The German counter-tenor, Matthias Rexroth, was studied first Oboe. After numerous engagements as an oboist, including appearances as soloist in concertos and chamber music, he began studying voice. In 1998 he graduated the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe, where he studied with K.-D. Kern, M. Venuti and Donald Litaker. At the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis he studied with Richard Levitt and Anthony Rooley. Since then studies with Eytan Pessen in Stuttgart.
Matthias Rexroth won the first prize at the 37th International Francesco Vinas Competition in Barcelona as well as a special Prize for best Counter-tenor. First prize at the Hans Gabor Belvedere International Competition, as well as eight other special prizes. Other awards and stipends are from the 'Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes', the Richard Wagner Society, the Franz-Grothe foundation, the Art allience of Baden-Württemberg as well as a cultur-prize from the city of Coburg.
Matthias Rexroth made his opera debut with Purcell's King Arthur at the Stuttgart State Opera, followed by Violetta Dinescu's 35. Mai. Under Péter Eötvös he sang the Alto role in Ligeti's Aventures and Nouvelles Aventures (which were recorded in the DeutschlandRadio Berlin and the SüdwestRundfunk). He appears regularly in the Rossini-Festival in Bad Wildbad, where he sang Rossini's Messa di Milano and an Orfeo aria recital; In Karlsruhe he appeared in Loussier's Messe Lumieres and J.S. Bach's Markus-Passion (BWV 247), in the Alte Oper Frankfurt J.S. Bach's Johannes-Passion (BWV 245) as well as Orff's Carmina Burana with the Neubrandenburg- and Philharmoniker Hamburg. In Leipzig he sang on the occasion of the 250th anniversary J.S. Bach's B minor Mass (BWV 232) with Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Thomanerchor Leipzig under Georg Christoph Biller, (broadcast and televised internationally).
Recent engagements (2002) were in Stuttgart: Purcell's King Arthur and Donizetti's Viva la Mamma; Jommellis Fetonte with Frieder Bernius, The Messiah and J.S. Bach's Matthäus-Passion (BWV 244) and Orff's Carmina Burana with the Ludwigsburger Festspiele, as well as the Bamberger Symphoniker; George Frideric Handels Solomon and The Messiah in Aachen and Bamberg, a recital at the Rossini in Wildbad-festival as well as the role of Apollo in Giovanni Legrenzi's La divisione del mondo under Thomas Hengelbrock at the Schwetzinger Festspiele and the Tage Alter Musik in Innsbruck.
Upcoming engagements (2004) include Jommellis Fetonte with Frieder Bernius, G.F. Handel's Giulio Cesare in Saarbrücken, G.F. Handel's Jephta at the Norwegian State Opera, Dettingen Te Deum as CD-Production with the Hessische Rundfunk, G.F. Handel-Arias at the Philharmonie Cologne, The Messiah and J.S. Bach's St. Matthew-Passion (BWV 244) with the Bamberger Symphoniker, and Hamor Jephtha and Didymus Theodora with Nikolaus Harnoncourt in Vienna and Graz, Ottone Poppea at Hamburg State Opera, and Prince Go-Go in Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre for San Francisco Opera. Future plans also include various recitals at the festivals of Rheingau, Schleswig-Holstein, Innsbruck and in the Fränkische Sommer Nürnberg, radio broadcasts and live concerts at the Bayerische Rundfunk, Deutsche Welle, Sender Freies Berlin, SWR and NDR, and a european concert tour 'Rising Star' to the Vienna Musikverein, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Athens Megaron, Brussels, Stockholm and Cologne.
In his spare time Matthias Rexroth enjoys music, cinema, theatre, visiting art galleries and sport. |