The overnight success of the tenor Pavol Breslik began in 2005, when he was chosen the Most Promising Singer of the Year in a critics’ survey in the magazine Opernwelt.
Born in 1979 in Slovakia, he completed his studies at the Conservatory in Bratislava. In 2000 he won the first prize at the Antonín-Dvorák Competition in the Czech Republic. In 2002/03, he continued his education at the Opera Studio CNIPAL in Marseilles, and completed master classes with Yvonne Minton, Mady Mesplé, Mirella Freni and William Matteuzzi From 2003 to 2006, Pavol Breslik was a member of the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden, where among other parts he was heard as Ferrando (Così fan tutti), Tamino (Zauberflöte), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Nemorino (L'Elisir d’amore), Kudrjasch (Katja Kabanowa) and God’s Fool (Boris Godunov). During this time, he gave guest performances with his Mozart parts at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, at Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, at the Glyndebourne Festival, at the Wiener Festwochen and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. At the Paris Théâtre du Châtelet, he performed Jaquino in Fidelio.
As a free-lance performer since 2006, he has expanded his Mozart repertoire with Belmonte (Entführung aus dem Serail) and Idamante (Idomeneo). As Don Ottavio he performed at the Salzburg Festival and at the Metropolitan Opera New York, as Alfred (Die Fledermaus) at the Geneva Grand Théâtre, as Tamino in London’s Covent Garden, as the Evangelist in the Johannes Passion in Théâtre du Châtelet, as Idamante and Lenski (Eugen Onegin) at the Bavarian State Opera Munich, Silvio (Arbore di Diana by Martín y Soler) in Madrid, In Munich he sang with Edita Gruberova, giving his début performance as Gennaro in Christof Loy’s successful new production of Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia. With the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Simon Rattle he sang Narraboth (Salome) in Berlin and Salzburg. Future performances will take the young tenor again to the Paris Opéra (Zauberflöte), the Royal Opera Covent Garden London (Eugen Onegin), the Berlin, Munich and Vienna State Operas, as well as to the Grand Teatro Liceu in Barcelona (Zauberflöte). The following new parts are planned: Cassio (Otello) in Munich, Stewa (Jenufa), Faust and Nadir (Pêcheurs de Perles) at Zurich Opera. Pavol Breslik is also a welcome guest on the concert stage. At the BBC Proms in London, he performed with the Philharmonic Orchestra under Kurt Masur in Janácek’s Glagolitic Mass, with the Concert d’Astrée under Emmanuelle Haïm in London and in Paris in Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo (on Virgin Classics CD), at the Edinburgh Festival in Beethoven’s C Major Mass and in Christus am Ölberg. Under Kurt Masur he also performed in the premiere of Siegfried Matthus’ Te Deum, and with the Orchestre National de France, in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and the Ninth Symphony. Further, he performed the Missa Solemnis with the London Symphony Orchestra under Colin Davis, La Messe Solennelle and Roméo et Juliette by Berlioz with the Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio under Riccardo Muti. The original version of Dvorák’s Stabat Mater was recorded on CD by Naïve with the Ensemble Accentus as well as the Missa solemnis with Enoch zu Guttenberg. Further concert appearances are scheduled with Kurt Masur (Beethoven’s 9th symphony) and Gustavo Dudamel.
