Dieser Altus ist ein Geheimtipp

Reviews from Julius Caesar, Den Norske Opera

Premiere February 5th, 2005
Director: Stefan Herheim
Conductor: Rinaldo Alessandrini

„In the title role, countertenor Matthias Rexroth was a self-assured, natural focal point for the action from his entrance in full Senesino-type costume, dazzling all around him with rich, well sustained flights of coloratura and dramatic phrasing.”

(Ingrid Gäfvert) Opera News 2/5/2005

Julius Cae sar, sung by Matthias Rexroth, has a vocal arsenal that only an accomplished countertenor can achieve. He sang and acted as a true leader, conquered the vocal challenges, and with full capacity made all the vocal lines as perfect as they are meant to be in Handel's dialectic musical language.

Aftenposten, Oslo, Monday, February 7th, 2005

„ (…) his voice is uplifted, immediately beautiful, flexible and has a rich vocabulary of expressive timbre that the singer uses with excellent taste. Elegance and style are the essence that embodies both his voice as well as his stage appearance,"

(Harald Kolstad) Morgenbladet, Oslo, Friday, February 11th, 2005

„The director Stefan Herheim and conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini have also succeeded with a fabulous cast. Most of all I will remember the scene where the phenomenal countertenor Matthias Rexroth sings the famous aria with the Birdsong Solo-violin and a dove. Suddenly the emperor stands outside of allthat he represents. He stands among us in the audience beside the solo Violinist, who imitates his coloratura, playing with a real live dove. The dove jumps from Caesar to the Violinist and to the conductors shoulder. And right there – in an emotional crossing between fictional and real birdsong – is the opera."

(Martin Nyström) Dagens Nyheter ( Stockholm), Saturday, February 12th, 2005

Satter Wohlklang

Rexroth und Kammerorchester bejubelt

The star of the evening was the Male Alto Matthias Rexroth with arias from Admeto. A singer with a fine easy top, a masculine powerful bottom register, wonderfully secure intonation and a luminous pianissimo capability, and all this in a fluid natural artlessness that is rare in high Men’s voices.

  Andreas Grabner - Münchner Merkur, 19.11.2005

Im Olymp angekommen

Rexroth und Kammerorchester bejubelt

When Handel 1727 came out with his opera „Admeto“, the London audience lay at his feet. Handel set the tones more complex and emotionally rising than ever. In the title role Senesino was to be heard, one of the vocal world wonders of his era. That “Admeto” today does not belong to the standard repertoire may be due to the dramaturgically weak libretto, but also mainly the lack of singers that can cope with this monstrously difficult role. Matthias Rexroth can be counted as one of the knights in this exclusive round table.

He gave his operatic debut 1999 in Purcell’s “King Arthur” at the Stuttgart Opera. Since then he has made a name for himself internationally as a baroque and Belcanto specialist. In the MozartSaal he presented together with the Stuttgart Opera Orchestra under Werner Erhardt the solo arias of Admeto – heart wrenching, a pleasure to the ear, with high technical mastery. The lamenting and at the same time death craving fury of Admeto at his misfortune Rexroth performs with selected tones colours as an inner, before the soul’s eye moving shadow scene. It would basically suffice to report merely on this opening scene.

It remains now to appropriately extol the high phrasing art of Matthias Rexroth, his legato, his pianissimo tones and his manner with Handel’s highly cultivated ornaments. These last are for Rexroth not merely a vehicle to show off his virtuosity, but a sincerely used expressive element…

After this evening it should be: And now to Halle. In the Handel Festival there (8th – 18th of June) Matthias Rexroth will appear as Admeto in a staging by Axel Köhler.

rle - Stuttgarter Zeitung, 05.05.2006

Rossinis «Tancredi» mit Counter Matthias Rexroth
und beiden Finale-Fassungen

Matthias Rexroth is the pulsating musical center… beyond the mere mastery of belcanto stylistics he excels in the art of dramatic phrasing and accurate declamation while his dark colored voice preserves its luxurious timbre up to the ringing-sumptuous top.

Roman Fryscheisen - Opernwelt 08/2004

Das Ruhrgebiet begrüßt den Messias

Georg Friedrich Händels Oratorium unter Leitung von Helmuth Rilling in der Essener Philharmonie. Auch ehemalige Minister ließen sich vorweihnachtlich einstimmen.

...and Matthias Rexroth, that combined a wonderful emotional depth with an acute performing and modulating intelligence in Handel’s warmth Alto – world. Rexroth is a class of his own. Without doubt.

