Michael Volle - Helmut Deutsch

Michael Volle is probably one of the most sought-after singers of all. The baritone is a fixed star at all major opera houses and festivals worldwide, such as the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Munich and Vienna State Operas, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House, the Opéra National de Paris and the opera houses in Berlin. Michael Volle has a particularly close relationship with the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, where he recently sang Jack Rance (la fanciulla del West) under the musical direction of Sir Antonio Pappano. The celebrated Wagner interpreter is also a regular guest at the Salzburg and Bayreuth Festivals and the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden.

The 21/22 season brings four exciting roles at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden for the versatile baritone: he is set to appear in the title role of Verdi's Falstaff as well as in the role of the High Priest in Samson et Dalila and as Jack Rance in the revival of la fanciulla del West. As part of the festive performances, Michael Volle will also be singing the title role in a new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni under the direction of Daniel Barenboim. With one of his signature roles, Hans Sachs in The Mastersingers of Nurembergthe excellent Wagner singer returns to the Metropolitan Opera New York to sing Wolfram (Tannhäuser) at the Saxon State Opera Dresden and Wotan (The Rhinegold) both on a European tour with the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin and in a gala performance as part of the Wagner Festival at the Leipzig Opera. He has also appeared as Scarpia (Tosca) in a gala performance at the Theater Dortmund, as well as at the Royal Opera House London, Guy de Montfort sings in a new production of Les vêpres siciliennes at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and one of his most brilliant roles, Barak in Strauss' The woman without a shadowat the opera festival of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. The much sought-after singer is just as active on the concert stage: he starts the season with Mussorgsky Songs and dances of death together with pianist Martha Agerich at the Lausitz Festival, sings Bach's John Passion with the Munich Bach Choir in Bucharest, Rossini's Petite Messe Solenelle in Zurich, The beautiful Magelone in the Philharmonie Essen, the opening concert of the Mozartwoche Salzburg, as well as Mahler's Song of the earth in the Elbphilharmonie and the Laeiszhalle Hamburg.

Highlights of the past season include his acclaimed role debut as Boris in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov at the Zurich Opera House, Jack Rance at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, Hans Sachs (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg) and Amfortas in a concertante Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival. On the concert stage, Michael Volle appeared with Plácido Domingo for a gala concert at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow and sang Haydn's Creation with the orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino under the baton of Zubin Mehta in Florence. He also performed works by Wagner and Strauss at the Wiesbaden State Theater as part of the Metropolitan Opera New York's "Wagnerians Live in Concert", which was streamed live worldwide. Further recitals and concerts have taken him to the Lausitz Festival, Taggenbrunn, the Brucknerhaus Linz, the Müpa in Budapest, the Martha Argerich Festival in the Laeiszhalle Hamburg with Mussorgsky's Songs and dances of death and to the Richard Wagner Museum in Bayreuth for a recital with Helmut Deutsch.

Appearances as Johanaan (Salome) at La Scala and in Baden-Baden, as Barak (The woman without a shadow) and Scarpia (Tosca) in New York, as a Dutchman (The Flying Dutchman) in Wiesbaden, Munich, London and Berlin, as Sachs (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg) in Bayreuth, as Mandryka (Arabella) in Vienna, as Don Giovanni in Karlsruhe, as Wotan/Wanderer (The Ring of the Nibelung) in Dresden, Méphistophélès in Berlioz' La Damnation de Faust with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, as well as numerous concerts and recitals, were canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Highlights of the 19/20 season for Michael Volle included five roles at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin: Wotan (The Rhinegold and The Valkyrie) and hikers (Siegfried) in the Ring cycle, his role debut as Herr Fluth in Otto Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsorand as the high priest in Camille Saint-Säens' Samson et Dalilaall under the direction of Daniel Barenboim. As Jochanaan in Richard Strauss' Salome and as Orest (Electra) he returned to the Vienna State Opera and was heard in concert performances as Barak with the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin in Paris, Dortmund and Rotterdam.

Michael Volle is one of the leading interpreters of the German repertoire; his showpiece roles include the title role in Wagner's Flying Dutchman, Wotan/Wanderer in the Ring of the Nibelung, Hans Sachs (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg) and Amfortas (Parsifal) and the Strauss roles of Barak (The woman without a shadow), Johanaan (Salome), Orest (Electra) and Mandryka (Arabella), Dr. Schön/Jack the Ripper (Lulu) and Wozzeckboth by Alban Berg. But the baritone is also a world leader in the Italian repertoire. He has sung Scarpia (Tosca) alongside Anna Netrebko in the title role at the Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna State Opera and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, shone as Sir John Falstaff in Berlin and as Jack Rance (La fanciulla del West).

On the concert stage, the baritone can be heard in all the world's major concert halls and with the most renowned orchestras. He regularly works with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Christian Thielemann, Sir Antonio Pappano, Maris Janssons, Franz Welser-Möst, Valery Gergiev, Thomas Hengelbrock, Simon Rattle and Frieder Bernius. Michael Volle devotes himself intensively to lieder singing and regularly gives recitals with Helmut Deutsch at the piano, including at the Heidelberger Frühling and the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg.

Numerous recordings on CD and DVD, live broadcasts in cinemas worldwide, as well as the film production "The Hunter's Bride" (The Freischütz) with Michael Volle as Kaspar document the artist's work. Michael Volle is the winner of the German theater prize "Faust" and singer of the year of the magazine "Opernwelt" (2008 and 2014).

Helmut Deutsch is one of the most important song accompanists of our time. Born in Vienna, he studied there at the conservatory, the music academy and the university, was awarded the city's composition prize and became a professor at the age of 24. His career as a Lied accompanist began with the soprano Irmgard Seefried; the most important singer of his younger years was Hermann Prey, whose partner he was in several hundred concerts. He has worked with many of the most important lieder singers and has performed in all the major music centers. He is currently working with J. Kaufmann, D. Damrau, M. Volle and M. Peter. Helmut Deutsch was a professor at the Munich Academy of Music for 28 years and gives master classes in Europe and Asia. His students include J. Banse, J. Kaufmann, D. Henschel, C. Gerhaher and W. Rieger. Helmut Deutsch's work is documented on more than 100 recordings. His autobiography "Gesang auf Hände tragen" was published in 2019.