Odense (Siegmund), Vilnius City Opera (Des Grieux, Samson), Macedonian National Opera (Calaf), Savonlinna Festival (Otello), Al Bustan Festival (Otello), Festival Opera pa Skaret (Don Jose, Edgardo), etc.
Among highlights of Benedikt’s repertoire are roles of Don Jose (Carmen), Cavaradossi (Tosca), Samson (Samson et Dalila), Calaf (Turandot), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Canio (I pagliacci), as well as roles like Eleazar (La Juive), Manrico (Il trovatore), Dick Johnson (La fanciulla del West), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Hoffmann (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), title roles of Andrea Chenier, Ernani, Rienzi and Lohengrin.
He has performed under the baton of conductors such as Antonio Pappano, Marco Armiliato, Marcello Votti, Riccardo Chailly, Maurizio Barbacini, Paolo Carigniani, Asher Fisch, Renato Palumbo, Valeri Gergiev, Alexander Vedernikov and is working with stage directors like Giancarlo del Monaco, Damiano Michieletto, Willy Decker, David Alden, Calixto Bieito, Hugo de Ana, Dmitri Bertman, Eimuntas Nekrošius or Pier Francesco Maestrini.
As a concert singer he has sung among others in Verdi’s Requiem, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, Rachmaninov’s The Bells and Webber’s Requiem.
During 2008-2018 Benedikt has worked with famous Italian tenor Gianfranco Cecchele, paying special attention to the Italian opera and taking over vocal tradition of Mario del Monaco. He has also studied with Virgilijus Noreika, Jaakko Ryhänen and Robert Lloyd.
Repertoire
Opera
Bellini, V. Norma Pollione
Bizet, G. Carmen Don José
Donizetti, G. Lucia di Lammermoor Edgardo
Giordano, U. Andrea Chénier Andrea Chénier
Halevy , J. La Juive Eleazar
Leoncavallo, R. I pagliacci Canio
Mascagni, P. Cavalleria rusticana Turiddu
Massenet, J. Manon Des Grieux
Offenbach, J. Contes d’Hoffmann Hoffmann
Ponchielli, A.
La Gioconda Enzo
I lituani Corrado
Puccini, G.
La fanciulla del West Dick Johnson
Madama Butterfly Pinkerton
Manon Lescaut Il tabaro Des Grieux Luigi
Tosca Cavaradossi
Turandot Calaf
Saint-Saens, C. Samson et Dalila Samson
Tchaikovsky, P. I.
Eugene Onegin Lensky
The Queen of Spades Herman
Verdi, G.
Aida Radames
Don Carlo Don Carlo
Ernani Ernani
La forza del destino Don Alvaro
Otello Otello
Il trovatore Manrico
Wagner, R.
Lohengrin Lohengrin
Parsifal Parsifal
Rienzi Rienzi
Tannhäuser Tannhäuser
Walküre Siegmund
Concerts/Oratorio
Beethoven, L.van
Christ on the Mount of Olives
Missa Solemnis
9th Symphony
Dvorak, A. Requiem
Händel, G.F. Messiah
Mahler, G. Das Lied von der Erde
Rachmaninov, S. The Bells
Rossini, G.
Petite Messe Solenelle
Stabat Mater
Stravinsky, I. Oedipus Rex
Verdi, G. Requiem
Webber, A. L. Requiem