Wolfgang Koch
Bavarian State Opera - Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci
Wolfgang Koch once again made the biggest impression in the dual role of the jealous villains Alfio and Tonio.
br-klassik (May 23, 2025)Vienna State Opera - Palestrina
Wolfgang Koch as Cardinal Borromeo was particularly convincing this evening, setting standards with his dramatic baritone in terms of expression and depth of interpretation.
Klassik begeistert (December 8, 2024)Representation
Worldwide general managment
Contact
Season 25/26 and Highlights
HAMBURG STATE OPERA
Verdi - Falstaff - Falstaff
Oct 2/4/8/15
SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Wagner - Siegfried - concert version - Wanderer
Nov 13/16
BERLIN STATE OPERA
Wagner - Lohengrin - Telramund
Jan 18/25, Feb 1/7
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BAVARIAN STATE OPERA
Strauss - Salome - Jochanaan
Feb 23/26, March 1/5
OSTERFESTSPIELE BADEN-BADEN
Wagner - Lohengrin - Telramund
PREMIERE March 28
March 31, April 5
MÜPA BUDAPEST
Wagner - Parsifal - Amfortas
June 5/30
Biography
Wolfgang Koch is one of the most important dramatic baritones in the opera world.
In the 2025/26 season, he will appear as the title role in Verdi’s Falstaff at the Hamburg State Opera before taking on the role of the Wanderer in concert performances of Siegfried in Sydney under Simone Young. The Berlin State Opera will present him as Telramund in Lohengrin, a role he will also perform in the new Lohengrin production (Erath/Mallwitz) at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. At the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, he will be heard as Jochanaan in Salome under Thomas Guggeis, and at the Wagner Days Budapest he will appear as Amfortas (Parsifal) under Adam Fischer.
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Wolfgang Koch’s repertoire encompasses the great baritone roles of both the German and Italian traditions. At the Bavarian State Opera, he made his role debuts as Alfio and Tonio in the new production of Cavalleria rusticana and I Pagliacci, and also appeared again as the Forester (The Cunning Little Vixen) and Telramund (Lohengrin). He has sung Wotan/Wanderer (Der Ring des Nibelungen) both at the Bayreuth Festival and in Munich under Kirill Petrenko. As Hans Sachs (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), he also performed at the Munich Opera Festival under Petrenko’s direction. He has sung Amfortas and Klingsor in Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, and at the Salzburg Easter Festival. As Borromeo (Palestrina), he achieved great personal success at the Vienna State Opera under Christian Thielemann. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 2019 as Scarpia (Tosca). Koch has also appeared as Falstaff at both the Bavarian and Vienna State Operas. He performed Dallapiccola’s Il prigioniero under Kirill Petrenko with the Berlin Philharmonic.
One of his signature roles is Barak (Die Frau ohne Schatten), which he has sung in a new production at the Vienna State Opera under Christian Thielemann and under Kirill Petrenko in Baden-Baden. He has also performed this role in Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, and at the Salzburg Festival. The Bavarian Kammersänger achieved major acclaim as Michele in Puccini’s Il trittico at the Bavarian State Opera. At the Vienna State Opera, he portrayed the title role in a new production of Gottfried von Einem’s Dantons Tod.
His extensive repertoire also includes the Dutchman (Der fliegende Holländer), Kurwenal (Tristan und Isolde), Telramund (Lohengrin), Mandryka (Arabella), the Count (Capriccio), Jochanaan (Salome), Pizarro (Fidelio), the Forester (The Cunning Little Vixen), Prometheus (Die Vögel), the title roles in Mathis der Maler and Lear, Borromeo and Morone (Palestrina), as well as Busoni’s Doktor Faust.In addition to the aforementioned houses, Wolfgang Koch has performed at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, the Opéra de Paris, the San Francisco Opera, the Oper Frankfurt, the Theater an der Wien, and in Tokyo.
Beyond his operatic work, Wolfgang Koch is a regular guest on the world’s major concert stages, performing, among others, Schönberg’s Die Jakobsleiter with the Berlin Philharmonic under Kirill Petrenko. His artistry is documented in numerous CD and DVD releases, including Der Ring des Nibelungen from Hamburg (as Alberich), Lear (Reimann) and Palestrina (Pfitzner) from Frankfurt, Palestrina, Doktor Faust, and Lohengrin from Munich, Parsifal and Die Frau ohne Schatten from Salzburg, and Parsifal (Barenboim and Tcherniakov) from Berlin.
2025/26
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