Michael Stenger - Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, vom 17. 12. 2005

Jeder Ton ein Ereignis

Lieder und Arien – Matthias Rexroth singt, dass einem der Atem stockt

After the encore “Träume” from Richard Wagner’s Wesendonck Songs, an utter astonishment and stillness ruled for many seconds until the listeners in the Kleines Haus of Darmstadt’s Theater broke into a long applause with many bravos…

atthias Rexroth, nowadays can be heard and seen as Oberon in Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, belongs to the exceptional performers under the countertenors- A vocal phenomenon beyond all academic and loud self celebration, a master of multifaceted expressive art, with whom the mere modulation of a single tone that appears out of an indefinite distance and transforms into a blossoming intensity, becomes an event, as in the beginning of the Sunday matinee, Handel’s famed Xerxes Aria. With Crystalline clarity intensity and feather light agility, Matthias Rexroth’s falsetto makes its way through music literature from baroque to the Modern, so that his listeners breath is quite taken away. Perfect and with tasteful and stylistically perfect ornaments sounded songs by Purcell and Adam Krieger, in which Rexroth’s secure top and enormous dynamic breadth were fascinating…

Albrecht Schmid - Darmstädter Echo, 15. 4. 2002

Ein Feuerwerk mit Händel entzündet

Peter Neumann leitete barocken Nachmittag
Staunen über den Altus Matthias Rexroth

Matthias Rexroth… A new star in the sky of the early music scene, vocally as well as in his secure expressiveness, a worthy follower of Farinelli or Senesino. A full low register, shiny, effortless top, wonderfully tender soft piano tones and perfect diction in the Italian and English texts: one cannot cease to be astonished by this exceptional singer. He was the attraction of the afternoon in the well chosen selections from the operas “Giulio Cesare” and “Rinaldo”, as well as two oratorios ”Athalia” and “Solomon”.

■ Astonishment about the Alto Matthias Rexroth

 The manner in which he playfully mastered the tricky coloraturas while keeping Handel’s demanding expression in mind (and in throat) and bathed in coy “Affetto” took the audience by storm of excitement. That was together with the sensitive and very capably accompanying orchestra Handel at its best!

Curt J. Diederichs - Kölnische Rundschau, 25. 9. 2001

Blitzende Musik wie aus der Werkstatt eines Kupferstechers

Concerto Köln und Altus Matthias Rexroth

…Such repeats the public demanded from Matthias Rexroth as well, one of his generation’s exceptional countertenors. Yet he fascinated the Konzerthaus - audience less with throat craft than with clear tones sung full of sentiment in slow laments. He saved the only brilliant piece of the evening, the richly ornamented fury aria from Giulio Cesare to the very end. The numerous prize winner of important competitions possesses a lyric, mellow and in the bottom pleasantly full voice…

Ruhr Nachrichten, 24. Februar 2003

Gefeiertes Debüt

Of his recent concert of Admeto arias in the Prinzregententheater in November 2005, the Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote: “Matthias Rexroth has given his long overdue Munich debut at last. And the listeners went out of their skins with enthusiasm, after the famed “Ombra mai fù” the applause continued for a second encore, “Vivi tiranno” from Rodelinda. Whether joy…hope…yearning, grief or anger…, Matthias Rexroth’s voice, with its beautiful ringing low register, intensive warm middle voice and a well ringing top, unlocks many facettes. Cleanly sung coloraturas are a given for baroque music-making, yet the ornamentation of the first part of Da-Capo arias is an art unto its own. Rexroth masters this technically and musically to perfection, and seems to gain through the virtuosity even greater clarity, colour and courage.

Klaus Kalchschmid - Süddeutsche Zeitung, 21. 11. 2005

Großer Jubel für jungen Countertenor

Matthias Rexroth im Konzerthaus

The audience applauded him with enthusiasm, asking for many encores. The young countertenor Matthias Rex­roth bewitched them with his beautiful, strongly expressive voice of sensuous Alto, which extends from tender piano tones to powerful top.

He appeared with the baroque specialist orchestra “Concerto Köln” at the concert hall and proved himself to be an alluring advocate for this rare voice type nowadays. In the cantata “Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust” of Johan Sebastian Bach it seemed that the coordination was still insecure, the instrumentalists holding back and one would wish a more intimate space for this type of music. Yet already here one was impressed by excellent diction, inspired musical articulation and fluid recitative singing.

Especially in the second part with arias by Georg Friedrich Händel, Rexroth was spellbinding with Noble cultivated singing, heart wrenching melodic line and inspiration of the Italianate Handelian music.

In wonderful soft tones he lamented the loss of his beloved in the aria “Cara Sposa” from “Rinaldo”, and set with “Empio dirò tu sei” from “Giulio Cesare” fluid and neck breaking coloraturas as contrast.

he famous Larghetto “Ombra mai fù” from “Xerxes” was of heartfelt intimacy.

Westfälische Rundschau, 24.02.2003