Max Emanuel Cencic Essentials

Croatian-born countertenor Max Emanuel Cencic blends emotional sensitivity, virtuosic swagger, and a style as flamboyant as his signature brocade jackets. His 2017 performance of Handel's Ottone demonstrates that this former Vienna Boys Choir lead soprano—after retraining, he emerged as a countertenor in 2001—has developed a coloratura as expressive as any mezzo's; admire his breath control in the baroque arias Nicola Porpora wrote for the castrato stars Farinelli and Senesino. Cencic's international reputation has also helped revive neglected works by Johann Adolph Hasse, whose ornate passages he navigates with rich intensity.