Great voice and acting talent
Franz Hawlata's constant search for new challenges
There is probably hardly any other opera role in which a large voice and acting talent should be so inextricably linked in tragicomedy than for the role of Ochs von Lerchenau in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss. Franz Hawlata has proved both qualities several times, at the Vienna State Opera as well as at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He sings the decadent dowry hunter from the Viennese landed aristocracy in the coming season at the Salzburg Festival.
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| In the coming season Franz Hawlata can be heard in performances of Der Rosenkavalier. |
There is also hardly any major bass role that Franz Hawlata, born in Eichstätt Bavaria, has not yet sung: starting with the famous Mozart roles such as Papageno, Figaro, Sarastro; Hans Sachs in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger or Gurnemanz in Parsifal; Caspar in Der Freischütz, Rocco in Fidelio and Philipp in Don Carlo. His repertoire includes all the major demanding roles.
However, Franz Hawlata has also taken care to pace himself and avoid a meteoric career, preferring instead to build up his voice solidly and through work in ensembles. In 1983 he started to study singing under Ernst Haefliger, Hans Hotter and Erik Werba at the Academy of Music in Munich and three years later, in 1986, made his debut at the Theater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich. He then had engagements in Coburg and at the Komische Oper in Berlin before his international career began – he was soon heard at the opera houses in Lyons, San Francisco, New York, Vienna, London. Next year is not his first season at the Salzburg Festival – Franz Hawlata made his debut here in 1997 as Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail then came Leporello in Don Giovanni in 1999 and in 2000 Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte.
Anja Stiller-Reimpell