Wolfgang Koch (born 1966) is a German operatic bass-baritone. He is best known for his performances in leading roles in the operas of Richard Wagner.

Early life

Koch studied at University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and went on to study under Josef Metternich in Feldafing and then Gianni Raimondi in Milan. He was first engaged in a permanent role at the Stadttheater Bern in 1991. In 1993 he moved to the Stuttgart State Opera, where he stayed until 1996. He then pursued a freelance career and is now based in Vienna.

Career

Wagnerian roles

Koch has frequently appeared as Hans Sachs in Wagner's '' Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg''. He made his debut in this role in 2004 in Bielefeld, and has since appeared in the role in Frankfurt, at the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August ...

, and at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

. In ''Tristan und Isolde'' he has taken the role of Kurwenal at the Hamburg State Opera and the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...

. In Wagner's cycle ''

Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the '' Nibe ...

'', Koch notably appeared as Wotan at the Bayreuth Festival in 2013. He appeared in the same cycle as Alberich at Hamburg in 2008. At the Vienna State Opera, Koch sang in addition to Hans Sachs also Kothner in ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'' and Telramund in ''

Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolf ...

''.

Other repertoire

Wolfgang Koch has also found success with leading roles from other composers, such as the title role in Busoni's ''Doctor Faust'' (Munich 2008) and the cardinal legate Morone and the cardinal Borromeo in Pfitzner's ''

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pre ...

'' (Munich 2009 / Hamburg 2011 / Frankfurt 2010 under

Kirill Petrenko Kirill Garrievich Petrenko (russian: Кирилл Гарриевич Петренко, Latin script: ; born 11 February 1972) is a Russian-Austrian conductor. He is chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. Early life Petrenko was born in Omsk ...

). At the

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...

he appeared as Jochanaan in ''Salome'' and in the title role in Hindemith's '' Mathis der Maler'' in 2012. Furthermore, he has appeared as Georg Danton in ''Dantons Tod'' and as Barak in ''

Die Frau ohne Schatten ' (''The Woman without a Shadow''), Op. 65, is an opera in three acts by Richard Strauss with a libretto by his long-time collaborator, the poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It was written between 1911 and either 1915 or 1917. When it premiered at the V ...

'' at the Vienna State Opera in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Reception

In 2014 he was awarded the prestigious title of

Kammersänger Kammersänger (male) or Kammersängerin (female), abbreviated Ks. or KS, is a German honorific title for distinguished singers of opera and classical music. It literally means "chamber singer". Historically, the title was bestowed by princes or ...

by the Bavarian Ministry of Culture. Following this award, the

Bavarian State Opera The Bayerische Staatsoper is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bayerische Staatsorchester. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Ele ...

commissioned artist Christoph Brech to create a video in which Koch appears in seven operatic roles: Wotan, Don Pizarro, Sir John Falstaff, Alberich, Jochanaan, Carlo Borromeo and finally Don Giovanni. He has performed all of these roles, except Falstaff. In a review of this art exhibition for Main Post, Katharina Winterhalter described Koch as appearing vulnerable under masks of drama and masculinity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koch, Wolfgang Living people German operatic baritones 1966 births 20th-century German male opera singers 21st-century German male opera singers