Erwin Schrott

Though his name sounds German, Schrott was born in Uruguay and his style is pure Latin American. He started his career in Montevideo at age 21. Then, after a short time in Chile, he moved to Italy to study. In 1998, he took first place in Placido Domingo's Operalia contest. He debuted at the Staatsoper in Vienna, where he now lives with his wife, the soprano Anna Netrebko and their children.

 

In spite of living just a couple hours from Budapest, the concert on Thursday was Schrott's first in Hungary. And it was a very convincing one. Schrott overcame a few shortcomings during the evening with an easy self-confidence. He showed the power and beauty of his voice and proved he could perform, too. It was a performance that was at once spiritual, masterful and erotic. From the first moment it was clear why Schrott is called the Marlon Brando of the opera.

 

Much of the programme for the evening was Mozart, a composer in whose works Schrott specialises. He was joined for some numbers by Auxiliadora Teledano, who took third place in last summer's Operalia, which was held in Budapest.

 

Author: Gergely Zöldi