Werner van Mechelen

Category:muzikant, solist, groep / artiest, repertoire
Turnhout, 1961
Genre(s):opera, 21ste eeuw / hedendaags, 20ste eeuw, romantiek
Instrument(s):zang (bas), zang (bariton)

Biography

The belgian bass-baritone Werner Van Mechelen has a very successful international career in opera as well as in concert and for recitals. In summer 2017 Werner Van Mechelen made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival in the role of Klingsor in PARSIFAL with re invitations in 2019 for Hans Sachs in a short version of DIE MEISTERSINGER. In 2020 and 2021 he is invited to the Bayreuth festival to sing the role of Kothner in die MEISTERSINGER. In the first half of 2019 the artist sang the main role in Ligeti’s Gran Macabre with the NDR Hamburg under the baton of Alan Gilbert in the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg. At the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse he had been invited for «Music teacher» in a new production of ARIADNE AUF NAXOS. Future engagements include: Monk in DON CARLOS in the opening premiere oft he new directior of the Vlaamse Opera Antwerp, Beethovenconcerts with Le concert Olympique, Beethoven 9th SINFONIE in Malaga, RHEINGOLD Alberich at the Saarländischen Staatstheater Saarebruck, PARSIFAL Amfortas at the Hamburg Staate Opera, RHEINGOLD and GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG Alberich at the Leipzig Opera as well as the titelrole in Verdi’s FALSTAFF at La Monnaie, Bruxelles. Recently he had been invited as Alberich in RING CYCLES at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and at the Hamburg State Opera as well as Wolfram in TANNHÄUSER at the Saarbruck State Theatre. He sang Heerrufer in LOHENGRIN at La Monnaie, Brussels, Don Pizarro in FIDELIO at the Hamburg State Opera, Alberich in SIEGFRIED at the Erl Festival and Pandolphe in Massenet’s CENDRILLON at the Komische Oper Berlin. For the 100 Year celebration of the end of the 1st world war he has prepared a program IN FLANDERS FIELDS with songs and chamber music under the motto: “Nevermore War”which he sang all over Belgium. Werner Van Mechelen’s lyric repertoire reaches from the baroque repertoire to great Mozart roles like Count Almaviva, Figaro, Don Alfonso, Don Giovanni and Leporello, to German and Italian repertoire, including Michele and Gianni Schicchi in Puccini’s Il TRITTICO, Scarpia in TOSCA, Amonasro in AIDA and Ford in FALSTAFF – not forgetting masterpieces of the 20th century such as Berg’s Wozzeck and many world-creations. A focus is on the German repertoire of Wagner and Strauss: Konstantin Unger Artists.Management Scheffelstrasse 11 | D - 65187 Wiesbaden +49 611 51 0099 76 / +49 176 846 24 222 unger@ungerartiststs.com www.ungerartists.com Wagner: Wolfram in TANNHÄUSER, Kothner in DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG, Amfortas and Klingsor in PARSIFAL as well as Kurwenal in TRISTAN UND ISOLDE. He has interpreted many times and with great success the role of Alberich in Wagner’s RING CYCLE: at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie (broadcasted on RTBF), the Nationale Opera, Amsterdam, the Vlaamse Opera, Antwerp and Ghent, the Teatro la Fenice in Venice. He sang his first Wotan in RHEINGOLD at the Wagner Festival in Sopot. At the Hamburg State Opera and in Bogota he was Kurwenal in TRISTAN UND ISOLDE. Strauss: Faninal in DER ROSENKAVALIER and Musiklehrer in ARIADNE OF NAXOS at the Opéra du Rhin, Strasbourg, Jochanaan in SALOME at the Opera Monte Carlo, Mandryka in ARABELLA at Göteborgs Operan and at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Liège. Werner Van Mechelen has a close relationship to the opera houses of Belgium and the Netherlands. At La Monnaie, Brussels he has sung the title role in Berg’s WOZZECK, Nekrotzar in Ligeti’s GRAND MACABRE, Sancho Pansa in Massenet’s DON QUICHOTTE, the Chambellan YVONNE and the older son in AU MONDE by Boesmans. The Vlaamse Opera, Antwerp invited him for Besenbinder in HANSEL AND GRETEL, Ford in FALSTAFF, Amonasro in AIDA, Geisterbote in DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN and Amfortas in PASIFAL. At the Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam he has sung a.o Varlaam in BORIS GODUNOV, Tierbändiger / Athlet in Lulu and Alberich in the RING CYCLE. Furthermore he was invited to the Opéra d’Avignon (Pizarro), the Gran teatro del Liceu (Nekrotzar), the Augsburg Opera (Scarpia / TOSCA) as well as to the opera houses of Paris, Zürich, Cologne etc. Werner Van Mechelen has sung under the baton of conductors like: Hartmut Haenchen, Sigiswald Kuijken, Ton Koopman, Antonio Pappano, Marc Minkowski, Bernhard Kontarsky, Gabriel Feltz, Patrick Davin, Jeffrey Tate, Silvio Varviso, Franck Ollu, Stefan Soltesz, Gustav Kuhn, Alexander Joel, Donald Runnicles, Eliahu Inbal, Kent Nagano, Alain Altinoglu und Jaap van Zweden and many important stage directors like Laurent Pelly, Oliver Py, Jean Louis Grinda, Damiano Michieletto, Georges Delnon , Guy Joosten, Ivo van Hove, Uwe Eric Laufenberg, Robert Carsen, Tatjana Gürbaca, Pierre Audi, Götz Friedrich, Lorenzo Fioroni, David Freeman und Joël Pommerat. The artist has a particular affection for concerts and recitals: His concert repertoire extends from BACH’S PASSIONS to the romantic works such as ELIJAH and BRAHMS REQUIEM, to the SONG CYCLES and SYMPHONIES of Mahler and to composers of the 20th and 21st Century. His Lied repertoire includes not only the great SONG CYCLES of Schubert, Schumann and Brahms but also repertoire by less known composers. He worked with pianists like Eric Schneider, Lucas Blondeel and Jozef De Beenhouwer. Werner Van Mechelens recordings show the large variety of his repertoire: Lied CDs – with works by Franz Schubert, Richard Strauss, Claude Debussy, Francis Poulenc, etc. / Oratorio: ELIJAH, Mendelssohn / Opera: DON GIOVANNI, LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, LIVIETTA E TRACOLLO (Pergolesi), DIE MEISTERSINGER VON NÜRNBERG and RHEINGOLD. DVD- LE ROI D’YS (Eduard Lalo) / DON QUICHOTTE, Massenet / LE GRAND MACABRE (György Ligeti) and STRADELLA (César Franck) Furthermore there are CDs with recordings of Flemish composers like Lodewijk Mortelmans and Peter Benoit . Werner van Mechelen made his studies at the Lemmens Institute at Leuven with Roland Bufkens and has participated in master classes of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Robert Holl, Mitsuko Shirai, Hartmut Höll and Malcolm King. He has been awarded with several international prizes the Queen Elisabeth Prize (Brussels), the International Vocalists Competiton (‘s-Hertogenbosch), the International Singing Competition (Toulouse), the Vinas Competition (Barcelona) and the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.

