Martin Gurbal'

Biography

 Martin Gurbaľ hails from Slovakia. He studied voice at the Conservatory in Košice in the class of Prof. Ľudmila Šomorjaiová (1991-97). He successfully participated in several voice competitions, becoming the overall winner of the Antonín Dvořák International Competition in Karlovy Vary (1996) and receiving the second prize in the Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský Competition and in the Lucia Popp Vocal Competition in Bratislava. From 1995 to 2001 he was a soloist of the Opera in Košice and since 2001 has been a soloist of the Moravian-Silesian National Theatre in Ostrava. He has regularly appeared as a guest at the National Theatre in Brno, the Slovak National Theatre, in theatres in České Budějovice, Olomouc, Opava, Krakow and on other stages. His repertoire includes the fundamental bass and bass-baritone roles of, for example, Mozart’s Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro), Guglielmo and Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Verdi’s Zaccaria (Nabucco), the King and Ramfis (Aida), Gounod’s Mephistopheles (Faust), Tchaikovsky’s Gremin (Eugene Onegin), and, from the Czech repertoire, Smetana’s Kecal (The Bartered Bride), Dvořák’s Water Goblin (Rusalka), Janáček’s Forester (The Cunning Little Vixen). He has also made regular concert appearances, singing, for example, in Dvořák’s works Stabat Mater, Te Deum, Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, Janáček’s Glagolithic Mass, various song cycles by Romantic composers, as well as lesser known works. He has collaborated with philharmonic orchestras in Bratislava, Košice, Krakow, Katowice, Budapest, the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and other ensembles.

Photo: Josef Hradil