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The German bass-baritone, Panajotis N. (Panito) Iconomou, was born in Germany by Greek parents. He became a member of the Tölzer Boy’s Choir in 1980. His first solo was in 1982 in Cologne in Britten’s Ceremony of Carols. He toured with the choir in Germany, Italy, France, Israel, Poland and Austria until his voice broke in 1986.
Panito Iconomou took part in broadcasts with Hermann Prey, Rudolf Schock and Siegfried Jerusalem. Solo recordings include J.S. Bach's B-Minor Mass (BWV 232) (Andrew Parrot - EMI) and Cantatas 163-178 (Nikolaus Harnoncourt - Teldec).
Solo engagements include Igor Stravinsky's Mass at the Salzburger Festspiele with Hans Graf, J.S. Bach's St. John (BWV 245) and St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Concentus Musicus Wien at the 1985 Styriarte Graz Bach Festival, also for Austrian television ORF 1. He performed the same programme with Peter Schreier and Kurt Moll at the 1985 Bachwoche Stuttgart, and Heinrich Schütz’ Exequien with Sergiu Celibidache at the inauguration of the Munich Philharmony at the Gasteig 1985.
Operatic roles include R. Strauss Feuersnot with Bernd Weikl and Julia Varady in Munich 1982; 3rd Boy Magic Flute at opera houses in Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Stuttgart; Shepherd Tosca in Frankfurt; Zephyrus, Apollo Apollo et Hyacinthus in Germany, Italy and France with Helmut Müller-Brühl and Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden - also broadcast on German television ZDF; 4th Boy Herold Lohengrin at the Salzburger Festspiele 1984 with Peter Hoffmann and Herbert von Karajan; Georges Bizet's Carmen at the Salzburger Festspiele 1985 and 2nd Apparition Macbeth with Nicolai Ghiaurov and Piero Cappuccilli at Bavarian State Opera, Munich in 1985.
Panajotis rejoined the choir as a bass in 1988. Between then and 1992 he also worked with Frieder Bernius, Hermann Max, Eberhard Schüner and Christoph Spering.
Joined the National Opera Studio, London in September 1997 with the support of The Friends of Covent Garden, a Nelly Grover Bursary and the Alexandros Onassis Foundation. Participated in staged scenes as Filippo (Don Carlos) and Mephistophèles (Faust).
Solo concert performances include W.A. Mozart's Vesperae Solennes with Jean-Claude Malgoire and La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy at Versailles in 1992; J.S. Bach's solo-cantata BWV 82 with Hans Graf and the Orchestre Regionale di Toscana in Florence 1993; J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) and cantatas at the first Israel Bach Festival with Peter Schreier and the Collegium Aureum in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, also at Munich Philharmony 1994, Munich Philharmony 1996, Cologne Philharmony 1996 and 1998, Athens Megaron 1997; J.S. Bach cantatas at the Settimane Bach Festival in Milan with Giovanni Antonini and Il Giardino Armonico in 1994, the same year also with Gustav Leonhardt and with Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden in 1995, Cologne Philharmony 1997, Vienna 2000.
Haydn motets and masses with Bruno Weil and Tafelmusik Toronto at festivals in Bremen, Munich, Hamburg and Austria, also recording with Sony Classical 1994; J.S. Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann cantatas at the York Early Music Festival with Peter Seymour after workshop with Stephen Varcoe; J.S. Bach's Motets with Andrew Parrot and the Taverner Consort for Sony Classical: L.v. Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with Sir Colin Davis at the Barbican 1997, also with Mathew Best in Oxford and Lichfield Festival 1998; W.A. Mozart's Requiem at New Mozart Festival, Bridgenorth and in York 1997, with Frans Brüggen and the O.R.T., Italy 2000; J.S. Bach's St. Mathew Passion (BWV 244) with Christoph Spering in Leipzig 1998; Koukkos The Persians with Marios Papadopoulos and the City of Oxford Orchestra in Oxford 1998 and at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London 2000, Bruckner Te Deum 1999. Participated as a bass soloist on the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage with Sir John Eliot Gardiner in 2000, performing at Salisbury Cathedral, Sherborne and the Aldeburgh Festival.
Opera engagements include Sacerdote Apollo et Hyacinthus with Gian-Carlo Menotti and Manchester Camerata for HRH, The Prince of Wales at Yester House, Scotland 1993, Sarastro W.A. Mozart's The Magic Flute for European Chamber Opera at Holland Park, Osmin W.A. Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail) for Musik & Theater Saar at Saarbrücken and Moser I Masnadieri in a concert performance for the Amici di Verdi conducted by Sir Edward Downes 1997. Cover roles include Sarastro in The Magic Flute for Scottish Opera 1998, Basilio Il Barbiere di Seviglia for Welsh National Opera 2000. Scottish Opera debut in 1999 as Colline in La Bohème, Welsh National Opera debut as Sparafucile in Rigoletto 1999, Masetto in W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni (Scottish Opera, Glasgow 2001), Sarastro in The Magic Flute and Colline in La Bohème (Welsh National Opera, Cardiff 2001). English National Opera (ENO), London debut in 2002 as Count Ribbing (Ballo in Maschera).
Represented Greece at the 2001 Cardiff Singer of the World competition. |
