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 management
Contact
Season 26/27 and Highlights
MAGGIO MUSICALE FIORENTINO
Berg – Wozzeck – Wozzeck
Sep 27/30, Oct 3
TEATRO DELL'OPERA DI ROMA
Wagner – Siegfried – Alberich
Oct 21/24/27
PALAU DE LES ARTS REINA SOFÍA
Wagner – Lohengrin – Friedrich von Telramund
Dec 10/13/16/19/22
-
STATE OPERA UNDER THE LINDEN
Strauss – Salome – Jokanaan
Jan 10/14/17/23/26/29BAVARIAN STATE OPERA
Wagner – Parsifal – Klingsor
March 25/28, Apr 3OSLO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Strauss – Death and Transfiguration
Zemlinsky – Lyric Symphony
Apr 8BERLINER PHILHARMONIKER
Humperdinck – Hansel and Gretel – Peter Besenbinder
May 27/29/30
Biography
Wolfgang Koch is one of the leading dramatic baritones in the world of opera. In the 2026/27 season, Wolfgang Koch will appear in the title role of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino under Thomas Guggeis. He will take on the role of Alberich in Wagner’s Siegfried in a semi-staged production conducted by Daniel Harding in Rome and portray Telramund in Lohengrin under Sir Mark Elder at the Palau de les Arts Valencia. At the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, he will appear as Jochanaan in Salome, and at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich as Klingsor in Parsifal. Concert engagements will take Wolfgang Koch to the Berliner Philharmoniker under Kirill Petrenko as the Broom-maker in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, as well as to the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra under Simone Young.
-
Wolfgang Koch’s repertoire encompasses the major baritone roles of the German and Italian repertoire. Highlights of recent seasons include the title role in Verdi’s Falstaff at the Hamburg State Opera, Telramund in Lohengrin at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin as well as in the new production at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Jochanaan in Salome at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Amfortas in Parsifal at the Wagner Days in Budapest, his role debuts as Alfio and Tonio in the new production of Cavalleria rusticana and I Pagliacci at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, as well as his return to the same house as the Forester (The Cunning Little Vixen) and Telramund (Lohengrin). He sang Wotan / the Wanderer (Der Ring des Nibelungen) both at the Bayreuth Festival and in Munich under Kirill Petrenko. He also appeared as Hans Sachs (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) at the Munich Opera Festival, again under the baton of Kirill Petrenko. He has sung Amfortas and Klingsor in Berlin, Munich and Hamburg, among others, as well as at the Salzburg Easter Festival. As Borromeo (Palestrina), he enjoyed a major personal success at the Vienna State Opera under Christian Thielemann. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2019 as Scarpia (Tosca). He has appeared as Falstaff at both the Bavarian State Opera and the Vienna State Opera. Wolfgang Koch performed Dallapiccola’s Il prigioniero with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Kirill Petrenko.
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 the direction of Christian Thielemann and in Baden-Baden under Kirill Petrenko. He has also performed this role as a guest artist in Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, and at the Salzburg Festival. The Bavarian Kammersänger enjoyed great success as Michele in Puccini's Il trittico at the Bavarian State Opera. At the Vienna State Opera, he sang the title role in a new production of von Einem's opera Dantons Tod . Zu seinem vielfältigen Repertoire zählen ferner Holländer (Der fliegende Holländer), Kurwenal (Tristan und Isolde), Telramund (Lohengrin), Mandryka (Arabella), Graf (Capriccio), Jochanaan (Salome), Pizarro (Fidelio), Förster (Schlaues Füchslein), Prometheus (Die Vögel), die Titelpartien in Mathis der Maler und Lear , Borromeo und Morone (Palestrina) als auch Doktor Faust von Busoni.
In addition to the aforementioned houses, Wolfgang Koch also performed at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, the Opéra de Paris, the San Francisco Opera, the Oper Frankfurt, at the Theater an der Wien and in Tokyo.
In addition to his operatic work, Wolfgang Koch is a regular guest on the world's most important concert stages, for example with Schoenberg's Jacob's Ladder with the Berlin Philharmonic under Kirill Petrenko. Numerous CD and DVD releases exist, including Der Ring des Nibelungen from Hamburg (Alberich), the productions 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.
2026/27
—
Any changes or reductions must be approved by ARSIS Artist Management. Please do not use older material.
