Dieses Stück ist nichts für schwache Nerven. Bei George Benjamins „Written on Skin“ an der Deutschen Oper werden grausige Bilder heraufbeschworen, die sich jedoch nicht auf der Bühne abspielen, sondern im Kopf des Zuschauers entstehen (Regie: Katie Mitchell)… die großartigen Sänger, allen voran der Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, machen den Abend zu einem Ereignis. Riesen-Jubel.
Berliner Zeitung, Martina Hafner
Dieser Künstler ist ein mittelalterlicher Buchillustrator. Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen spielt ihn mit mächtiger Stimme und Gestalt, aber eben auch kongenial jungenhaft – gemäß dem Text, der ihn stets als „Jungen“ bezeichnet.
Morgenpost, Matthias Nöther
Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, il più giovane e il più vicino alle sonorità di un castrato naturale, straordinariamente intenso, perfetto per le preghiere e i lamenti, per le arie di sentimento più liriche e drammatiche quanto a volume, peso timbrico e nobiltà del legato più un affondo espressivo che sa bene come toccare il cuore. Rispettivamente, nel recente Giulio Cesare, hanno brillato nel ruolo del titolo, nel re Tolomeo e in Sesto Pompeo…Il terzo ma più ampio focus è sul giovane americano Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen che, in prima battuta, s’inquadra con un numero bellissimo e complesso, articolato in recitativo accompagnato e arioso…La dolente drammaticità della scena e il lamento del protagonista del titolo in Larghetto, introdotto dai brividi fra mordenti e trilli ai violini primi, toccano uno dei punti più alti della serata, grazie ad accenti morbidi ma vigorosi e a un canto delicato e al contempo potente, sciolto con fiati lunghissimi e smorzature impalpabili. Sincero, toccante, magnifico.
Connessi all’Opera, Paola de Simone
Nussbaum Cohen sounds astonishingly beautiful as Athamas…
The Guardian, Tim Ashley
The air is constantly charged with emotional intensity, especially from Athamas… countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen’s fine singing as Athamas.
Financial Times, Richard Fairman
Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen sang with glorious strength and beauty of tone as Athamas.
Musical America, Clive Paget
Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen made much of the dull Athamas, the best male voice on display…
Bachtrack, Roy Westbrook
The event of the evening, however, is Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen’s David. The countertenor from New York sings flawlessly, effortlessly, yet intimately, never flatly: No wonder, one thinks immediately, that everyone is at the feet of this boy. In the end, with King Saul and Prince Jonathan dead and David beginning to suspect that a similar fate awaits him and his newborn son, he sings into a melancholy Herbert Howells “King David” song, a 100-year-old art song. The heir to the throne listens to the nightingale, now lonely and lost himself – Ranisch’s best directorial idea.
Tagesspiegel, Christiane Peitz
…der einzigartig weiche, helle Countertenor von Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen macht mit jeder Phrase Lust auf mehr.
taz, Peter Weissenburger
San Francisco countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen added to his growing catalog of memorable local appearances with a lustrous and detailed performance as Didymus.
San Francisco Chronicle, Joshua Kosman
Die Sängercrew, allen voran der Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, findet zu sinnlichem Ausdruck. Die Körperlichkeit des Singens findet mit der Musikalität des Tanzes auf der Bühne zu einer spannungsvollen Einheit. Man verliert sich und findet sich neu. Nicht nur in der Liebe, sondern auch in der Musik. Der begeisterte Premierenapplaus zeigt, dass die Verbindung von alter Musik und moderner Tanzsprache an diesem Abend genauso sicher ins Ziel trifft wie Amors Pfeile.
(The crew of singers, above all countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, find sensual expression. The physicality of the singing finds an exciting unity with the musicality of the dance on stage… You lose yourself and find yourself again. Not only in love, but also in music. The enthusiastic applause at the premiere shows that the combination of early music and modern dance language hits the target just as surely as Cupid’s arrows.)
NZZ Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Martina Wholthat
Several serious discoveries were discovered at once. The main one is the young American countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, who sang the main character. It seems that many falsetto artists, one more textured than the other, reached Moscow, but we have never heard of this: a freely flowing lyrical mezzo of the most beautiful color… of excellent range, flexible, chiseled. This Caesar… the elegant manner of the singer made a strict youth-demigod. (Translated from the original Russian)
Kommersant.ru, Sergei Khodnev
The main super-discovery of the evening was the 27-year-old countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen – judging by the booklet, who performed the role of Caesar for the first time. With a timbre of rare beauty and with professional mastery of baroque vocal technique, with ease he displayed the most incredible grace, confidence, freedom and amazing artistry – these are just a few of the qualities that made the singer especially stand out. Listen to Caesar’s “hunting” aria with the solo French horn (end of act 1) – auditory ecstasy is guaranteed. (Translated from the original Russian)
Vash Dosug.ru, Nadezhda Travina
However, whether planned or not, the luxurious final “Caesar” completely overshadowed all other events of the festival… And the casting went off the scale. This sparkling miracle, triumphantly shimmering with jewels and hits, I wanted to listen to forever. It remains only to list the names of the wizards. An enviable selection of countertenors… The Roman dictator Caesar was performed… by Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen with a fantastically beautiful warm timbre. (Translated from the original Russian)
Colta.ru, Ekaterina Biryukova
As King of the Fairies, 27-year-old countertenor Nussbaum Cohen is one of the only international guests at this year’s festival and upon witnessing his performance last night, it is clear as to why the international press considers him a redefining force in the countertenor field.
Limelight, Jansson J. Antmann
McGegan and his forces underscored the resourceful extravagance of Handel’s 1744 masterpiece. But just as in the score itself, this was an occasion on which David walked off with the crown.
That would be Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, the extravagantly gifted young countertenor whose every appearance only serves to add luster to an already remarkable level of accomplishment. At 25, an Adler Fellow with the San Francisco Opera, he seemed poised to redefine what’s possible for singers of this distinctive voice type.
For one thing, Cohen’s singing boasts a combination of ethereal beauty and robust physicality that few countertenors can quite achieve. David, who appears in “Saul” in the double guise of angelic musician and mighty warrior, draws on both sides of this artistry.
San Francisco Chronicle, Joshua Kosman
There were several good singers…But there was only one complete artist. At just 23, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen…already possesses a remarkable gift for intimate communication in a vast hall, combined with a voice of velvety gentleness — surprisingly penetrating given the tenderness of its texture. While most young performers in the National Council Auditions concentrate simply on nailing their high notes, Mr. Cohen — his diction superb, his acting alert without overplaying — provided an eloquent reflection on a current international crisis… Expressive yet dignified, his phrasing confident and his ornamentation stylishly discreet, he brought tears to my eyes. Mr. Cohen was deservedly named one of the competition’s six winners, but he stood clearly apart from the pack… There was only one singer who could plausibly stand with the voluptuous-voiced Jamie Barton, the commanding Amber Wagner and the impassioned Michael Fabiano — the distinguished previous winners who performed while the judges deliberated. Mr. Cohen is ready.
The New York Times, Zachary Woolfe
The evening’s most revelatory performance came from the young countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen as Medoro. Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2017 and currently a second-year San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow, he displayed not only a mellifluous voice but also a remarkable musicality. He emphasized Medoro’s earnestness in such arias as “Vorrei poterti amar” or the sublime “Verdi allori”. Nussbaum Cohen seems already prepared for a great career that should include the title role of this very opera.
Bachtrack, Edward Sava-Segal
Downloads
Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen brings his “ravishing…otherworldly” (Opera News) instrument to a broad range of repertoire spanning the Baroque to the contemporary. Acclaimed as both a “young star” and “complete artist” by the New York Times and as “extravagantly gifted… poised to redefine what’s possible for singers of this distinctive voice type” by the San Francisco Chronicle, Mr. Nussbaum Cohen’s passion for creating performances of great vocal beauty and dramatic intensity have earned him a reputation as “a redefining force in the countertenor field” (Limelight).
Mr. Nussbaum Cohen finds a close affinity between the ancient musical traditions of his Jewish heritage and the Baroque works composing much of his operatic repertoire. Equally content performing new works, Nussbaum Cohen’s first commercial recording project – the world premiere of Kenneth Fuchs’ Poems of Life performed with the London Symphony Orchestra under JoAnn Falletta – was honored with a GRAMMY® Award for Best Classical Compendium in 2019; and his interpretation of the Refugee’s aria from Jonathan Dove’s Flight provided the centerpiece for his extensive catalogue of competition successes, including winning the Grand Prize at the 2017 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, taking top prize in Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum and the Dallas Opera Guild Competitions, and winning a George and Nora London Foundation Award. He counts among his career highlights his recent Metropolitan Opera debut as Rosencrantz in the U.S. premiere of Brett Dean’s Hamlet, and he looks forward to the upcoming world premiere of Mikael Karlsson’s Fanny and Alexander at La Monnaie de Munt.
In the 2023-24 season, Nussbaum Cohen returns to Glyndebourne to perform the title role in Sir David McVicar’s acclaimed production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto, led by Maestro Laurence Cummings. He will sing the role of Sesto in the same opera for his debut at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma under the baton of Rinaldo Alessandrini, followed by his debut at Deutsche Oper Berlin in the company premiere of Sir George Benjamin’s Written on Skin as First Angel/The Boy in Katie Mitchell’s original production.
His robust concert schedule includes a worldwide tour of Handel’s Rodelinda with The English Concert conducted by Harry Bicket, including debuts at Carnegie Hall, L.A. Opera, Cal Performances, and in South Korea and China; Carmina Burana with Hans Graf and the Indianapolis Symphony, “I Tre Controtenori” at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Bach’s Magnificat with Cantata Collective and Nicholas McGegan, and works by Bach with American Bach Soloists under Jeffrey Thomas and with Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire.
His growing discography includes a solo program of Gluck, Handel, and Vivaldi with Jeffrey Thomas and the American Bach Soloists (2019), and the 2023 release of Bach’s St. John Passion with the Cantata Collective, about which Early Music America wrote, “Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen…triumphs in the alto arias, with a voice of arresting beauty, singing with the utmost expressiveness and artistry.” Lending his countertenor voice to the Romantic repertoire, Nussbaum Cohen performs the music of Clara and Robert Schumann, Korngold, and Brahms on an album set for release in 2025 on AVIE Records.
Nussbaum Cohen recently made his debut at Glyndebourne, sounding “astonishingly beautiful as Athamas” (The Guardian) in Handel’s Semele. Other recent roles include David (Handel’s Saul), Endimione (Cavalli’s La Calisto), Oberon (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Medoro (Handel’s Orlando), Ottone (Handel’s Agrippina), and Prince Go-Go (Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre). In recent seasons, he has debuted at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zürich, the Adelaide Festival (AUS), Komische Oper Berlin, the San Francisco Opera, Ballet, and Symphony, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Houston Grand Opera, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra at the Concertgebouw, Music of the Baroque, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; and has enjoyed collaborations with conductors Nicholas McGegan, Patrick Summers, Masaaki Suzuki, James Gaffigan, Dame Jane Glover, Nicholas Carter, Richard Egarr, David Bates, and Christopher Moulds.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in history from Princeton University, along with academic certificates in vocal performance and Judaic studies, Nussbaum Cohen went on to become the first countertenor in the history of the Houston Grand Opera Studio. He is also a graduate of San Francisco Opera’s Merola and Adler Fellowship Programs and the Wolf Trap Opera Studio. His extensive accolades have included receiving the William Matheus Sullivan Musical Foundation Award, a Sara Tucker Study Grant, and a Richard Tucker Career Grant.
In recent years, Nussbaum Cohen has given masterclasses at the University of Michigan, Buffalo Philharmonic, and his alma mater, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of the Arts. He currently resides in Northern California with his wife Abbi, where he serves as Western Region Soloist Representative on the board of the American Guild of Musical Artists.
Semele, Glyndebourne
St. John Passion, BWV 245, "Es ist vollbracht! ..."
Giulio Cesare: Moscow Chamber Orchestra
Giulio Cesare: Moscow Chamber Orchestra
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Adelaide Festival
Brahms 'In Meiner Nachte Sehnen' Op. 57 no. 5
Orlando: San Francisco Opera
Bach Wie starb die Heldin so vergnügt, BWV 198: Ars Lyrica Houston
Chichester Psalms: Voices of Ascension
Poems of Life: London Symphony Orchestra
Contact
General Management
Bill Palant, Étude Arts
Ansonia Station,Post Office Box 230132
New York, New York 10023
Tel: 929.777.0775
Email: bp@etudearts.com
Press & Public Relations
Rebecca Davis Public Relations
12 East 96th Street, 10F
New York, New York 10029
Tel: 347.432.8832
Email: rebecca@rebeccadavispr.com