Alexandr Beň

A native of Lutsk, Ukraine, he became a laureate of the international singing competition in Belgrade during his studies at the Lysenko State Academy in Lviv. After graduation he was engaged as a soloist of the Ivan Franko Opera in Lviv. There he made his debut in l99l with the title role in P. I. Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin, which became his "emblematic" role; he repeated it not only on the stage of the South Bohemian Theatre, but also at the National Theatre in Prague. In 1993 he attended the singing courses at the European Center for Opera and Vocal Arts in Ghent, Belgium, under the guidance of bass-baritone Tom Kraus. Since 1994 he has been a leading soloist of the opera ensemble of the South Bohemian Theatre in České Budějovice. There he has created a whole pleiad of great baritone roles, especially in Verdi's operas (Rigoletto, La Traviata, Masquerade Ball, Luisa Miller, Il Trovatore, Aida, Il Barbiere di Figaro, Otello), but also in Veristic (Puccini, Giordano, Leoncavallo, Mascagni) and French (Massenet, Gounod, Bizet) operas. From the operatic repertoire of the 18th and early 19th centuries, we can mention his successful leading roles of Figaro in Lazebub of Seville, Doctor Malatesta in Don Pasquale or Belcore in The Love Potion and the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni, which he successfully performed in front of the revolving auditorium in Český Krumlov. He was also present in important characters of Czech operatic literature, such as Vok Vítkovic, King Vladislav, Kalina and Bohuš and Adolf. He also reaped well-deserved laurels as Revírník from Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen performed in front of the Rotating Auditorium directed by Martin Kukučka and Lukáš Trpišovský. During his artistic career he has been a guest at most Czech opera houses. One of his greatest successes in this field is his portrayal of the role of the Beast in Philip Glass's opera Beauty and the Beast, based on the film of the same name by Jean Cocteau, directed by Petr and Matěj Forman at the National Theatre in Prague (2003). His concert activity is also rich, among other things he likes to present the songs of his native country.