Miklós Sebestyén

Biography

The bass-baritone Miklós Sebestyén was born in Budapest, Hungary. In the early years of his musical education he played various instruments – flute, guitar, piano – until he decided to choose singing as his profession. He studied with Prof. László Polgár in Zürich and with Prof. Josef Loibl in Munich.

Already during his studies he worked in several opera productions in Europe (Zurich, Basel, Winterthur, Torino, Monte Carlo, Budapest etc.) and in various opera houses (Nürnberg Opera, Staatstheater am Gaertnerplatz in Munich, Leipzig Opera, Prinzregententheater Munich).

Recently the artist has performed Rossini/Petite Messe Sollenelle with Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir, Cantata Profana by Bartók at Teatro Petruzelli di Bari, Padre Guardiano/La Forza del Destino and Commendatore/Don Giovanni at Welsh National Opera, Escamilo/Carmen concertante with Győr Philharmonic Orchestra at Audi Arena and Bluebeard/Bluebeard’s Castle at Hungarian State Opera.

Other past engagements include among others Gremin/Eugen Onegin and Dosefei/Khowanschina at Welsh National Opera, Bach/B Minor Mass with Copenhagen Chapel Choir, Hans Foltz/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at Teatro alla Scala di Milano in 2017, Giorgio/I Puritani in Budapest, Banco/Macbeth at Welsh National Opera in 2016, Lord Gualtiero Valton/I Puritani at Teatro Real de Madrid in 2016, Don Magnifico/La Cenerentola at Opera Tel Aviv in 2016, Bonzo/Madama Butterfly at Concertgebouw Amsterdam in 2016, the World Premiere of Battistellis opera CO2 at La Scala di Milano in May 2015 staged by Robert Carsen and conducted by Cornelius Meister as 2nd Scientist and 2nd Man (Airport), Pizarro/Fidelio in Taiwan (2015), Timur/Turandot (2013) at Opéra National de Lorraine where he also in 2014 sang Publius/La Clemenza di Tito, Colline/La Bohème (2014) at Malmö Opera, Alter Bankier/Die Flut at Bayerische Staatsoper München in 2014, the title role of Mosé by Rossini with Carlo Rizzi and David Pountney at Welsh National Opera in 2014, Old Man/Aleko at Opera National Lorraine de Nancy in 2015, Bonzo/Madama Butterfly in 2015.

Furthermore, he had great success in Vienna in a new production of Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénedict directed by Kasper Holten. In June 2013 he made his debut at the internationally renowned Wagner Festival in Budapest, as Kothner in the new production of Meistersinger von Nürnberg, conducted by Adam Fischer.

Miklós Sebestyén made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York in 2012 as the King of Egypt in Verdi’s Aida, a production which was broadcasted on “Live HD from the MET” in cinemas all over the world. Also at the Met he sang the Friar (Frate) in Don Carlo in 2013.

In 2010 he won 3rd prize in the Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna. After his success at the competition he sang at various great opera houses, such as the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Komische Oper Berlin, Oper Leipzig, Staatstheater Nürnberg.

Sebestyén’s major roles include Mozart’s Figaro/Le Nozze, Leporello, Masetto, Commendatore/Don Giovanni, Sarastro, Sprecher/The Magic Flute, Don Alfonso/Cosi fan tutte; Ercole in Händel’s Admeto; Mustafa in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri; Enrico VIII in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena; Stefanno Colonna in Wagner’s Rienzi; Prince Gremin in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Colline and Schaunard in Puccini’s La Bohéme; Ferrando in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, Sparafucile/Rigoletto, Il Re/Aida; Kothner in Wagner’s Meistersinger von Nürnberg; Celio in Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges; and Priest in Schönberg’s Moses and Aron.

He worked a.o. with great conductors of our time, such as Fabio Luisi, Adam Fischer, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Chailly, Ulf Schirmer.

With various oratorios of J. S. Bach, Mozart, Händel, Haydn, Beethoven, Paul Ben Haim, Stravinsky; and with songs of Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, Mussorgsky he has established himself as a concert singer as well.