Croatian bass-baritone Krešimir Stražanac studied at the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart.

 

OPERA

After completing his vocal studies, he joined the Zürich Opera roster as a permanent member of the company. He appeared as Baron Tusenbach (Eötvös's ""Tri sestri"/"Three Sisters"), Ping ("Turandot") and Harlekin ("Ariadne auf Naxos") under the batons of such conductors as Nello Santi, Peter Schneider, Franz Welser-Möst, Bernard Haitink and Placido Domingo.


In 2017 Mr. Stražanac debuted at the Bavarian State Opera in Giordano's "Andrea Chenier", reprising the role of Fléville there in 2019.
He reprised Baron Tusenbach with Frankfurt Opera in 2018.

In 2019 the bass-baritone sang Frank ("Die Fledermaus") with the Bamberg Symphony and Creon (Stravinsky's "Oedipus Rex") with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

In 2021 he is scheduled to perform the title part in Telemann's "Orpheus" with the B'Rock Orchestra, conducted by René Jacobs, the part of Ambrosio in Carl Maria von Weber's "Die drei Pintos" with the Gewandhaus Orchestra under the baton of Omer Meir Wellber and the part of St. Peter in Carl Orffs "The Moon" under the baton of Hans-Christoph Rademann.

 

CONCERT

As a concert artist Mr. Stražanac has performed with such orchestras as the Bavarian Radio Symphony, Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Staatskepelle Dresden, the WDR, mdr and hr Symphony Orchestras, Leipzig's Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony, the Singapore Symphony, singing under such esteemed conductors as Herbert Blomstedt, Manfred Honeck, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Jonathan Nott, in a wide-ranging repertory from early to contemporary music.

 

In 2021 Mr. Stražanac debuts with the Berlin Philharmonic and its General Music Director, Kirill Petrenko.


He has appeared at the Salzburg Festival, Vienna Musikverein, London's Barbican Center, Suntory Hall and Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall in Tokyo, Berlin Philharmonie, the Victoria Hall Singapore, the Paris Auditorium, Baden-Baden Festival Hall, Madrid's National Auditorium of Music, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus.


A noteworthy highlight of the bass-baritone's entire career in music has been his collaborations with Maestro Philippe Herreweghe. He regularly performs as bass soloist with the conductor and his Ensembles. Their concerts have included Bach's Passions and "B-Minor Mass", Brahms's "Four Serious Songs" and "Requiem", Schumann's "Paradise and the Peri", Dvorak's "Requiem", Schubert's Masses, Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony", and numerous other works.

 

CONCERT REPERTORY

Included in the artist's active repertory are Mendelssohn's "Elijah" and "St. Paul", the Requiems of Brahms, Dvořák, Mozart und Fauré, Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis" and "Ninth Symphony", Haydn's "Creation", Brahms's "Four Serious Songs", Schumann's "Paradise and the Peri", and numerous other compositions.

 

BAROQUE

The bass-baritone frequently performs works of the Baroque Period, enthusiastically dedicating his talent to historically acclaimed compositions of Johann Sebastian Bach, with outstanding orchestras - Concerto Köln, Gaechinger Cantorey, Collegium 1704, Concentus Musicus Wien, Akademie für alte Musik Berlin, and I Barrochisti - and collaborates with conductors Hans-Christoph Rademann, Diego Fasolis, Peter Dijkstra, Václav Luks and Giovanni Antonini, interpreting Renaissance to Late Baroque music.

He presents exclusive Baroque Concerts as well, singing Solo Cantatas for Bass of Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 82, "Ich habe genug", and BWV 56, "Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen").

In February 2021 he has sung the "Ich habe genug" Cantata with the Staatskapelle Dresden under the baton of Philippe Herreweghe as a part of the rememberance concert of the bombing of Dresden in 1945.

 

LIEDER

Lieder hold a special place in Krešimir Stražanac's artistic dedication. He has sung innumerable Lieder Concerts and Recitals on an international scale:

at the Bayreuth Stadthalle (Municipal Auditorium), Grand Théâtre de Dijon, Zagreb's Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Ljubljana's Slovenian Philharmonic Hall, the Zürich Toni Areal Concert Venue, Klagenfurt's Konzerthaus, Périgueux (France), Stuttgart's Wilhelma Theater and Hospitalhof Complex Auditorium, the Venice Casinò, and several concert halls in Japan. Included in the bass-baritone's Lieder repertory are Schubert's "Winterreise ("Winter Journey"), Schumann's "Dichterliebe" ("A Poet's Love"), Brahms's "Vier ernsten Gesänge" ("Four Serious Songs") and "Die schöne Magelone" ("The Beautiful Magelone"), Beethoven's "An die ferne Geliebte" ("To the Distant Beloved"), Frank Martin's "6 Monologe aus Jedermann" ("6 Monologues from Everyman"), among many others.

In 2021 he will sing Lieder Recitals in Tokyo's Suntory Hall and Gifu's Salamanca Hall.



CD/DVD

On CD/DVD Krešimir Stražanac is featured in complete operas by Bizet, Beethoven and Wagner: Decca's "Carmen" (Morales), BBC Opus Arte's "Fidelio" (Don Fernando) and Quattro Live's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" (Konrad Nachtigall).
He is also soloist in BR-Klassik's CD of Bach's "Johannes-Passion" ("St. John Passion") with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Concerto Köln conducted by Peter Dijkstra.
In October 2016 a Video/DVD/Blu-ray disc of a semi-staged performance in Nuremberg's St. Lawrence Church of the "St. John Passion" was added to the  Soli Deo Gloria Collection (BR-Klassik, BR-900514). Also released were Mendelssohn's "Psalmen" with the Munich Radio Orchestra (BR-Klasssik, BR-900519) and the DVD of Bach's "Matthäus-Passion" ("St. Matthew Passion") with the Gaechinger Cantorey (Accentus, AC20408).
Additionally, the bass-baritone is soloist in Händel's "Messiah" with Collegium 1704 (Accent), "St. John Passion" (Phi), Brahms's "Ein deutsches Requiem" ("A German Requiem") (Coviello), Eötvös's "Tri sestri" ("Three Sisters") (Oehms Classics), Händel's "Alexander's Feast" (Sony / Deutsche Harmonia Mundi), and CDs devoted to works by Vatroslav Lisinski and Tomaso Cecchini [co-produced by Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT)].


Awaiting release are Mr. Stražanac's CDs of Schubert's "Winterrreise" with the pianist Danijel Detoni, a CD with Bachs Solo-Cantata "Ich habe genung" (Edition Staatskapelle Dresden / Hänssler), a solo album in collaboration with Jonathan Ware, a CD with compositions by Fritz Stüssi (in collaboration with the Chorwerk Ruhr Chamber Choir (Coviello) and one more solo album.
March 2021