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The Czech bass, Jan Martiník, studied singing at the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava with Eliška Pappová. He has won several awards at international singing competitions, including the Antonín Dvořák International Vocal Competition in Karlovy Vary in 2003 and 2nd prize in the Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský International Vocal Competition in Trnava in 2004. He was a finalist in Operalia 2007 and won Förderpreis in Das Lied competition in Berlin in 2009. He won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Song Prize in 2009. He further extended his education at voice master-classes given by Peter Dvorský and, owing to a scholarship received at the Belvedere competition in Vienna, at Verena Keller’s courses in Germany.
Jan Martiník launched his professional career at the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre (NDM) in Ostrava, performing in the role of Pistola in Verdi’s opera Falstaff. He appeared in other roles at the NDM Ostrava, including Leporello in W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni and Truffaldino in R. Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos. Since 2006 he has appeared at the National Theatre Prague as Masetto in W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni, Larkens and José Castro in Pucinni's La fanciulla del West, and Mago in George Frideric Handel's Rinaldo. He sang at a gala concert in 2007 with Elena Obraztsova and Peter Dvorský in Košice. In 2008, he performed Don Prudenzio in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims at Accademia Rossiniana in Pesaro, appeared as Dottore Grenvil in Verdi's La traviata at Theater Erfurt, gave a recital in the Prague Spring Festival and sang the bass part in J.S. Bach's Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 with the Collegium 1704 and Václav Luks in Brno. He also joined the Komische Oper Berlin, where he has sung Sarastro in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Colline in Puccini's La bohème, Surin in Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame, Marquis d'Obigny in Verdi's La traviata, Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto and Zoroastro George Frideric Handel's Orlando.
Since 2012, Jan Martiník has been a soloist at Berlin's Staatsoper Under den Linden, the oldest opera scene in Germany, where he has performed roles such as Brander in Berlioz' La damnation de Faust, Colline in Puccini's La Bohème, Eremita in Weber's Der Freischütz, Father Trulove in Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, Pistola in Verdi's Falstaff, Sarastro W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, and many others. He has also collaborated with the Národní Divadlo in Prague, Volksoper in Vienna, Wiener Staatsoper, and other opera scenes.
Jan Martiník regularly performs with leading world orchestras, including the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Bamberger Symphoniker, BBC Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, and Staatskapelle Dresden, among others. He collaborates with some of the world's most important conductors, including Daniel Barenboim, Jiří Bělohlávek, Semyon Bychkov, Manfred Honeck, Jakub Hrusa, Fabio Luisi, Zubin Mehta, Sir Simon Rattle, and Sir John Eliot Gardiner, among others.
Jan is also actively involved in recording activities. One of his most recent recordings is F. Schubert's Winterreise (Supraphon), which received five stars from Diapason magazine. With the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Jiří Bělohlávek, he recorded Antonín Dvořák's Biblical Songs (2020, Decca). He is also one of the soloists on Bohuslav Martinů's recording of The Epic of Gilgamesh with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (released by Supraphone in 2017). He participated in the world’s first DVD recording of Gaetano Donizetti’s Requiem on period instruments (with Collegium 1704 and Václav Luks) and the first complete studio recording on period instruments of Jan Stefani’s The Supposed Miracle, or Cracovians and Highlanders (also with Collegium 1704 and Václav Luks), both made for the Fryderyk Chopin Institute. In 2020, at the Chopin and his Europe Festival, he also took part in the performance and recording of Stanisław Moniuszko’s The Countess under the baton of Fabio Biondi; that first ever performance of this work on historical instruments will be released on disc shortly. |
