Recent operatic highlights include his much-anticipated stage debut in the title role of Britten Peter Grimes at the Staatsoper Hamburg, Calaf in Puccini Turandot at the Opéra national de Paris and the Staatsoper Hamburg, Eléazar in Halévy La Juive for the Teatro Regio di Torino, Manrico Il trovatore for the Royal Opera House, Radames Aida at the Arena di Verona, Bacchus Ariadne auf Naxos for Semperoper Dresden and the title role in Verdi Otello at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Municipale di Piacenza,Teatro Comunale di Modena and Semperoper Dresden.
On the concert platform, recent highlights include the title role in Verdi Ernani for the Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos, Renato des Grieux in Puccini Manon Lescaut for Dallas Opera, Verdi Requiem and Calaf in Turandot with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta, Mahler Das Lied von der Erde at the BBC Proms, Verdi Requiem in Bilbao and with the National Symphony Orchestra of the Dominican Republic, the title role in Otello at the Cincinnati May Festival, the title role in Peter Grimes with Sir Antonio Pappano at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Faust in Berlioz La damnation de Faust at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam with Charles Dutoit.
Acclaimed throughout his earlier career for his performances in French and Italian bel canto roles, Kunde has now established himself as a leading exponent of many of the Verdi tenor roles. Since his critically acclaimed debut as Verdi Otello at La Fenice in 2012, he has performed this signature role in globally, including for the Wiener Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Opéra national de Paris, Gran Teatre del Liceu and Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Since moving into this repertoire, Kunde has earned the unique distinction of being the only tenor in recorded history to perform both Rossini Otello and Verdi Otello in the same season (2014/15 and 2015/16). Elsewhere, Kunde has sung Florestan in Beethoven Fidelio at the Opéra Nice Côte d'Azur, Don Alvaro in Verdi La forza del destino for the Verdi Festival, Teatro Regio di Parma and the Semperoper Dresden, Canio in Leoncavallo Pagliacci for the Teatro Regio di Parma, the title role in Giordano Andrea Chènier for Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Radames in Verdi Aida and Cavaradossi in Puccini Tosca for the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Manrico in Verdi Il trovatore for LA Opera, Calaf in Turandot for the Staatsoper Hamburg, Gran Teatre del Liceu and Teatro Real, Madrid, Énée in Berlioz Les Troyens for the Bayerische Staatsoper, Jean de Leyden in Meyerbeer Le prophète at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the title role in Verdi Don Carlos for Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, Samson in Saint-Saëns Samson et Dalila at the Metropolitan Opera, the title role in Andrea Chénier and Radames in Aida at the Wiener Staatsoper, Radames in Aida at the Teatro Real, Madrid, and a return to the podium to conduct Rossini Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Teatro La Fenice.
Kunde’s discography includes his solo album Vincerò! (Universal Music Group), and his first album of jazz standards entitled Then and Now (Delos). His achievements have been recognised with a number of awards, most recently with ‘Male Singer of the Year’ at the 2016 International Opera Awards.
2024/25 / 697 words. Not to be altered without permission