THE TENORS' DUEL – Extraordinary Concert with tenors  Ştefan von Korch, George Vîrban and Mihai Urzicana

November 21, 2025, 7:00 PM

"Marin Sorescu" National Theatre Craiova

THE TENORS' DUEL – premiere concert with tenors Ştefan von Korch, George Vîrban and Mihai Urzicana on November 21st at the "Marin Sorescu" National Theatre

The beloved tenor Ştefan von Korch invites music lovers from Craiova to the "Duel of Tenors," a premiere concert that will enliven the evening of November 21st with canzonets, pop-opera pieces, and famous arias. The event will be hosted at the "Marin Sorescu" National Theatre and alongside tenor Ştefan von Korch – the host soloist, there will be two other exceptional male lyrical voices: tenor George Vîrban and tenor Mihai Urzicana.

Soloist Ştefan von Korch details: "The concert is inspired by the tradition of the world's great male vocal trio formulas, but it will also explore beyond these and will include a sparkling repertoire of famous arias and canzonets, a veritable "best of," from which landmarks such as "Nessun dorma,"  "La Donna e mobile," or "O Sole Mio,"  but also lyrical rarities, meant to delight and move the audience."

The concert will be a special musical experience that will delight the souls of music lovers with the most well-known pieces suitable for the star voice of the lyrical register – that of the tenor, and alongside the soloists will be the virtuoso instrumentalists of the Pitești Philharmonic.

Tickets are available on Ticketstore.ro, Biletlateatru.ro, Startickets.ro, Dynamicticket.ro and at the box office of the National Theatre „Marin Sorescu.”

Tickets are available at the price of 149 lei, (reduced from 189 lei) for a limited period – Early Bird.

The event is part of the Musical Extravaganza season, which brings landmarks of lyrical art closer to the public, under the artistic guidance of tenor Ştefan von Korch. 

About the protagonists

** Ştefan von Korch – Tenor  **

Tenor Ştefan von Korch is monthly appreciated by the public as a guest soloist and artistic coordinator of the Musical Extravaganza season, a cultural pioneering project carried out in the capital, with extensions on the stages of Braşov, Piteşti, Sibiu and Craiova. 

It is the unmistakable voice for the tenor line in Carmina Burana – a passage at the limit of the male voice's capabilities, through whose interpretation he navigates with overflowing ease. Thanks to the manner of interpreting this work, he was invited to over 40 Carmina Burana performances, in the Philharmonic Orchestras and Cultural Institutions in the country, but also abroad, in 2024, the honor of opening the Palermo Classica Festival in this work, with an appearance acclaimed in the press from the peninsula and Romania alike, was given to him.

His name is also linked to over 15 performances at the National Opera in Bucharest, where he was invited over time in "The Barber of Seville", "The Elixir of Love" and "Falstaff",” but also to the national premiere of the opera "I Puritani," by Vicenzo Belinni, one of the most highest scores written for male voices.

With a dynamic presence in national cultural life, Ştefan von Korch began the year 2025 on the stage of the Transylvania State Philharmonic, in Carmina Burana, his "signature" work, in which he will also open the season of the Arad Philharmonic in October, passed through the National Opera in Iași in "The Merry Widow 2.0" directed by Andrei Șerban and is running the series of concerts Musical Extravaganza, for which he is the host soloist and artistic coordinator.

He ended the year 2024 with notable appearances at the Ion Dacian National Operetta and Musical Theatre, at the Sala Palatului and at the Philharmonic Orchestras in Târgu-Mureș and Timișoara. 

In 2023, he was the only Romanian soloist in the China Tour 2023, alongside the Reino de Aragon Orchestra from Spain.

He delighted the audience with his voice in 3 national premieres: “I Puritani” and “La Sonnambula,” both by Vicenzo Bellini, the work vocal-symphonic “Messa di Gloria” by Rossini, but also in the European premiere “Traiano in Dacia.”

Over time he interpreted the roles specific to his voice from the very well-known operas: “Rigoletto”, “The Barber of Seville”, “The Elixir of Love”, “Don Pasquale”, on the stages of the Operas in Bucharest, Cluj and Iași and is a constant presence on the stages of the national philharmonics.

George Vîrban - Tenor

A tenor appreciated both on national and international stages, George Vîrban can be applauded on the stage of the Ion Dacian National Operetta and Musical Theatre in "The Circus Princess," (directed by Beatrice Rancea), "Die Fledermaus" or "The Land of Smiles."

He enjoys frequent invitations to lyrical institutions abroad: he will conclude the 24/25 season in the opera Eugene Onegin in Haifa, and the 25/26 season brings new collaborations to his portfolio as a soloist with opera houses such as the Tel Aviv Opera, the Shanghai Opera or the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.

Also in 2025, he was present at the Metropolitan Opera in New York for the role of Tamino (cover) in the production "The Magic Flute," held a series of concerts in South Korea  and debuted at the Aalto Theatre in Essen in the role of Don Ottavio from the opera Don Giovanni.

In the 2023/24 season he was a member of the Aalto Theatre ensemble in Essen, and from 2019 to 2021, he was a member of the Opera Studio of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.

Mihai Urzicana - Tenor

As an opera soloist, tenor Mihai Urzicana has won numerous national and international awards: First Prize at the National Music Interpretation Competition  Mihail Jora, First Prize at the National Competition Opera Start,  Second Prize and Audience Award at  L’Assoluta Virginia Zeani – The International Grand Prix of Romania – Tg. Mureș,  Second Prize – International Competition Vox Artis – Sibiu and  is a constant presence on concert stages and on the stages of musical theaters  in the country and abroad.

Tenor Mihai Urzicana benefits from the guidance of personalities of the world lyrical art, such as:  Liora Maurer and Lucy Arner – Metropolitan Opera New York, baritone George Petean and director Sharon Mohar – Les Maîtres Sonneurs – France.

Soloist of the National Operetta and Musical Theater "Ion Dacian" in Bucharest, tenor Mihai Urzicana is a graduate of the master's degree at the National University of Music Bucharest, of the Orthodox Theological Seminary Constanța and of the Faculty of Theology, Sacred Art and Pastoral Sections.

Mihai Urzicana is also a soloist of the Armonia Choir from Constanța, an ensemble with which he has performed concerts around the world (England, Ireland, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Spain, Ukraine, Serbia, Bosnia, Poland, Switzerland, Israel, etc.) and has won Gold Medals at choral world competitions in the U.S.A., Latvia, Austria, Germany, Russia.

About the season Musical Extravaganza

The Musical Extravaganza season. The concerts aim to offer the public the joy of meeting representative names of the lyrical scene, in a more intimate setting, which offers a different perspective on the artistic act compared to that of the imposing opera stage, but also to bring the classical genre closer to audiences of all ages.  The audience is invited to admire their favorite soloists in a select atmosphere, complemented by a chamber accompaniment, which highlights the performers in a warm and personal light.

The first season of Musical Extravaganza, conducted under the artistic direction of tenor Ştefan von Korch, included over 10 successful concerts, in which they delighted the audience, together with the host soloist: soprano Cristina Maria Oltean, soprano Daniela Bucşan, tenor Alin Stoica, baritones Adrian Mărcan, Lucian Petrean and Fang Shuang, pianist Alexandru Burcă, accordionist Emy Drăgoi, pianist Bogdana Cocîrlea, MH Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Ion Dacian National Operetta and Musical Theatre – in a salon format.