Juraj Holly in the role of Duke of Mantua

On 29 November on the stage of the Belarusian Bolshoi one of the most successful and sought-after tenors Juraj Holly will perform the role of Duke in Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto for the first time. Before the performance this young singer from Slovakia gave an exclusive interview:

Rigoletto is a special opera for me and the role of Duke is one of my favorites. I get into a character and always ready to sing the fifth and sixth acts of this incredible Verdi’s opera. What a pity it's only written in three acts. Now I sing at the Mannheim National Theatre. It is the second largest theatre venue in Germany; its stage is really huge. I really like large stages, where there is a lot of space and freedom. And I am delighted that I have a truly unique opportunity to perform on the stage of the Belarusian Bolshoi.

On November 29 Rigoletto will feature the People's Artist of Belarus Vladimir Petrov as Rigoletto, Diana Trifonova as Gilda, Honoured Artist of the Republic of Belarus Oleg Melnikov as Sparafucile, winner of international competition Kriskentia Stasenko as Maddalena, People's Artist of Belarus Vasily Kovalchuk as Count Monterone. The Honoured Artist of Ukraine Viktor Ploskina will conduct.

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Slovak tenor, Juraj Holly, graduated from the Music Academy in Bratislava. His first appearance on the opera stage was in 2010 at the Wiener Kammeroper as Gernando in Haydn’s L’isola disabitata, followed by many others engagements in the coming years at Ostrava Opera, at the State Opera in Kosice and at the National State Opera in Bratislava. In 2011 he was invited to the Festival of Polish Music to perform the role of Paolo Monti in Poniatowski’s Pierre de Medicis.

Juraj Holly is winner of the Antonin Dvorak International Competition in Karlovy Vary (first prize, 2009), Hans Gabor Belvedere International Competition (special prize, 2010) and etc.

In September 2012 Juraj Holly joined the International Opera Studio in Cologne where he sang the role of Prince in Wolf Ferrari’s Cenerentola. In the 2013/14 season he was a member of the Koblenz Theatre company where his repertoire includes: Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Narraboth in Salome, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Freddy in My Fair Lady and others.

At the State Opera of Prague and the National Theatre of Bratislava he appeared in the roles of Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte. Furthermore, he was an outstanding Tamino in Die Zauberflöte in the Japan Tour with the State Opera of Prague in 2016.

In 2017 he performed the role of Lenski in Eugene Onegin at the Zommeropera Alden Biesen in Belgium, after that he started his season at Theater Lübeck where he delighted audience as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Cassio in Otello and again the role of Count Almaviva.

In 2018 Juraj Holly made his debut as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Mannheim National Theatre. In the season 2018/19 he will perform there in the role of Duke in Rigoletto and as Prince in The Love for the 3 Oranges.

In his concert repertoire Mozart’s Requiem in Japan and Singapore (Thomas Hengelbrock conducted). During the European Heritage Awards ceremony he performed the title role in Liszt’s Don Sanchez at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam under the auspices of Placido Domingo.