Franko Klisović
countertenor
© Zvonimir Ferina
Croatian countertenor Franko Klisović is making his debut at Oper Frankfurt, singing Arsace in this new production of Handel's Partenope. He studied conducting at the Music Academy in Zagreb before concentrating on singing in 2015, making his debut just three months later as Ottone in Handel's Agrippina at Croatian National Opera in Zagreb. He made quite a name for himself in recent seasons with impressive role and house debuts, including Ulisse in Corselli's Achille in Sciro at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Ottone (L‘incoronazione di Poppea) at the Bühnen in Wuppertal, Mars (La concordia de' pianeti) in Brno, Prague and at the Znojmo Music Festival and Smeton (Anna Bolena) in Rijeka. He made his debut at the Schloss Theatre in Schwetzingen singing Sadrach in Nebuchadezzar in 2023, a role he sang at the 2024 Telemann Festival in Magdeburg. Roles for Theater Heidelberg have included Apollo (Death in Venice) and he sang Arcane in Handel'sTeseo in Breslau and at the Handel Festival in Halle in 2024. Other recent engagements have included appearances at the Musica appassionata Festival and Korkyra Baroque Festival, Nireno in Handels Giulio Cesare in Egitto in Rijeka and at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland. This young countertenor has won prizes at many international singing competitions, including 1st Prize at the 2021 Tullio Serafin Competition for Farnace (Mitridate, rè di Ponto), a role he sang the same year when making his debut at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza. He has worked with leading conductors of our times, including Laurence Cummings, Hansjörg Albrecht, Hervè Niquet, Philipp von Steinaecker, Richard Rosemberg, Dorothee Oberlinger and Roman Valek.