Štefan Kocán

Štefan Kocán studied voice at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava and continued his studies at the Vienna Conservatory under the tutelage of bass singer Yevgeny Nesterenko. After that he joined the opera ensemble of the Landestheater in Linz, Austria, where he sang Sarastro (Mozart - Die Zauberflöte), Raimondo (Donizetti - Lucia di Lammermoor), Verdi’s Philip II (Don Carlos) and Banco (Macbeth), Kecal (Smetana - The Bartered Bride). In the 2003/2004 season, he received the Eberhard Waechter award for rendering the role of the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos by Verdi. Subsequently, he debuted in this role and in the role of Il Commendatore (Mozart - Don Giovanni) on the stage of the Wiener Staatsoper, where he has been a regular guest ever since. His further engagements brought him to the Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona, the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen, Opéra de Nice, Opéra National de Paris, Teatro Communale in Modena, Teatro Ferrara, Theatre Basel, Aalto-Theater in Essen, Staatstheater in Kassel, Staatsoper in Hannover, to the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava and the National Theatre in Prague.

In October 2009, Štefan Kocán made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, in the role of  the King (Verdi - Aida), and since that time, he has appeared there regularly (Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Ferrando in Il Trovatore, Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Ramfis in Aida and the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos). He performed the title role in Verdi’s Attila at the Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile and Il Commendatore at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. He introduced himself at La Scala in Milan in the parts of Masetto (Don Giovanni) and Banco (Macbeth). His engagements in the 2013/2014 season include the role of the Grand Inquisitor and Philip II at La Scala in Milan and Konchak in Borodin’s Prince Igor and Sparafucile at the Metropolitan Opera.