| Pavel Černoch

Bio

Pavel Černoch is considered one of the leading tenors of today. He regularly performs at major opera houses such as the Vienna State Opera, Paris National Opera, Royal Opera Covent Garden, Berlin and Munich State Opera. He is renowned for his versatility, and is particularly praised for his interpretation of the Czech and Slavic repertoire, but he also excels in French and Italian roles. Cernoch has worked with many top and international conductors, including Daniel Barenboim, Kirill Petrenko, Simon Rattle, Andris Nelsons, John Eliot Gardiner, Jakub Hrůša and many others.

Among the highlights of the 2023/24 season were his acclaimed roles as the Prince in Rusalka at the Vienna State Opera and in a new production at the Berlin State Opera, his debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Laca in Her Shepherdess, his return to the Paris National Opera as Albert Gregor in The Makropulos Affair and to the Hamburg State Opera as Sergei in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. He also portrayed Sergei in a new production directed by Alex Olle at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

„Sergey, a role to which Pavel Cernoch brings both feline grace and loutish opportunism.“

- Financial Times -

„Pavel Černoch as Max sang with a clear and brilliant voice, fearlessly and impressively scaling the heights of his arias.“

- Bachtrack -

„Pavel Cernoch […] excels in this role where Shostakovich takes pleasure in diverting the image of the heroic tenor.“

- Concert Classic -

„Pavel Černoch’s dashingly attractive, if weak-willed Boris. (…) Černoch is very much her equal – warm in tone, ardent yet vacillating, and simmering with resentment at his treatment brutal Dikoj.“

- The Guardian -

„Pavel Cernoch is a moving Laca with flaming tenor heights, whose change from aggressive to a devoted lover is impressive.“

- Die Deutsche Buehne -

In the 2022/23 season, Černoch appeared as Apollo in a new production of Romeo Castellucci's Daphne at the Berlin State Opera. He also appeared as the Prince in a new production of Philipp Stölzl's Rusalka at the Dutch National Opera and in Prague, and took on the title role of Faust at the Hamburg State Opera. On the concert stage he joined the Norwegian National Opera under Edward Gardner in Le Damnation de Faust.

In recent seasons, Černoch made his major debut as Florestan in Fidelio at the Berlin State Opera and as Max in Freischütz at the Bavarian State Opera. He also performed one of his signature roles, Cavarodossi in Tosca, at the Hamburg State Opera, La Monnaie and the National Theatre Opera in Prague. Other highlights of his career include the Prince in a new production of Christoph Loy's Rusalka at the Semper Opera Dresden and the Canadian Opera Company; Vladimir in a new production of Igor Barrie's Prince Kosky at the Paris National Opera; and the title role in Don Carlo at the Hamburg State Opera and the Paris National Opera; Giasone in Médée at the Salzburg Festival; Sergei in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the Paris Opera; Boris in Kate Kabanova at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden; Don José in Carmen at the Greek National Opera, Hamburg State Opera and Glyndebourne; Lensky in Eugene Onegin at the Bavarian State Opera, Paris National Opera and Vienna State Opera; Laca in Her Shepherdess at the Bavarian State Opera, Dutch National Opera, Stuttgart State Opera and Theater an der Wien; Jeník in The Bartered Bride at the National Theatre in Prague and Paris National Opera; Lykov in The Tsar's Bride at the Berlin State Opera and the Teatro alla Scala; Rodolfo in La Boheme at the Hamburg State Opera; Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the Berlin State Opera, the Cologne Opera and the Hamburg State Opera; and a production of Faust's Curse at the Opera Theatre in Rome.

He is at home on the concert stage and regularly performs with leading orchestras such as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Bamberger Symphoniker. Recent concert appearances include Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Gewandhausorchester, Mahler's Song of the Earth with the Prague Philharmonic, Rachmaninov's Bells with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Verdi's Requiem at the Bergen Festival.

He made his professional debut in his hometown with The Magic Flute, followed by performances in Prague, Riga, Cagliari, Athens, Graz and the Vienna People's Opera. Černoch began singing as a child in the chamber choir Kantiléna and later studied music management at the Janáček Academy in Brno. He continued his vocal training in Italy with Paolo de Napoli, who is his mentor to this day.