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The Austrian counter-tenor (and former boy soprano), Alois Mühlbacher, completed acting studies in Linz and studied solo singing at the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien with Professor Uta Schwabe. He is currently continuing his master's studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Michael Chance (since January 2023). At the age of 15 he made his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper and celebrated great successes on the podiums of international concert halls. Coming from the forge of the renowned as well as traditional St. Florianer Sängerknaben, the young counter-tenor can now be heard all over the world.
Alois Mühlbacher has performed at the opening gala of the new opera house in Vladivostok and at the New Year's Eve concert of the Mozarteum Orchestra in the Großes Festspielhaus under Ivor Bolton, among others. At the Great Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna, he appeared on stage as Daniel in George Frideric Handel's oratorio Susanna, as alto soloist in J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor BWV 232, Johannes-Passion BWV 245, Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 and in Weihnachts-Oratorium BWV 248 under Martin Haselböck. Guest appearances with the Wiener Akademie have taken him to Munich, Los Angeles and Mexico.
As Amyntas in Georg Philipp Telemann's Pastorelle en musique under the musical direction of the renowned recorder player and conductor Dorothee Oberlinger and alongside the Vocalconsort Berlin and Ensemble 1700, the acclaimed production made guest appearances at the Telemann Festival in Magdeburg, the Potsdam Sanssouci Music Festival, the Innsbruck Early Music Festival and Musica Bayreuth. Under the direction of Alfredo Bernardini, he appeared as the title character Assalonne in Antonio Caldara's oratorio of the same name in Salzburg in November 2022. With the Ensemble Ars Antiqua Austria and Gunar Letzbor he has been connected for many years by an intensive collaboration in concerts (Festival for Early Music Utrecht, Resonanzen in the Vienna Konzerthaus, ... ) and numerous CD recordings.
In June 2022, Alois Mühlbacher made his debut at the Landestheater Linz in the world premiere of Gisle Kverndokk's Fanny and Alexander based on the film of the same name by Ingmar Bergman. He is currently singing Eustazio in G.F. Handel's Rinaldo at the Musiktheater Linz.
Together with his piano partner Franz Farnberger, Alois Mühlbacher has already given numerous recitals. His distinctive, smooth, and versatile voice timbre enables him to perform a wide-ranging repertoire from Schubert to Richard Strauss, which is unusual for counter-tenors. His most recent CD recording Urlicht with works by Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss was celebrated by the specialist press.
The highlights of 2023 included his debut at the Künstlerhaus in Munich, a Farinelli recital at the Festival de Sintra in Portugal, J.S. Bach cantatas with the Wiener Akademie at the Vienna Musikverein and, above all, a European tour to Paris, Bordeaux, Madrid, Hamburg and Valencia with G.F. Handel Alcina with Les Musiciens du Louvre under Marc Minkowski; in this opera he also made his debut at La Scala in Milan in 2024. Alongside violinist Dimitris Karakantas, Mühlbacher made his debut in 2024 with a Antonio Vivaldi recital at the opera house in Vilnius/Lithuania.
Aloist Mühlbacher has worked intensively with the ensemble Ars Antiqua Austria and Gunar Letzbor for many years, with concerts at the Utrecht Early Music Festival and the Resonanzen in the Vienna Konzerthaus, among others. Their new CD with cantatas by Antonio Bononcini was released in 2024. As a Lieder singer, he surprises with an unusually broad repertoire for his vocal range and, with his piano partner Franz Farnberger, presented the highly acclaimed recording Urlicht with songs by Gustav Mahler and R. Strauss. The CD was nominated in three categories for the Opus Klassik 2023. In the summer of 2023, Franz Farnberger and Alois Mühlbacher founded the Ensemble Pallidor, a specialist ensemble for early music. In 2024 he took over the artistic direction of the Baroque Festival St. Pölten. He currently lives in Vienna. |
