Tenor
Markus Francke

Reviews
On Stage


  BIOGRAPHY  

 

In the season 2018/19 Markus Francke made his successful debut as ERIK in ‘Der Fliegende Holländer’ at the Theatre Ulm. Here, he could equally be seen as the 1st STRANGER in ‘Der Vetter aus Dingsda’ and EDGARDO in ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’. In Moscow, he sang Bruckner’s ‘Te Deum’, atthe Cologne Philharmonic Mendelssohn’s ‘Die erste Walpurgisnacht/Lobgesang’, in Düsseldorf St. Matthew Passion, just to name some of the artist’s concert engagements...

He returned as CANDIDE to the Dresden State Operetta. Here, he was a member of the ensemble between 2015 and 2018, singing such roles as TAMINO In ‚Die Zauberflöte‘, HANS in ‚The Bartered Bride‘ and ROSILLON in ‘Die Lustige Witwe’, ORPHEUS in ‘Orpheus in der Unterwelt’, GWIDON in ‘Tsar Saltan’, EISENSTEIN in ‘Die Fledermaus’ and the title part in Bernstein’s CANDIDE.

He succeeded as MATTEO in ‘Arabella’ at the Opera House Leipzig. In autumn 2017 he made his debut as FENTON in Nicolai’s ‘Die Lustige Weiber von Windsor’ at the Dessau Theatre.

Markus Francke sang at the Ruhr-Triennale and L. Nono’s "Prometeo" in Amsterdam und Zurich under the musical direction of Ingo Metzmacher. Before, Markus made his debut at the Munich State Opera as the DANCE MASTER in ‘Ariadne auf Naxos’.

From 2012 to 2014, the lyrical tenor was a member of the Wiesbaden State Theatre ensemble. Here, he sang such roles as TAMINO, ANDRES, ROSILLON, ADAM, STEERSMAN, just to name a few. He can look back on many years of cooperation with the Pforzheim City Theatre, where he debuted in numerous roles of his repertoire like DON OTTAVIO and the 1st STRANGER. In the season 13/14 he performed FERRANDO in ‘Così fan tutte’, followed by BELMONTE in 14/15.
Guest engagements brought him to the theatres of Wurzburg and Gelsenkirchen.

Markus Francke was born in Freiburg. At the age of eight, he became piano lessons and made his first experience on an operatic stage at the Freiburg City Theatre in Benjamin Britten’s ‘A Summernight’s Dream’. Markus Francke studied musicology , choral conducting and singing at the Cologne Music Academy. Further important impulses he got from Berthold Schmid, Diane Forlano, Francisco Araiza and Stewart Emerson.
While still studying, Markus Francke started his concert soloist career. Soon, he became one of the most sought-after interpreters of baroque oratorio literature, particularly J. S. Bach’s evangelist’s parts. Moreover, his repertoire contains works from the Rennaissance up to the Modern Age. His concert performances took him through Europe: he sang in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the Cathedral of Reims, the Berlin and Cologne Philharmonic, in the Churches of St. Michaelis and St. Nikolai in Hamburg, in the Stuttgart ‘Liederhalle’ , the ‘Frauenkirche’ in Dresden and the Cologne Cathedral.
Francke worked with such orchestras as "L'arpafestante" and "Concerto Köln" and conductors as Stewart Bedford, Helmut Rilling and Marcus Creed. Numerous radio and CD recordings were released.

In the season 14/15 Markus made his debut as HANS in ‘The Bartered Bride’ at the Nordhausen Theatre, he was the DIRECTOR in ‘Un re in ascolta’ at the Kassel State Theatre and the CHAPLAIN OF THE MONASTRY in ‘Les Dialogues des Carmelites’ at the Klagenfurt Theatre. He sang his first DON JOSÉ at the Thuringen Castle Festival Sondershausen.

 

 
 
REVIEWS
 
Theater Ulm – Parsifal - PARSIFAL
"Markus Francke offers the Ulm Theatre a Parsifal from their own ensemble. Vocally and as an actor Markus Francke is at well casted for the role."
theater:pur
www.theaterpur.net
"Markus Francke, wo already sang Tristan here, masters Parsifal‘s outbursts and lyricisms just as sovereignly."
FAZ
www.faz.net
Theater Ulm - La légende de Tristan - TRISTAN
"In his play, Markus Francke expresses Tristan’s entire brokenness. He masters the difficult tenor role with ease and a great deal of sovereignty.
His visionary monologue at the „Rock of Pain“ at the beginning of the third act turned into a veritable highlight."
OPERNWELT 2/23 Uwe Schweikert
Theater Ulm – Cavalleria Rusticana - TURRIDU
"...with tenoral warmth and blaze Markus Francke complexly plays the intellectual Turiddu in this barbarized surroundings..."
NMZ
www.nmz.de
Theater Ulm – Tristan und Isolde – TRISTAN
"An de Ridder as Iseut and Markus Francke as Tristan sing tenderly and instilled, with a kind of sadness, that is past all shouting. "
Südwest Presse
www.swp.de
Theater Ulm – Lucia di Lammermoor – EDGARDO
"Markus Francke (Edgardo) has a melodious, slender, flexible tenor voice…"
Schwäbische
www.schwaebische.de
Thüringen Castle Festival Sondershausen - Carmen - DON JOSÉ
Don José, sung by Markus Francke with his register-secure, remarkably bright lyrical timbre. Convincingly, he plays the expellee with great, almost 'silent' severity and timidity...
Opernglas 9/2015
Nordhausen Theatre - Die Verkaufte Braut - HANS
'Hans was sung by Markus Fancke with youthful tenor voice and clear notes in the high registers..'
Opernglas 12/2014
 
ON STAGE
Theater Ulm – Tristan und Isolde – TRISTAN
 
Theater Ulm – Rigoletto – DUCA DI MANTOVA
(Photo: Jochen Klenk)
 
Theater Ulm – Fidelio – FLORESTAN
(Photo: Jochen Klenk)