Matthias Rexroth

Matthias Rexroth (b. Nürnberg, Germany, 7 January 1970) is a German countertenor. He was raised in Coburg and completed studies as an oboist, playing professionally before discovering his countertenor voice. He usually refers to himself as an Altus (In English, a "Male alto"). Rexroth studied at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, and privately with Marilyn Horne. In 1999 he received a stipend award from the cultural foundation of the state of Baden Württemberg. Since 2000, Rexroth has had an active career in Europe which has included opera and concert performances. In addition, he is an active voice teacher and coach, and has conducted the Georgisches Kammerorchester and the "Ensemble del' Arte" in Ingolstadt.

Career

Rexroth was hired by Pamela Rosenberg for his debut at the Staatsoper Stuttgart with Purcell’s King Arthur in 1999. A year later, in 2000, followed Apollo in Legrenzi’s opera La divisione del mondo at the Schwetzingen Festival with Thomas Hengelbrock. His first major concert appearance was the internationally televised Bach-year 2000, Bach Mass in B minor from the Leipzig Thomaskirche with Thomaskantor Georg Christoph Biller, the Thomanerchor and the Gewandhaus Orchestra

Also in 2000, Rexroth won two competitions, both wins as first countertenor ever: the 37th Francisco-Viñas in Barcelona - first prize in the category Male voices, as well as ‘best counter-tenor’ and the 19th 'Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition' in Vienna, winning the first prize and eight additional prizes.

In 2001 the Cologne Philharmonie nominated Matthias Rexroth for the "Rising Star" award, with a tour of major European concert houses. In 2003 he represented Germany in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.

Matthias Rexroth has collaborated frequently with the conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt in roles such as Unulfo in Handel’s Rodelinda at the Theater an der Wien, Hamor in Handel’s Jephtha, Didymus in Handel’s Theodora and Purcell’s Ode to St. Cecilia at the Vienna’s Musikverein and the Styriarte festival in Graz. Notable concerts include those with the Vienna Philharmonic under Riccardo Muti, Fabio Luisi with the Accademia di Santa Cecilia Rome, Nicola Luisotti with the Orchestra del Teatro di San Carlo in Naples and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos with the Wiener Symphoniker. Rexroth performs recitals regularly, at the Berlin Philharmonie, Prinzregententheater in Munich, Bad Kissingen, and with pianists Semion Skigin, Matteo Pais and Eytan Pessen.

Opera

Rexroth sang the title roles in Handel’s Giulio Cesare (directed by Stefan Herheim) at the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo in 2005, Gluck’s Ezio with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf in 2007, and Handel’s Admeto at the Handel Festival, Halle. For his performance of Admeto, Rexroth was nominated "Best Singing Actor" for the 2007 German theatre prize "Der Faust". He performed the titel role of Handel’s Ottone in Halle in 2011. Other Handel roles include Athamas in Semele in Essen, Arcane in Teseo in Opern- und Schauspielhaus Frankfurt and Staatsoper Stuttgart, Armindo in Partenope (under Christophe Rousset) and Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare in Frankfurt (2013-5).

Apart from Handel repertoire, Matthias Rexroth performed Corindo in Antonio Cesti's Orontea under Ivor Bolton (2014) at the Frankfurt opera, Nibbio in Giambattista Martini's L'impresario delle Isole Canarie at the Semperoper Dresden (2014) where he also performed various roles in Purcell's King Arthur (2014).

Other opera appearances include Telemann’s Der geduldige Socrates with René Jacobs at the Festwochen der Alten Musik in Innsbruck and at the Staatsoper Berlin, Ottone in Monteverdi’s Poppea at Hamburg State Opera, and Oberon in Britten’s Midsummer Night's Dream at the Staatstheater Darmstadt. Appearances as Ozia in Almeida’s La Giuditta in Frankfurt, Musico in Donizetti’s Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, and Strauss’ Die Fledermaus in the Aalto Theatre in Essen under Stefan Soltesz have also been made.

Concerts

Concert appearances with the Vienna Philharmonic, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Radio Televisione Española Madrid, Staatsorchester Stuttgart, Santa Cecilia orchestra, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Concerto Köln, Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, the Berliner Philharmoniker Scharoun Ensemble Orchestra Montis realis, and the festivals of Schwetzingen, Innsbruck, Ludwigsburg, Rheingau, Baden-Baden and Shanghai.

The composer Wolfgang Rihm wrote Kolonos (“Oedipus auf Kolonos”) for Rexroth, performed and recorded by the SWR and the Rossini in Wildbad opera festival in 2008, and with Constantin Trinks in Darmstadt.

Recordings

Recordings with all major broadcasting companies in Germany have taken place. These include: Bayerischer Rundfunk, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, Hessischer Rundfunk, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, SFB, Südwestrundfunk, ORF and Deutsche Welle.

Specific recordings

• 2001: J.S. Bach Mass in B minor, Universal Music Classics & Jazz ASIN: B003TXPUN2
• 2004: Rossini Tancredi, Nef ASIN: B0002CPFCE
• 2004: Solo recital: Stimme der Könige, Matthias Rexroth NEF ASIN: B0001TSYZS
• 2007: Händel, Admeto, Arthaus ASIN: B000M2EBTC
• 2007: Gluck’s Ezio
• 2008: CPE Bach Magnificat / Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes, ASIN: B001GHD43G
• 2011: Telemann Germanicus, CPO, ASIN: B005UU066S
• 2012: Handel Teseo, Carus, 2012, ASIN: B002QEIQVI
• 2012: Mozart Ascanio in Alba, K. 111 (Excerpts) Ars Produktion ASIN: B008Y1VLGE

• Roman Fryscheisen, "Tancredi mit Counter Matthias Rexroth und beiden Finale Fassunge", Opernwelt (magazine), August 2004

Interviews

• Heinrich Becker, "Matthias Rexroth Temperament für die Bühne", Orpheus, March–April 2003, pp. 10–11 (In German)
• Rosemarie Frühauf, "Aus dem Leben eines Countertenors: Matthias Rexroth", The Epoch Times (Deutschland), 10 April 2012 on epochtimes.de Retrieved August 2013. (In German)
• Live interview on NDR (In German)
• 2008 interview retrieved June 2013. (In German)