Peter Berger

Biography

Peter Berger was born in Slovakia, and studied singing at The Košice Conservatorium of Music with Mgr. Juraj Šomorjai. While still a student, he appeared as a soloist at the Košice State theatre. He has taken part in Vocal Masterclasses with many renowed teachers, including Peter Dvorský, Eva Blahová, and Ryszard Karczykowski.

Most recent and future engagements include Don José/Carmen at Teatro Regio di Torino, Laca/Jenufa and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at Welsh National Opera, Alfredo Germont/La traviata at National Moravian-Silesian Theatre, Ismaele/Nabucco at ND Brno, Pinkerton/Madama Butterfly, Mario Cavaradossi/Tosca, Prince/Rusalka, Riccardo/Un ballo in maschera and Alfredo Germont/La traviata at National Theatre Prague as well as Werther and Manru at Teatr Wielki in Warsaw and Boris/Katya Kabanova with Maestro Hrusa and Czech Philharmonics in Prague and Hamburg.

Recent engagements include also Alfredo Germont/La traviata at Slovak National Theatre, Michel/Juliette at National Theatre Prague, Laca/Jenufa at Scottish National Opera, Danish National Opera and in Santiago, Prince/Rusalka in Santiago and Tokyo; performing Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass and Dvorak’s Te Deum under Jaroslav Kyzlink with the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and singing Boris/Katja Kabanova with the Danish National Opera.

Other important engagements include Prince/Rusalka in Rome and Beijing, Svanda at Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Laca/Jenufa and Te Deum at Teatro Massimo di Palermo and Don Jose/Carmen in Santiago.

The 2010/11 season included performances in Brno, Prague and Bratislava, singing the roles of Michel and Jenik (Bartered Bride), Lenski, Prince, Alfredo (La traviata), Pinkerton, Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), the Italian Tenor (Der Rosenkavalier), Rodolfo (La Boheme) and Jiří (The Jacobin). His concert work included Beethoven’s Mass in C at the Janacek Festival in Ostrawa and Bruckner’s Te Deum in Brno. He made his highly successful debut at the Wexford Festival as Lukas in Smetana’s Hubicka (“This is a career to watch - the confident freedom of his singing, not least in his thrilling performance of his great scena at the beginning of Act 2 kept us on the edge of our seats.”).

In the 2007/8 season Peter Berger made his debut with The Slovak National Theater in Bratislava as Pinkerton in Peter Konwitschny’s production of Madama Butterfly under Oliver Dohnányi. In 2008 he sang the title role in Faust at the Croatian National Theatre in Split, and in the same season he made his debut in the role of the Prince in Rusalka at The National Theatre Brno. This was the start of Peter‘s association with this theatre, where he has been a soloist since the 2008/9 season in roles including Ismael in Nabucco, Alfredo in La traviata, Lenski in Eugene Onegin and Michel in Martinů’s Julietta. In 2009 Peter made his first guest appearances at the National Theatre and the State Opera Prague in the roles of Pinkerton and the Prince in Rusalka respectively. In 2010 he sang Lenski in Bremen opera to great acclaim, and subsequently made his debut at the Teatr Wielki in Lodz as the Prince.

In addition to his operatic work Peter Berger is a prolific concert artist, and has sung with the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the State Philharmonic Košice, Prague Philharmonia, Brno Philharmonic, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Czech Virtuosi. He has performed in many domestic and foreign concerts as well as being a permanent guest at the festival “Viva il Canto“ in Czeszyn, Poland and at the international festival in Sopron, Hungary. His concert repertoire includes the Glagolitic Mass, Puccini’s Messa Di Gloria, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, the Mozart Requiem and Masses as well as Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. He sang in a Gala concert with Jelena Obraztsova and Peter Dvorský, and concert performances have also taken him to Japan, Malta, and Riga.

In 2006 he was awarded 1st prize at The Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský International Vocal Competition in Trnava (SK) and also won a special prize for the best interpretation of Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský songs. In 2007 he was awarded 1st prize at the Anglo Czecho-Slovak Trust competition in London, and in 2008 he was a semi-finalist at International Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition in Vienna. He was also awarded The Slovak Literary fund prize for the role of the Prince in Rusalka.