Andreas Goetze (bass-baritone)

Bass-baritone Andreas Goetze is 401DutchDivo of the Month November 2016 in the wake of his upcoming appearance in the fourth 401DutchOperas concert of December 18 in the Concert Hall of the Public Library (OBA) of The Hague (Spui), in cooperation with the Nederlands Muziek Instituut. Goetze will perform there the role of Haron in the final duet of Jan van Gilse’s Helga von Stavern. Additionally he will sing the lines of the monk in Marguerite's mad scene from Cornelis Dopper's opera De Blinde van Casteel Cuillé (world première 1894), accompanied by a chorus of monks led by Frits Muusse. His performance as Haron is a creation because this 1911 opera by Van Gilse  remained unperformed. 401Concerts 3 previously brought the world première of Helga’s Act III monologue, now paired with the mesmerizing final duet between the impoverished Helga (Barbara Schilstra), who is dying of cold and starvation in the arms of Haron, her captain of ere who remains loyal to her to the very ending. Haron is a veritable Helden-baritone part but in this duet he finds his most lyrical moments. The reason behind the works oblivion is not to be found in the music. On the contrary, German theatre directors were wildly enthusiastic about the score but judged the politially charged proto-communist libretto around the Lady of Stavern whose money and power grabbing was at the the core of the action, wholly unsuited for public performance. Today, however, we look at such bewildering scores from a different angle. Times have changed and theatre became more experimental. What frightened directors in Van Gilse’s day now stirs foremost curiosity. Writing an opera in which Götterdämmerung clashes into Elektra was a tremendous effort by a man who believed in himself. Wholly unsupported by subsidies or commissions he devoted years of his life to the challenge of achieving nothing less than a cultural-political revolution through his music! In an age where anything is taken for granted such optimism is both fascinating and inspiring.

Tekst: 401DutchDivas/Goetze/RS
Foto's: © Merel Wagemeester (portretten), Coco Duivenvoorde (Nozze)

Since some time bass-baritone Andreas Goetze (1983) is a name to be reckoned with among the promising generation of young Dutch singers. He studied voice at the conservatory of Rotterdam with Frans Huijts, with whom he had already studied privately since 2004. He participated in master courses with Carolyn Watkinson, Roberta Alexander and John Dawson. Currently he is receiving coaching from Rudolf Piernay, Brian Masuda and Henk Neven.

As a soloist Andreas performed in Bach's St. Matthew and St. John Passion and the 'Mass in B minor', Händel's Messiah, as Christ in passions by Telemann and Schütz, in 'Stabat Maters' by Dvořák and Haydn and the Requiem by Fauré as well as in a selection from Mendelssohn's Elias.

Opera

In opera Andreas performed in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro (Bartolo and Antonio) in a co-production of the Dutch National Opera Academy and the NJO led by Richard Egarr (see video Finale II "Esci omai, garzon malnato" met daarin bevalve Goetze's Don Bartolo ook Louise Kwong as Contessa, Emmanuel Franco as Conte, Hannah Bradbury as Susanna, Vincent Spoeltman as Figaro, Charlotte Janssen as Marcelino, Gevorg Hakobjan as Don Basilio, Dutch National Opera Academy, 2013). With Opera2day he was engaged in 2012 as an understudy for the role of Masetto and Commendatore in Mozart's Don Giovanni.

This season he is performing Zauberflöte with Bold Opera On the Move [BOOM, on the video the trailer for this production], where he previously performed as Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro. He has sung with many conductors such as Roy Goodman, Philip Pickett and Hans Leender..

Choirs

Andreas is also a very experienced choral singer. He sings with the Laurens Collegium Rotterdam led by Wiecher Mandemaker and he participated in projects with The Netherlands Bach Society and Cappella Amsterdam. Furthermore he performs regularly with smaller ensembles, as he did recently with Música Temprana led by Adrián van der Spoel. In choirs he worked with conductors such as Jaap van Zweden, Frans Brüggen, Peter Eötvös, Jan Willem de Vriend, Arie van Beek, Peter van Heyghen en Conrad van Alphen. He sings with the Laurens Collegium Rotterdam led by Wiecher Mandemaker and he participated in projects with The Netherlands Bach Society and Cappella Amsterdam. Furthermore he performs regularly with smaller ensembles, as he did recently with Música Temprana led by Adrián van der Spoel. He was first noticed with the Laurens Collegium when he participated in their  2011 to 2013 performanes of The Lord of the Rings soundtrack in Rotterdam - in Elfish!

A modern singer

Opera, oratorio, film music and song all come easy to Goetze. This versatility is characteristic of modern day singers who often listen to wholly different music on their ipods than their colleues did on their walkmans and record players 30 years and more ago. At the time he welcomed his performances in The Lord of the Rings not just because of the success they had, but also because they generated a diferent audience: 'The Lord of the Rings audience were not just people with different backgrounds but they also behave differently. They were not merely enthusiastic at the end, they simply went mad for enthusiasm! Singing in a non existin language, Elfish, was another challenge. Believe it or not but we actually had linguistic coaching in it! Not that the coaches knew anything about Elfish language but... it was important that everyone at least pronounced it the same!'

Lieder

Currently Goetze is developing from the early phase of his career into his mature years and when asked after favorite recordings he rather points to recent material than to past achievements. He proved very satisied with the accompanying version of Brahms's song 'Ich wandte mich' from Vier ernste Gesänge, in which his dark colour and his vocal souplesse stand out. He matches an almost italianate legato with tetual insight and clear diction, which are stilistics intrinsic characteristics of his voice throughout.