home > countertenor profiles > david hansen“You will probably never see or hear a better countertenor” - Herald Sun
David Hansen was born in Sydney, Australia. He studied singing with Andrew Dalton at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and furthered his studies with James Bowman, David Harper and Graham Pushee. In 2004, David made his European début for the Aix-en-Provence Festival in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Shortly thereafter, he made his UK début in concerts with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Emmanuelle Haïm, as well as performing the title-role in Handel’s Fernandowith Il Complesso Barocco under Alan Curtis for the Spoleto Festival, Italy. Other operatic engagements include Bertarido in Handel’s Rodelinda under Alan Curtis, Trinculo in the American premiere of Thomas Adès’ The Tempest(Alan Gilbert/Santa Fe Opera), Handel’s Giulio Cesare (René Jacobs/Theater an der Wien; Rinaldo Alessandrini/Den Norske Opera; Andreas Spering/Teatro de la Maestranza de Sevilla; Richard Gill/Victorian Opera), Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (Jacobs/Deutsche Staatsoper-Berlin), Athamas in Handel’s Semele (Christophe Rousset/Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie), Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’incorinazione di Poppea (Antonio Florio/Teatro Calderón; Victorian Opera), the title-role in Hasse’s Piramo e Tisbe (Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci), the title-role in Bontempi’s Il Paride (Christina Pluhar/Innsbruck Festival of Early Music), Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (Teatro Verdi di Sassari) and Ottone in Vivaldi’s Griselda (Pinchgut Opera). He has worked with directors including Stefan Herheim, Jonathan Kent, Barrie Kosky and Christof Loy. Concert highlights include Carmina Burana with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle, the title-role in Handel’s Solomon with René Jacobs and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Handel’s Messiah under Fabio Biondi, Adès’ The Tempest at the Concertgebouw under Markus Stenz, the title-role in Handel’s Giulio Cesare with Emmanuelle Haïm and Le Concert d’Astrée, Handel arias with Bernard Labadie and the Melbourne and New World Symphony Orchestras, Britten’s Canticles at the Wiener Konzerthaus and concerts with Nathalie Stutzmann and Orfeo 55, Leif Ove Andsnes and the Brodsky Quartet. David’s debut solo recording for Sony/dhm, Rivals – Arias for Farinelli & Co., with Academia Montis Regalis and Alessandro De Marchi will be released in August 2013. His other recordings include Purcell: Music For Queen Mary, with the Academy of Ancient Music and the choir of King’s College Cambridge, available on EMI Classics, and Ottone in Vivaldi’s Griselda recorded for Pinchgut Opera Live. Forthcoming engagements include Prince Go-Go in Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabrefor Den Norske Opera, the title-role in Cavalli’s Giasone for Pinchgut Opera, Handel’s Serse under Jean-Christophe Spinosi, the title-role in Handel’s Teseofor the Händel-Festspiele Karlsruhe, the title-role in Gluck’s Paride ed Elenafor Opera Rara, Jüri Reinvere’s Peer Gynt for Den Norske Opera, Sesto in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’incorinazione di Poppea, Britten’s Les Illuminations with The Norwegian Radio Orchestra under Roy Goodman, Messiah with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under Ottavio Dantone, and concerts with Academia Montis Regalis under Alessandro De Marchi. “…a pure-voiced young Australian who is typical of a new breed of matinée-idol countertenors” - Alex Ross, The New Yorker © David Hansen
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