Miller Lajos
voice - baritone
23 January 1940, Szombathely, Hungary
An excellent operatic baritone, best known for his memorable performances in Verdi’s operas.
He began studying at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music Budapest in 1961, graduating as an opera singer and teacher of music in 1968. He became a freelance singer at the Opera House in 1968 and made his debut in the role of Horatio in Sándor Szokolay’s Hamlet. Early in his career he achieved successes in the following roles: Valentin (Faust), Wolfram (Tannhäuser), Don Giovanni, Eugène Onegin (Tchaikovsky), Silvio (Cavaleria Rusticana), and in Verdi’s operas in baritone roles such as Macbeth, Posa (Don Carlos), Simon Boccanegra, Don Carlos (La forza del destino), Don Carlos (Ernani), Germont (La Traviata), which formed the main part of his repertoire.
He achieved excellent results in many international competitions. He won the main prize in the Fauré Singing Competition in Paris, together with the first prize of the recital class and the special prize of the Centre Pompidou, and the 3rd prize in the Erkel Competition in Budapest. Also in the same year, 1975, he was awarded first prize at the Toti dal Monte singing competition in Treviso with the role of Earl Luna. He often performed at the most famous opera houses, such as La Scala in Milan, the Staatsoper in Vienna, the Opéra in Paris, the State Opera in Munich, the Opera House in Rome, and in all the important Opera Houses in Europe.
He often appeared on the American continent in the early the ‘80s, for example in Houston, and later in Philadelphia, the Kennedy Center in Washington and Carnegie Hall, and in the Opera Houses of Toronto and Montreal. The peak of his career in the USA came when he made his debut in the Metropolitan with the role of Earl Luna (Il Trovatore). It was a very important period in his life when he stayed at Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires singing Prince Yeletsky (The Queen of Spades), Basilio (Respighi's La Fiamma) and Nabucco, and was awarded the prize for the best baritone in the 1987 season.
His repertoire widened with baritone roles from the operas of Mozart, Rossini, Bizet, Wagner, Giordano, Puccini, Mercadante, Donizetti, Berio, Testi, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Prokofiev. He was invited to the following festivals: Aix en Provence, Florence, Amsterdam, Wiesbaden, Wexford, Peruggia, Bratislava and Siena. He joined the Hungarian State Opera House in 1992 and played the following roles: Iago (Othello), Tiborc (Bánk Bán), Marcel (Il tabarro ), Gunter (Götterdämmerung), Suitor (Kodály 's Székelyfonó), King (Szokolay's Szávitri) and the Major (Petrovics's C'est la guerre).
Other important roles: Gérard (André Chénier), Scarpia (Tosca), Figaro (The Barber of Seville), Andrei (Prokofiev's War and Peace), Lord Ashton (Lucia di Lammermoor), Adam (György Ránky's The Tragedy of Man), Michonnet (Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur), Háry János, and from 2006 on other roles such as Őse táltos / Árpád (Levente Szörényi's Árpád's people), Lear (Tamás Mihály's 56 Drops of Blood).
He partnered renowned singers such as Luciano Pavarotti, Mirella Freni, Vladimir Atlantov, Edita Gruberova, Ileana Cotrubas and Alfredo Kraus. He worked together with the following conductors: Giuseppe Patané, Lamberto Gardelli, Claudio Abbado, Nello Santi, Georges Pretre, Peter Maag, Zubin Metha, Seiji Ozawa, Mstislav Rostropovich, Oliviero de Fabritiis, Jesus Lopez Coboz, Eliahu Imbal, Michel Plasson and Silvio Varviso.
He made many disks, TV and radio recordings. During his career he performed in 74 cities in 24 countries, sang 75 different operas and was a soloist in more than 20 oratorios and concerts both in Hungary and abroad. He is a member of the jury at the Helikon Festival, Keszthely (Hungary), member of the Kossuth Committee, often sings at charity concerts and teaches young students.
Prizes:
1975 Liszt Prize
1977 Mihály Székely Plaquette
1980 Kossuth Prize
1992 Bartók-Pásztory Award
2004 perpetual member of Hungarian TV's Society of Immortals
2008 Knight Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary
An excellent operatic baritone, best known for his memorable performances in Verdi’s operas.
