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Zaens triumphs in Prague
Posted: 7:08 PM (Manila Time) | Jul. 14, 2002
by Pablo Tariman, Contributor Inquirer News Service
THE MUSIC news of the week is that baritone Jonathan Zaens sang the role of Leporello in "Don Giovanni" at the Prague State Opera and got his share of euphoric applause. He even got more thunderous applause than the singer playing the title role.
The Filipino baritone performed so well that he was immediately offered the role of Guglielmo in "Cosi fan tutti" for the next season in February. The Estates Theater (Stavovske Divadlo) of Prague also asked him to reprise the role of Leporello for the whole summer (a total of 13 performances). It was in this same theater that Mozart conducted the first performance of "Don Giovanni."
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Last March, Zaens sang three performances of an exhausting role from a Stockhausen opera for the Berliner Festspiele (yes, Stockhausen was the same composer whose opera was temporarily suspended in Berliner after he was quoted out of context, saying 9/11 was a work of art). Zaens was surprised when Stockhausen himself called him after the performance to praise the clarity and intensity of his singing. Forthwith, Zaens was offered a role for a new opera commissioned by the Salzburger Festpiele 2003 (yes, the famous Salzburg Festival). Thus far, only two Filipinos have made it to this festival: soprano Evelyn Mandac, who was conducted by Karajan in "Le Nozze di Figaro;" and tenor Otoniel Gonzaga, who was hired as a substitute for an indisposed Luis Lima, also under Karajan.