Bejun Mehta

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Bejun Mehta in 2010

Bejun Mehta (born 29 June 1968)[1] is an American countertenor and voice teacher. He has been awarded the Echo Klassik,[2] the Gramophone Award,[3] Le Diamant d’Opera Magazine,[citation needed] the Choc de Classica,[4] the Traetta Prize,[5] and been nominated for the Grammy Award,[6] the Laurence Olivier Award,[7] and the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik.[8] Writing in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Michael Stallknecht called him "arguably the best counter tenor in the world today."[9]

Early life and family

Mehta was born in Laurinburg, North Carolina, and grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[10] His father, Dady Mehta, a pianist born in Shanghai, China, to Indian parents, is a cousin of conductor Zubin Mehta. His father was professor of piano at Eastern Michigan University. His mother, Martha Ritchey Mehta of Altoona, Pennsylvania, was a soprano and journalist who worked in the development office of the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and she was her son's first voice teacher.[11][1] His brother, Navroj Mehta, is a violinist and the artistic director of the Ventura Music Festival.

Early musical career

From the age of nine through fifteen, Mehta was a solo

Stereo Review as the Debut Recording Artist of the Year.[11]

After his voice changed, Mehta studied the

Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance without orchestra.[11][12]

Mehta sang for several years as a baritone without much success. "I was average, just average," he said.[13] He began to experiment with singing in the countertenor range after reading a 1997 New Yorker profile of the countertenor David Daniels, whose early experiences seemed to mirror his own.[14]

In 1998 he attended the

Handel. Two months later he substituted for David Daniels, who was taken ill during an international concert tour.[10]

Countertenor career

Mehta regularly performs the great roles of his repertoire with leading opera houses such as

Chicago Lyric Opera, Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, and New York City Opera. He has performed at the festivals of Salzburg, Glyndebourne, Edinburgh, Aix-en-Provence, and Verbier, and at the London BBC Proms.[16]

Mehta performs programmes with repertoire ranging from Baroque to contemporary music. He has performed at Amsterdam's

Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, Madrid's Teatro de la Zarzuela, Cité de la Musique, Paris, the Prinzregententheater Munich, and the festivals of Edinburgh, San Sebastian, Verbier, Schleswig-Holstein, and the BBC Proms in London.[17] Mehta has also conducted the Belgian Baroque Orchestra B'Rock in concerts of Haydn and Mozart symphonies.[18]

Mehta's operatic roles include, among many others: Orlando in

Antigone
.

Bejun Mehta has been profiled by

Curtis Institute
(countertenor).

The British composer George Benjamin wrote a lead role for him in his opera Written on Skin, which premiered in 2012 at Aix-en-Provence. In 2013 he gave a "visceral and beautifully-sung performance" in the world premiere recording of that opera.[19] In 2014, Benjamin was at work on a new concert piece for Mehta that receives its world premiere in September 2015 at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.[18]

Mehta's CD Down by the Salley Gardens, a collection of English art song, was released in 2011 (with

Messiah (Unitel Classics), and Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream (Glyndebourne Label), George Benjamin’s Written on Skin (Nimbus CD, BBC Magazine 2014 Premiere Recording of the Year),[22] Benjamin's Written on Skin (Opus Arte DVD, 2013 Royal Opera House, 2014 Gramophone Award-Contemporary[3]). Mehta's 2013 solo CD Che Puro Ciel (Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin/René Jacobs/Harmonia Mundi), a collection of classical arias and was awarded Le Diamant d’Opera Magazine,[citation needed] the Choc de Classica,[citation needed] and was shortlisted for the 2014 Gramophone Award in the Recital category.[23] In 2014, Deutsche Grammophon/Archiv released a new complete studio recording of Orlando with Mehta in the title role (B’Rock/Jacobs), which was shortlisted for the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik.[8] Also in 2014, ArtHaus released a theatrical film version of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice shot entirely on location at the Český Krumlov Theater in which Mehta both starred as Orfeo and was the artistic advisor. Mehta also appears on El Maestro Farinelli, Pablo Heras-Casado’s debut recording on Deutsche Grammophon/Archiv (2014), singing two of Farinelli
's most notable arias.

Discography

References

  • Kenneson, Claude, (1998), Musical prodigies: perilous journeys, remarkable lives, Hal Leonard Corporation,
    ISBN 1-57467-046-8

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Hilferty, Robert (February 15, 1999). "Counter Culture - Nymag". New York Magazine.
  2. ^ a b "ECHO Klassik Prizewinners 2011" (PDF). ECHO. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  3. ^ a b [1]
  4. ^ "Orlando - Georg Friedrich Händel - CD album - Achat & prix". Musique.fnac.com.
  5. ^ "Traetta Prize 2015" (PDF). Traetta.com.
  6. ^ a b Archived 2018-09-21 at the Wayback Machine Billboard Magazine 2013 Grammy Awards: Full List of Nominees, December 21, 2012. Web.archive.org
  7. ^ "The Laurence Olivier Awards: Full List of Winners, 1976–2008" (PDF). London Theatre Guide. 1976–2008. The Society of London Theatre. 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  8. ^ a b [2]
  9. ^ Michael Stallknecht, "Ein Glücksfall," Süddeutsche Zeitung, 11 August 2012.
  10. ^ a b c "On a High Note: Bejun Mehta, Countertenor, on Top". The New York Times. March 24, 2001.
  11. ^ a b c d Kenneson, Claude, (1998), p.333
  12. ^ "Grammy Award Nominations Listing". Grammy.com.
  13. ^ Kohn, David (February 11, 2009). "The Countertenor". CBS News. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  14. ^ "CBS News, January 29, 2001". Cbsnews.com. Archived from the original on June 23, 2002.
  15. ^ "Alumni Roster". musicacademy.org. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  16. ^ "IMG Artists". Archived from the original on 2008-01-17. Retrieved 2008-07-30.
  17. ^ [3] [permanent dead link‍]
  18. ^ a b "Centre Stage Artist Management". Archived from the original on 2014-10-25. Retrieved 2014-10-26.
  19. ^ "George Benjamin Releases Recording of New Opera Written on Skin Today". Broadway World. July 9, 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  20. ^ Archived 2014-11-06 at the Wayback Machine BBC Music Magazine Awards 2012, Web.archive.org
  21. ^ "Bestenliste 3-2011". Archived from the original on 2020-02-01. Retrieved 2014-11-09.
  22. ^ "BBC Music Magazine Awards 2014 winners announced". Classical-music.com.
  23. ^ "Gramophone - Gramophone Awards Shortlist 2014". Reader.exacteditions.com.
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