Selective discography

C'est l'extase langoureuseC'est l'extase langoureuse (1997)
20th century
Werner van Mechelen, Marc Deckers, Claude Debussy
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus - Don GiovanniMozart Wolfgang Amadeus - Don Giovanni (1997)
classicism
Werner van Mechelen, Sigiswald Kuijken, Huub Claessens, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Elena Vink, Markus Schäfer, Nancy Argenta, Nanco De Vries (...)
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus - Le Nozze di FigaroMozart Wolfgang Amadeus - Le Nozze di Figaro (1997)
classicism
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Werner van Mechelen, Christiane Oelze, Huub Claessens, Patricia Biccire, Monica Groop, Harry Van Der Kamp, Béatrice Cramoix (...)
Kapelmeesters in BrusselKapelmeesters in Brussel (1987)
classicism, Baroque
Greta De Reyghere, Guy De Mey, Werner van Mechelen, Collegium Instrumentale Brugense, Lieve Maertens, Joseph-Hector Fiocco, Petrus-Hercules Brehy, Charles-Joseph van Helmont (...)

Selectieve discografie als medewerker

Pascal Dusapin - PenthesileaPascal Dusapin - Penthesilea (2019)
opera
Symfonisch orkest van de Muntschouwburg, Pascal Dusapin, Franck Ollu
De kinderen der zeeDe kinderen der zee (2017)
classical
Lodewijk Mortelmans, Dirk Vermeulen, Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, Peter Aerts, August de Boeck
A bouquet of forgotten flowersA bouquet of forgotten flowers (2015)
classical
Werner van Mechelen, Georges Lonque, Peter Vanhove, Flor Peeters, Henry Georges d'Hoedt, Prosper Van Eechaute, Lodewijk Mortelmans
Peter Benoit - De ScheldePeter Benoit - De Schelde (2014)
romanticism
Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Peter Benoit, Martyn Brabbins
André Devaere (1890-1914) - Complete WorksAndré Devaere (1890-1914) - Complete Works (2011)
classical
André Devaere
A guide to period instrumentsA guide to period instruments (2010)
early music, Baroque, romanticism
Diverse uitvoerders