He began studying at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music Budapest in 1961, graduating as an opera singer and teacher of music in 1968. He became a freelance singer at the Opera House in 1968 and made his debut in the role of Horatio in Sándor Szokolay’s Hamlet. Early in his career he achieved successes in the following roles: Valentin (Faust), Wolfram (Tannhäuser), Don Giovanni, Eugène Onegin (Tchaikovsky), Silvio (Cavaleria Rusticana), and in Verdi’s operas in baritone roles such as Macbeth, Posa (Don Carlos), Simon Boccanegra, Don Carlos (La forza del destino), Don Carlos (Ernani), Germont (La Traviata), which formed the main part of his repertoire.
He achieved excellent results in many international competitions. He won the main prize in the Fauré Singing Competition in Paris, together with the first prize of the recital class and the special prize of the Centre Pompidou, and the 3rd prize in the Erkel Competition in Budapest. Also in the same year, 1975, he was awarded first prize at the Toti dal Monte singing competition in Treviso with the role of Earl Luna. He often performed at the most famous opera houses, such as La Scala in Milan, the Staatsoper in Vienna, the Opéra in Paris, the State Opera in Munich, the Opera House in Rome, and in all the important Opera Houses in Europe.
He often appeared on the American continent in the early the ‘80s, for example in Houston, and later in Philadelphia, the Kennedy Center in Washington and Carnegie Hall, and in the Opera Houses of Toronto and Montreal. The peak of his career in the USA came when he made his debut in the Metropolitan with the role of Earl Luna (Il Trovatore). It was a very important period in his life when he stayed at Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires singing Prince Yeletsky (The Queen of Spades), Basilio (Respighi's La Fiamma) and Nabucco, and was awarded the prize for the best baritone in the 1987 season.
His repertoire widened with baritone roles from the operas of Mozart, Rossini, Bizet, Wagner, Giordano, Puccini, Mercadante, Donizetti, Berio, Testi, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Prokofiev. He was invited to the following festivals: Aix en Provence, Florence, Amsterdam, Wiesbaden, Wexford, Peruggia, Bratislava and Siena. He joined the Hungarian State Opera House in 1992 and played the following roles: Iago (Othello), Tiborc (Bánk Bán), Marcel (Il tabarro ), Gunter (Götterdämmerung), Suitor (Kodály 's Székelyfonó), King (Szokolay's Szávitri) and the Major (Petrovics's C'est la guerre).
Other important roles: Gérard (André Chénier), Scarpia (Tosca), Figaro (The Barber of Seville), Andrei (Prokofiev's War and Peace), Lord Ashton (Lucia di Lammermoor), Adam (György Ránky's The Tragedy of Man), Michonnet (Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur), Háry János, and from 2006 on other roles such as Őse táltos / Árpád (Levente Szörényi's Árpád's people), Lear (Tamás Mihály's 56 Drops of Blood).
He partnered renowned singers such as Luciano Pavarotti, Mirella Freni, Vladimir Atlantov, Edita Gruberova, Ileana Cotrubas and Alfredo Kraus. He worked together with the following conductors: Giuseppe Patané, Lamberto Gardelli, Claudio Abbado, Nello Santi, Georges Pretre, Peter Maag, Zubin Metha, Seiji Ozawa, Mstislav Rostropovich, Oliviero de Fabritiis, Jesus Lopez Coboz, Eliahu Imbal, Michel Plasson and Silvio Varviso.
He made many disks, TV and radio recordings. During his career he performed in 74 cities in 24 countries, sang 75 different operas and was a soloist in more than 20 oratorios and concerts both in Hungary and abroad. He is a member of the jury at the Helikon Festival, Keszthely (Hungary), member of the Kossuth Committee, often sings at charity concerts and teaches young students.
Prizes:
1975 Liszt Prize
1977 Mihály Székely Plaquette
1980 Kossuth Prize
1992 Bartók-Pásztory Award
2004 perpetual member of Hungarian TV's Society of Immortals
2008 Knight Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary