Jozef Benci

Jozef Benci

Basses
Slovak bassist Jozef Benci graduated from the Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava under the direction of Sergei Kopčák. Since 2007, he has performed regularly as a soloist with the Opera SND in Bratislava and the National Theatre in Prague, as well as with the Czech Philharmonic, the Slovak Philharmonic and the Brno Philharmonic. His most prominent roles include the Vodyanoy in Dvořák's Rusalka, Ferrando in Verdi's Il Trovatore, Sarastro in Mozart's The Magic Flute or Mephisto in Gounod's Faust, the Grand Inquisitor and King Philip in Verdi's Don Carlos, Timur in Puccini's Turandot (both conducted by Juraj Valčuha), Boris Godunov in Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky's opera of the same name, Collin in Puccini's La Bohème or Lucifer in Dvořák's opera The Devil and Kate. He participated in a concert performance and the recording of Smetana's The Bartered Bride in London in 2011 as Kecal conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek. The CD has been nominated for prestigious awards, such as the International Opera Awards 2012 and ICMA2013. He performed with an excellent reception in a joint recital with Edita Gruberová at the Bratislava Music Festival 2011. His concert appearances are also significant in the bass parts of Janáček (Glagolitic Mass), Dvořák (Stabat Mater, e.g. conducted by Jakub Hrůša) or Verdi (Requiem - e.g. conducted by Nello Santi). He has performed virtually all over the world except for Australia. In particular, he is a frequent guest in the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, France, Romania, Italy, Austria, Poland and Germany. In 2019, he recorded a CD with Russian Romances for Supraphon. In collaboration with Tomáš Netopil and the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, he performed the bass part of the Glagolitic Mass for the same label in 2014. The recording has received many positive reviews and awards: Gramophone Editor's Choice, Recording of the Month, MusicWeb International, Sinfini Music Album of the Week. In July 2022, he appeared as a soloist of the bass part of the Glagolitic Mass in the Santa Cecilia Orchestra concerts conducted by Jakub Hrůša. In the autumn of 2022, he took part as King Hydraot in a production of Dvořák's Armida at the Wexford Festival in Wexford, Ireland, with great success. He is also a well-established interpreter of Dvořák's works in the concert repertoire: in the spring of 2023, he excelled in Dvořák's Requiem with the Slovak Philharmonic conducted by Ion Marin. In July 2023, he repeatedly appeared in the bass part of Dvořák's Sabbath Mater with the Czech Philharmonic conducted by Tomáš Netopil - at the Smetana Litomyšl Festival and the Leoš Janáček International Music Festival in Ostrava. In autumn 2023, as part of the final concert of the Dvořák Prague Festival, he sang the bass part in Dvořák's Te Deum conducted by Petr Popelka in collaboration with the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra.