Csaba Kotlár

Biography

Slovak baritone Csaba Kotlár has been a soloist of the National Theatre Opera since the 2022/23 season. He made his debut at the National Theatre on 16 May 2019 as Farfarello (Prokofiev: L'amour des trois oranges) and subsequently appeared there as a guest artist in the roles of Yamadori (Madama Butterfly), Marullo (Rigoletto), and the Second Brother (Die sieben Todsünden).
He launched his professional career in 2014, debuting as Hanezo (L'amico Fritz) and Marullo (Rigoletto) at the State Opera in Banská Bystrica. Since 2016, he has been collaborating with the F. X. Šalda Theatre in Liberec, where he made his debut as Athanaël (Thaïs), a role that earned him a nomination for the Thalia Award. On this stage, he has also performed Lionel (The Maid of Orleans), Marcello (La bohème), Dandini (La Cenerentola), Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Harašta (The Cunning Little Vixen), Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), and roles in Rachmaninoff's operas that brought him a second Thalia Award nomination: the Shade of Virgil (Francesca da Rimini) and the Duke (The Miserly Knight). Furthermore, he has appeared as a guest artist at the State Theatre Košice as Masetto (Don Giovanni) and Escamillo (Carmen); at the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava as Acmete (Paisiello: Il re Teodoro); at the J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň as Kyoto (Mascagni: Iris) and Escamillo; and at the South Bohemian Theatre in České Budějovice (the title role in Eugene Onegin). In June 2024, he performed at the Opéra de Toulon as Silvio in Pagliacci, under the baton of Valerio Galli and directed by Silvia Paoli. His repertoire at the National Theatre and the State Opera in Prague includes roles such as Escamillo (Carmen), Silvio (Pagliacci), Peter/Father (Hansel and Gretel), Marquis Aristide de Faublas (Ball at the Savoy), the Gamekeeper and the Hunter (Rusalka), the Master Bricklayer (The Secret), the Duke of Albany (Lear), Sharpless (Madama Butterfly), and Lescaut (Manon Lescaut). Here, he has collaborated with conductors Andriy Yurkevych, Hermann Bäumer, and Robert Jindra, and directors Martin Čičvák, Barbora Horáková Joly, Sláva Daubnerová, Ondřej Havelka, SKUTR, and others. Csaba Kotlár was born in Bratislava. He graduated from the Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava.