Monte Jaffe Bass
American artist, Monte Jaffe, has established himself as one of Europe's leading basses. His versatility and musicality are apparent in the wide spectrum of dramatic roles he portrays with authority and conviction. He is living in Germany for more than 30 years now.
In the new season 2011-12 he will sing Baron Zeta|Die lustige Witwe and Petrus|Der Mond at Staatstheater Darmstadt, then he will perform Tevje|Anatevka at Staatstheater Wiesbaden, and Schigolch|Lulu at Stadttheater Gießen.
In the past season, Monte Jaffe sang with great success Tevje and Benoît/Alcindoro|La boheme at the Staatstheater Darmstadt. Engagements in recent seasons include, among others, Swetosar|Ruslan and Ludmilla, Tirésias|Oedipe (Enescus) and Il re|Aida in Bielefeld; Schigolch in a remarkable production of Eike Gramss at the Megaron in Athens; Nekrotzar|Le grand macabre in Athen, Gent und Antwerpen; Osmin|Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Perth Opera as well as at New York City Opera. Furthermore Jaffe performed in Palermo in a spectacular re-production of Moses and Aaron and overtook in Turin the title role in Reimanns Lear. In Tiflis and Moscow he sang König Marke|Tristan und Isolde, in Malmö Daland|Der fliegende Holländer, at Leipziger Oper Boris Godunow, at Tel Aviv Opera Kaspar|Der Freischütz with M° Gary Bertini, in St. Gallen he performed Mephistopeles|Faust, and sang in Kiel as well as in Seattle the solo part in Schönbergs Ein Überlebender aus Warschau.
In previous seasons Monte Jaffe sang for example: Dr. Schön in Copenhagen, Wächter|Der Sturz des Antichrist (Ullmann) in Bielefeld, Hans Sachs|Die Meistersinger in Cleveland, the Father in Joseph Tal's new opera Joseph in Tel Aviv. Also Jaffe performed Don Pizarro|Fidelio at Bremen Theatre, Nekrotzar at Staatstheater Hannover and at Teatro Sao Paulo in Lisbon. In March and April 2001 he was the leading actor of a new project of musical theatre in Cincinnatti before he assisted in a re-production of Zemlinkys Der Zwerg in Turin.
At Bonn Opera Monte Jaffe successfully performed Gianni Schicchi and Tonio|I Pagliacci, in Bern he sang Holofernes in Siegfried Matthus' Judith as well as Dr. Schön. Further roles of his repertoire are e.g.: Wotan|Siegfried, Herzog Blaubart|Herzog Blaubarts Burg (Bartok), Tomski|Pique Dame, Vier "Bösewichte"|Hoffmanns Erzählungen, Der Herrscher|Das Wunder der Heliane (Korngold), Holländer/Daland, Mirabeau (Matthus), Klingsor/Gurnemanz, Barak, Old Sam|A Quiet Place (Bernstein), Scarpia, Khan Kontschak|Fürst Igor (Borodin), Baal (Cerha) und Zaccharia|Nabucco. These were performed in: Turin, Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, Karlsruhe, Antwerpen, Gent, Krefeld, Washington, Boston and at Schleswig-Holstein Festival.
Tomski|Pique Dame, Vier "Bösewichte"|Hoffmanns Erzählungen, Der Herrscher|Das Wunder der Heliane (Korngold), Mirabeau (Matthus), Klingsor und Gurnemanz|Parsifal, Barak|Die Frau ohne Schatten, Old Sam|A Quiet Place (Bernstein), Scarpia|Tosca, Khan Kontschak|Fürst Igor (Borodin), Baal (Cerha) und Zaccharia|Nabucco.
Monte Jaffe, born in Tennessee, began his musical development at the Curtis Institute of Music in New York and took private lessons at the famous bass Giorgio Tozzi. At the same time Jaffe followed a training as actor and received various engagements, for example at American Palace Theater/Broadway, where he acted in plays of Brecht and Arthur Miller. This additional profound talent and knowledge of acting differentiates him from many of his singer colleagues. Hence he participated in the ARTE production of the TV opera La Liseuse (André Bon) broadcasted by ARTE and ZDF.
Many recordings have been published so far, for example Schönberg's Ein Überlebender aus Warschau at Hessischer Rundfunk, Ullmann's opera Der Sturz des Antichrist at CPO, the re-production of Bergs Lulu with Monte Jaffe as Dr. Schön at CHANDOS.