Czech tenor Ladislav Elgr has enjoyed a considerable career within the last years and has developed into a sought-after singer-actor.
Highlights of the past seasons included the concert performances of „Katja Kabanova“ under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle in London, „From the house of the Dead“/’Skuratov‘ what was performed at the Opéra de Paris, Bastille, the Opéra de Lyon and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, a new production of „Lady Macbeth von Mzensk“/’Sergej‘ at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples and in 2024 at the Liceu in Barcelona, a new production of „The Gambler“ at the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp where Ladislav Elgr gave his highly acclaimed role debut as ‚Alexey‘, „Glagolyitic Mass“ with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and a new production of “Katja Kabanova” at the Bergen Festival.
Previous productions were e.g. ‚Eric’/“Flying Dutchman“ in Antwerp followed by a new production at the Opera Leipzig, „Vec Makropulos“/’Albert Gregor‘ (David Hermann; Donald Runnicles) and ‚Gaveston‘ in the world premiere of „Edward“ both at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, „The Bassarides“/’Dionysos‘ (Mario Martone; Stefan Soltesz) at the Opera Roma, his return to the Stateopera Hamburg as ‚Boris’/“Katja Kabanova“, his debut at the New Center of Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing as ‚Prince’/“Rusalka“ (Hugo de Ana; Ratislav Stur), his ‚Jim Mahoney’/“Mahagonny“ at De Vlaamse Opera Antwerp and his debut with Los Angeles Philharmonics (Gustavo Dudamel) in „Glagolitic Mass“.
Furthermore he interpreted „Carmen“/’José‘ at the Theater St.Gallen (Nicola Berloffa; Modestas Pitrenas), „Daphne“/’Leukippos‘ (Omer Meir Wellber) at the Semperoper Dresden, ‚Froh’/“Das Rheingold“ (Ádám Fischer) at the Palace of the Arts in Budapest, ‚Skuratov’/“From the house of the Dead“ (Sir Simon Rattle) at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, ‚Boris’/“Katja Kabanova“ at the Opéra de Toulon as well as ‚Matteo’/“Arabella“ at the Opera House Cologne (Renaud Doucet; Stefan Soltzes) and ‚Prince’/“Rusalka“ at the Aalto Theatre in Essen (Lotte de Beer; Tomáš Netopil) – all of them in new productions.
He gave a remarkable debut at the Opéra de Paris, Bastille with „Vec Makropoulos“/’Janek‘ (Krzysztof Warlikowski; Susanna Mälkki) and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin with ‚Steva’/“Jenufa“ (Christoph Loy; Donald Runnicles). This was followed by his sensational role and house debut as ‚Sergej’/“Lady Macbeth of Mzensk“ in a new production (Calixto Bieito; Dmitri Jurowski) in Antwerp and by a concert performance of „Rusalka“/’Prince‘ with the Concertgebouw Orchestra under the baton of James Gaffigan. He was a highly acclaimed ’son‘ at the semi-staged production of Benjamin Britten’s „The prodigal son“ under the baton of James Conlon with the Rome Opera at the Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara Coeli and a very impressing ‚Leukippos‘ in a concert version of „Daphne“ at the Helsinki Festival (Susanna Mälkki).
Highlights of earlier seasons were e.g. his convincing portrait of ‚Prince’/“Rusalka“ at Glyndebourne (on tour) as well as in a new production at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. He sang both, ‚Albert Gregor‘ as well as ‚Froh‘ at the Teatro la Fenice in Venice, ‚Kudrjas’/“Katja Kabanova“ at the Brno Janáček-Festival (in a production of the Theater an der Wien), ‚Judas’/“The Last Supper“ by Birtwistle at the Osterklang Festival, ‚Edwin‘ in Peter Konwitschny´s production of „Die Csárdásfürstin“ at the Oper Graz. He is a frequent guest at the Theater an der Wien, where he was very successful as ‚Bes‘ at the world premiere of Lera Auerbach´s „Gogol“, as ‚Dante’|’Alméric‘ in a new production of „Francesca da Rimini“|“Jolanta“ and as ‚Prince’/“Rusalka“ /Amelie Niermayer). A concert performance of „Die Geisterbraut“ followed as well.
On concert stage, Ladislav Elgr sang, among others, Dvořák’s „Stabat Mater“, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s „Die Erste Walpurgisnacht“ (with Thomas Hengelbrock) and „Elias“ with the NDR Sinfonieorchester in Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen, Janáček’s „Šarka“ with the RSB in the Philharmonie in Berlin (with Marek Janowski), Bruckner’s „Te Deum“, Haydn’s „Die Schöpfung“, Händel’s „Messias“, Beethoven’s „Symphony No. 9“ as well as Verdi’s „Requiem“ in the Herkulessaal in Munich. With Janáček’s „Glagolitic Mass“ Ladislav Elgr made his successful debut with the Philharmonic Orchestra Vienna conducted by Pierre Boulez in the Musikverein Wien in 2011 and in July 2019 with the BBC Symphonic Orchestra (Karina Canellakis)
Ladislav Elgr studied at the Academy for Performing Arts in Prague and during his studies he sang, among others, ‚Maškarón‘ in Martinů’s „Hry o Marii“, ‚Vašek’/“The bathered bride“ and the 4 Tenor parts in Janacek´s „Vylety pane Brouckovy“ (with Sir Charles Mackerras) at the National Theater Prague. Furthermore, he gave his successful debut as ‚Jeník’/“The bartered bride“ at the Smetana Festival in Litomyšl.