The following recently appeared on The Hartt School website.
Robert Brubaker
Bachelor of Music, Vocal Performance '77
The Hartt School is pleased to announce that celebrated tenor
Robert
Brubaker ’77 (Bachelor of Music) will be honored with the 2013 Hartt Alumni
Award at the annual Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 19. Mr. Brubaker
has established himself as a leading tenor in opera companies throughout the
United States and Europe, praised for the clarity and power of his voice and
the impact of his acting. He has appeared at The Metropolitan Opera,
the Salzburg Festival, Opéra National de Paris, Covent Garden, Teatro alla
Scala, and other major opera houses around the world. Mr. Brubaker, who
will speak at Hartt’s graduation ceremony, also will share his experiences and
insights with students and other interested members of the University of
Hartford community at Hartt's Paranov hour on April 25, from 12:15 PM to 1:05
PM, in Millard Auditorium.
As
Opera News summed it up when writing about his Golitsin in the new
Andrei Serban production of Mussorgsky's
Khovanshchina at the Bastille,
unveiled in December, 2001, "Brubaker once again showed that, for sheer
stamina in high-lying music, he has few rivals.”
Recent engagements include the Kaiser in
Die Frau Ohne Schatten with
Deutsche Oper Berlin; Laca in
Jenufa at the English National Opera;
Boris in
Katya Kabanova at the Theater an der Wien; Mephistopheles in
the premiere of Busoni's
Doktor Faust at Teatre de la Maestranza in
Seville; a return to the Glyndebourne Festival for the world premiere of the
new opera,
Love and Other Demons, composed by Peter Eötvös; Herodes in
Salome
in Bologna; Alviano in
Die Gezeichneten at Los Angeles Opera; a reprise of
Don Ygnacio in
Of Love and Other Demons at Opera National du Rhin in
Strasbourg; Loge in
Das Rheingold at Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville;
Mao Tse-Tung in
Nixon in China at the Metropolitan Opera; the title role
in
Der König Kandaules for Vienna Volksoper; Captain in
Wozzek at
Santa Fe Opera; and the Witch in
Hänsel und Gretel and Mime in the Ring
Cycle at the Metropolitan Opera.
Upcoming engagements include Mime in
Siegfried at Seville; Mime in
Das
Rheingold and
Siegfried at Teatro Massimo Palermo; Malatestino in
Francesca
da Ramini and Mime in the Ring Cycle at the Metropolitan Opera; Luigi in
Il
Tabarro and Canio in
I Pagliacci with Opera St. Louis; an appearance
with Dallas Opera in 2014; and returns to the MET in upcoming seasons.
Other career highlights include Mime in
Siegfried at the Metropolitan
Opera conducted by James Levine and broadcast internationally; his appearances
at the Salzburg Festival in the title role of Zemlinsky's
Der König
Kandaules, and as Alviano in
Die Gezeichneten, both with Kent
Nagano; as Count Pierre Bezukhov in
War and Peace with the Opéra
National de Paris, directed by Francesca Zambello; Mephistopheles in the
Metropolitan Opera's premiere of Busoni's
Doktor Faust; Golitsin in
Khovanshchina
at the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
and Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona; Albert Gregor in
The Makropulos Case
at the Metropolitan Opera opposite Catherine Malfitano; the same role at
Houston Grand Opera and English National Opera, where it was also recorded for
Chandos Records with Sir Charles Mackerras; Bacchus in
Ariadne auf Naxos
at Covent Garden on opening night of Antonio Pappano's first season as music
director; Guido Bardi in Zemlinsky's
Eine Florentinische Tragödie with
James Conlon conducting; Aegisth in
Elektra, and Herodes in
Salome
at Teatro alla Scala; his Glyndebourne Festival debut singing his first Laca in
a revival of Nicholas Lehnhoff's acclaimed production of Janáček's
Jenufa,
followed by the same role for his Dallas Opera debut; the title role in
Peter
Grimes with the Canadian Opera Company conducted by artistic director
Richard Bradshaw, with the Teatro Municipal de Santiago, with the English
National Opera and at Aldeburgh; and the title role in Zemlinsky's
Der Zwerg
at the Opéra National de Paris and Teatro dell'Opera di Roma.
Mr. Brubaker has also performed Dimitri in
Boris Godunov at the Opéra
National de Paris; Gherman in
Pique Dame with Olga Guryakova as Lisa at
Montpellier Opera; the same role at Teatro San Carlo in Napoli and the Hamburg
Staatsoper; Siegmund in
Die Walküre with Teatro Real in Madrid and also
with Austin Lyric Opera; Jimmy Mahoney in
The Rise and Fall of the City of
Mahagonny at Deutsche Oper Berlin; Edward Fairfax Vere in
Billy Budd
at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa; Dick Johnson in Puccini's
La fanciulla del
West at Austin Lyric Opera and in concert with the Melbourne Symphony;
Arbace in concert performances of
Idomeneo with the Munich Philharmonic
led by then-music director James Levine; Bacchus in
Ariadne auf Naxos at
the Teatro Real in Madrid; Erik in
Der Fliegende Holländer at the Teatro
Verdi in Trieste and at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona; and Chairman
Mao in
Nixon in China, Don José in
Carmen, Jim Mahoney in
The
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Filke in
From the House of the
Dead, and Sergei in an acclaimed revival of the David Poutney production of
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk for English National Opera.
Mr. Brubaker appears on DVD, as Count Pierre Bezukhov in
War and Peace
with the Opéra National de Paris, directed by Francesca Zambello and directed
by Gary Bertini available on TDK; and as Alviano Salvago in Franz Schreker's
Die
Gezeichneten from the Salzburg Festival, directed by Nikolaus Lehnhoff and
conducted by Kent Nagano.
Mr. Brubaker can be heard on audio recordings as the title role in
Der
König Kandaules from the Salzburg Festival conducted by Kent Nagano,
available on Andante Records; Gregor in
The Makropulos Case conducted by
Sir Charles Mackerras and Boris in
Katya Kabanova conducted by Carlo
Rizzi (slated for future release) on Chandos Records; and on Naxos American
Classics' recording of
Avodat Shabbat by Herman Berlinski, conducted by
Gerard Schwartz.
Mr. Brubaker, a Mannheim, Pennsylvania native, received his degree from the
(then) Hartt College of Music in Hartford, where he studied with David Ray
Smith. He and his wife now reside in New York City, where he studies with
Bill Schuman.
To learn more about Mr. Brubaker, visit
http://www.belcantoglobalarts.com/brubakerbio.php
Posted by Michael Menapace ('93)
Trustee
