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Max Emanuel Cencic Artistic Director of Bayreuth Baroque

International Opera Festival BAYREUTH BAROQUE at the Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth under the artistic direction of Max Emanuel Cencic, for the first time from 03.09.2020 – 13.09.2020

In 2020, the International Opera Festival BAYREUTH BAROQUE will start at the Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth. This unique city will receive another world-class festival. Appointed artistic director for the next three years is countertenor, director and producer Max Emanuel Cencic. He has convinced the city of Bayreuth with the concept of a brand-new baroque festival at the world cultural heritage opera house. The first edition will take place from 3 September till 13 September 2020. The program and details will be announced on 5 February 2020.

Since the historical renovation of the Margravial Opera House, it was a great desire of the city of Bayreuth to initiate a baroque festival. Opened in 1748 and included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2012, the opera house has become a reviving venue for rarely played operas from the early days. The festival BAYREUTH BAROQUE will be held annually at the Margravial Opera House for eleven days in September. Two opera productions are planned each season, as well as concerts with world-class artists.

Benedikt Stegmayer, culture representative of the city of Bayreuth, says: “From a cultural-political perspective, the BAYREUTH BAROQUE opera festival is an absolute stroke of luck for Bayreuth. It combines a high-quality substantial program, held at a globally unique venue, that was built to present this type of art. World-class art in world-class heritage! The festival does not only serve the architectural context, but it also perfectly suits the Bayreuth cultural event calendar. I am looking forward to this additional highlight in our baroque city!"

Bavarian State Minister for Science and Arts, Bernd Sibler adds: “The city of Bayreuth has a high cultural appeal with the UNESCO World Heritage Margravial Opera House. I welcome the birth of the International Opera Festival BAYREUTH BAROQUE under the artistic direction of Max Emanuel Cencic. I wish the new festival good luck and prosperity in its first season! It will certainly be an asset to the cultural life in Bayreuth."

Artistic director Max Emanuel Cencic says: “As appointed director of BAYREUTH BAROQUE, I am deeply honoured to lead the festival and set the program. I am most grateful for the trust given by the city council and the city of Bayreuth who I would like to thank sincerely. The Margravial Opera House has a unique place in the history of music. We owe Richard Wagner a dept of gratitude for recognizing the value of this opera house and for his commitment preserving the house for future generations. Presenting operas in this historic house, that have never or hardly have been played in the past 300 years, is a dream come true for me. There are no limits to our imagination and with this in mind - I am truly privileged to set new accents with this festival in Bayreuth’s music culture.”

Max Emanuel Cencic's musical journey in January will take him to...

Max Emanuel Cencic's musical journey in January 2020 will take him to Verona (Jan. 9th), Brussels (Jan. 15th), Essen (Jan. 19th), Wroclaw (Jan. 24th), Madrid (Jan. 26th) and Vienna (Jan. 29th).

Where will he see you?

Happy New Year!

Great success and standing ovations for Orlano Furioso

On December 8th, 2019, Vivaldi's Orlando Furioso was performed in concert version at Moscow's Philharmony at the Tchaikovsky Hall. The production gathered on stage grand artists like Max Emanuel Cencic, Julia Lezhneva, Ruxandra Donose and George Petrou. It had been sold out weeks in advance, and was awarded with standing ovations by the audience.

The cast consisted of:

Orlando: Max Emanuel Cencic
Alcina: Ruxandra Donose
Bradamante:  Sonja Runje
Ruggerio: Nicholas Tamagna
Angelica: Julia Lezhneva
Medoro: Philipp Mathmann
Astolfo: Jose Coco-Loza

Conductor: George Petrou
Orchestra: Armonia Atenea

Max Emanuel Cencic at the Vienna State Opera

After nine years Max Emanuel Cencic returns to the Vienna State Opera in November 2019! He will perform the villain Polinesso in Handel’s Ariodante, conducted by Christophe Rousset and directed by David McVicar. Ariodante performances are on November 8, 11, 13 and 15, 2019.

Max continues with the title role of the concert performance Gismondo (Vinci) in Warsaw on November 20 and Orlando Furioso (Vivaldi) in Moscow on December 8.  In Handel’s Orlando, Max will sing the title role in Verona on 9 January, in Essen on 19 January, in Madrid on 26 January and in Trondheim on 4 February 2020. Max Emanuel Cencic presents the rarely played opera Irene (Hasse), performing the role of Nicefero with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra in Helsinki on 31 December 2019 and in Theater an der Wien, Vienna on 29 January 2020. Other various concerts with Max are on 12 December 2019 in Moscow, 15 January 2020 in Brussels and on 24 January 2020 in Wroclaw.

Meanwhile, Max Emanuel Cencic is an internationally renowned director too. He not only directs the productions, but sings most supporting roles as well. In February 2020, the revival of his production Serse (Handel) is performed again at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe where Max sings the role of Arsamene. Max’s production of La Donna del Lago (Rossini) with Max as Malcolm can be seen in May 2020 in Zagreb. Two new exciting productions are planned from mid-2020 onwards: Radamisto (Handel) with Max in the title role and Carlo il Calvo (Porpora) as evil uncle Lottario.

Toi toi toi, dear Max !

An exciting season lies ahead of Austrian-Croatian countertenor Max Emanuel Cencic

Max started the new season with a studio recording of Gismondo re di Polonia, in which he sang the title role. The CD by the same name with Max in the role of Gismondo will be released in November 2019. Concert performances of Gismondo re di Polonia are scheduled in Warsaw (November 2019) and Dortmund (May 2020).
Max will start the concert season 2019/20 with Handel's Arminio at the Enescu Festival in Bucarest on September 14st, 2019. He will, again, sing the title role.

After an absence lasting for 9 years, Max will return to the Wiener Staatsoper to sing the role of Polinesso in Handel's Ariodante conducted by Christophe Rousset and staged by David Mc Vicar. Four Performances are scheduled in November 2019.

More Handel repertoire to come: in January 2020, Max will sing the title role in Orlando in a concert tour with Il Pomo d'Oro, with concerts scheduled in Verona, Essen and Madrid. Max's outstanding staged production of Serse will be presented again at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe in February 2020. In it, he is going to sing the role of Arsamene.
In October 2020, Max will debut at La Scala di Milano in a new production of Handels Semele, in which he will mime Athamas.

Max's fantastic staged production of La Donna del Lago will be presented again at the HNK Zagreb in May 2020, and at the opera festival Saaremaa in July 2020. He is going to sing the role of Malcolm in this production.
Vienna's Theater an der Wien will present Max in two productions in concert version: as Malcolm in La Donna del Lago in March 2020, and as Nicefero in a new production of Hasse's opera Irene in January 2020.
Irene, with Max as Nicefero, will also be performed in Helsinki on December 31st, 2019.

Besides Handel's Orlando, Max will also sing the title role in Vivaldi's Orlando Furioso in Moscow in December 2019 and Paris in April 2020. He will return to Paris' Philharmonie to sing Carmina Burana in June 2020.

Max Emanuel Cencic's concert schedule offers concerts in Moscow (December 2019), Brussels and Wroclaw (both in January 2020).