Born in Vienna, Hornik studied at the Vienna Academy with teachers including Paula Köhler and Josef Witt. During his vocal studies he sang his first lyric baritone solo roles at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt, where he had his first engagement in the 1964/65 season, with roles including Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Silvio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.[2]
From 1965 to 1976, he was engaged at the Graz Opera, where he was able to build up a broad repertoire. After initial roles such as Mozart's Figaro and Don Giovanni, he turned to Wagner, including Alberich in Der Ring des Nibelungen. At the same time he worked as a singing teacher in Graz.[2]
Vienna State Opera
With the 1976/77 season, Hornik was engaged at the Vienna State Opera, where he performed 45 roles in 25 years. He appeared in almost 800 performances, covering roles in German, Italian, French and Russian from the 18th to the 20th century. His roles included Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Papageno and Speaker in Die Zauberflöte, Kurwenal in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and Alberich, and Strauss roles Orest in Elektra, the music teacher in Ariadne auf Naxos, and especially Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier, which he sang 88 times..[2][3]
In May 1995, he sang the role of Don Giulio in the world premiere of Alfred Schnittke's opera Gesualdo.[2] In Das Traumfresserchen [de], an opera for children by librettist Michael Ende and composer Wilfried Hiller, he could be seen and heard as the King from September 1999 to June 2000 in performances in a tent on the roof terrace of the opera house. He also sang Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen in a ballet production.[3] His last role at the house was the aged Emperor Altoum in Turandot in June 2002.[3]
Since the 1980s, Hornik appeared regularly at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, as 1988 as Alberich. He performed at the Paris Opera in 1981 as Faninal, at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires in 1983 as Papageno, at the Cologne Opera in 1983 as Klingsor, and at the Royal Opera House in London in 1987 as Faninal.[2]
In October 1986, he first appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, again as Faninal.[9] It was followed by over 50 performances, including Papageno, Frank in Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss, and Wozzeck.[10]
In 1992, he appeared as Orest at the New Music Hall (Meggaron Mousikis Athenon) in Athens.[2] At the Graz Opera House, he performed the title role of Moses in a production of Schoenberg's Moses und Aron in 1998.[2] In September 2007, he made another guest appearance at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt, where his career had begun in the 1960s, in the speaking role as the music teacher in Ariadne auf Naxos.[11]
