I’ve been making music since I was six years old. To begin with I sang in choirs and played the flute. I started studying in the Choir Conducting Department at the Music Academy, and was one of the founders of the Purcell Chorus. After my first oratorio solos I decided to focus on singing, and my first teacher with Katalin Schultz. I later changed the focus of my studies at the Music Academy as well; there I was taught by Zsuzsa Forrai. My stage career started even before I received my diploma, firstly as an ensemble member at Debrecen, and later in Szeged. I took part in many tours, and spent several years as primadonna at the Budapest Operetta Theatre. Since 2002 I have been a soloist at the Hungarian State Opera, while my international engagements have taken me to Toulouse, Novara, Weimar, Linz, Nürnberg, Savonlinna, Prague, Bratislava, Zagreb and Ljubljana.
While recovering from a serious illness, I was forced to change my singing technique and consequently my repertoire. Since then I have been mainly concentrating on the Italian and French bel canto, as well as similarly demanding lead-roles in the operas of Ferenc Erkel. In response to requests from colleagues, both soloists and chorus members, I took up teaching and coaching, with the aim of sharing my own experiences and thereby helping others to find their ideal technique, repertoire and style
The official title of my project for them is:
Direction and Practice in singing career development: a presentation of new methods.
My goal is to collect a library of articles and videos, which would serve as a comprehensive resource for young people interested in singing as a professional career. I seek to present such ideas and concepts to singers in all genres, classical or otherwise, and to provide guidance for each artist in the choosing of their individual career path, whilst also raising awareness and interest in more complex forms of the singer’s art, such as opera.
New posts, videos
s03e31 Gräfin Mariza – Csárdás
Kolonits Klára During the master class in Győr, we didn’t only work with the students on opera arias. Elvira is preparing to be an operetta singer, so we chose Marica’s entrance for our work together. Even if she claims to be more of a soubrette deep down in her soul, … Read more
s03e30 – Mónika Fischl – The first steps
Klára Kolonits, Mónika Fischl We started our interview with Mónika Fischl talking about her first steps. It will not be surprising – given the dog and the kitten actively involved in our conversation – that originally Móni wanted to be a veterinarian. She had many other ideas, but becoming an … Read more
s02e26 Ah! Je ris de me voir si belle
Kolonits Klára In the Győr series we already met Alexa – now she will sing Gounod’s Marguerite for us. This piece is a great example on how you can and should use the orchestral introduction to prepare your entrance. Alexa’s big, dark voice deals surprisingly well with the aria’s ornaments … Read more
s03e28 Fischl Mónika – Opera Roles
Kolonits Klára, Fischl Mónika We met Mónika Fischl, the prima donna of the Budapest Operetta Theater, on a July evening. We already had a peek into the registered material when we were talking about the Queen of the Night. So far, the opera genre has only appeared as a side … Read more
s03e27 Konstanze
Klára Kolonits It’s Konstanze time! I first learned Konstanze for a jump in, in 2013 – and in 2019/2020 season it is the role I sang most. How did I study? What difficulties I found in the arias and what techniques helped me in working them out?
s03e26 Welche Wonne welche Lust
Klára Kolonits In our Mozart series we arrived to the Entführung aus dem Serail stop. In the first part registered during Győr Master Class, I’m working with Rebeka on Blonde’s aria. In this difficult piece, the position and the muscle tone are incredibly important. Quick tempo, dense lyrics, constantly high … Read more
s03e25 The Königin’s secrets
Klára Kolonits What is the secret of the Queen of the Night? Why do more and more Königins show up at rocket speed, and why is it so frequent of them to retreat from the throne just as suddenly, even though the high F clearly doesn’t cause them problems and … Read more
s03e24 Der hölle Rache
Klára Kolonits “The most difficult aria in the world”, Der hölle Rache from the second act of Magic Flute. Full of high Fs and dramatic expression, it’s usually the area of the most daring high sopranos. The difficulties are different than in the Queen’s first aria, from certain point of … Read more
s03e23 O zittre nicht
Klára Kolonits If Mozart and coloratura singing, then the highlight is, of course, the Queen of the Night! We will work on both arias in detail but I will also reveal why I set aside the Queen’s crown and I don’t sing the role onstage, saying no to the most … Read more
s03e22 The karaoke curse
Klára Kolonits I’ve mentioned several times why I do not support karaoke-based study. In today’s episode, I want to return to this topic and show in what way it may be causing problems in the long run. I consider the basic musical education very important, regardless of the genre you … Read more
s03e21 Drinking Song
Klára Kolonits Norbert’s voice range surprised me already during the warm up. So far, he has been singing mostly baritone pieces – although he claims himself he falls more into the “lazy tenor” category. We continued the work with one of the most famous pieces from Bánk Bán, the Drinking … Read more
s03e20 How to learn roles fast
Klára Kolonits Jumps-ins play a significant role in the singer’s career. If someone is a good at them, the news quickly spreads in the theatre circles. From my own experience, a phone ringing suddenly can mean pretty much anything. Of course, the most common one a request to do a … Read more
s03e19 O mio babbino caro
Klára Kolonits We often hear the saying that if one sings Mozart well, they can sing anything well. Of course, this is an oversimplification, different roles require different vocal parametres and vocal techniques, but there is also truth in it – be it Wagner or Verdi, or Puccini as in … Read more
s03e18 Cherubino
Klára Kolonits Ladies, hands up if you never encountered the role of Cherubino! None? I thought so. I sang this role myself, and not only in the school, but also on stage at the beginning of my career – on top of that, in parallel with the Countess, in another … Read more
s03e17 The “lazy tenor” question
Klára Kolonits During the Győr Master Class I met two gentlemen who as a consequence of their experiences in teaching music and choir singing, decided to study singing professionally a bit later in life. I such cases the voice type can be a question even for the individual himself. Norbert … Read more