Josef Wagner - Baritone/Bass
Biography
The musical training of the bass baritone Josef Wagner, born in Niederösterreich (Lower Austria) in 1975, began in a boys choir, and with violin and piano lessons. After deciding for a career in voice, he studied at the University for Music and the Performing Arts in Vienna with Kurt Equiluz and Robert Holl. He has received important artistic incentives in master classes of Paul Esswood, Walter Berry and Christa Ludwig. His present teacher is Prof. Wicus Slabbert.
After his stage debut as Don Alfonso (“Così fan tutte”) and Dulcamara (“Elisir d’amore”) he became a member of the ensemble of the Viennese Volksoper in 2002. Here until 2005 he expanded his repertoire with parts such as Publio (“Clemenza di Tito”), Masetto (“Don Giovanni”), Alidoro (“Cenerentola”), Philebos (“König Kandaules” by Zemlinsky) and Colline (“La Bohème”). In addition he gave guest performances in the title roles of Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” at the Salzburg Landestheater, as Guglielmo (“Così fan tutte”) at the Festival “Mozart in Reinsberg”, as Lord Sidney (“Viaggio a Reims”) and Fra Melitone (“La Forza del Destino”) at the Stadttheater Bern. In the summer of 2006, Josef Wagner gave his debut at the Salzburg Festival as Don Cassandro (“La Finta Semplice”). During the season 2006/07 he sang Figaro at the Viennese Volksoper and on a tour in Holland, Nachtigall (“Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg”) at the Geneva Opera, Guglielmo at the Opera Ireland and Papageno at Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Japan. In 2007/08 he performed with the Concerto Cologne under the conductorship of Michael Hofstetter as Herkules in Anton Schweitzer’s “Alceste”, at the Israeli Opera as Lord Sidney, at the Opéra de Nantes as Nick Shadow (“The Rake’s Progress”), with the Het Gelders Orkest in Holland as Don Giovanni, at the Geneva Opera as Frank in the “Fledermaus”, Eduard (in Hindemith’s “Neues vom Tage”) at the Opéra de Dijon, Leporello at the Opéra de Marseille, Papageno at the Viennese Volksoper and Assur (“Semiramide”) at the Vlaamse Opera Antwerp under conductorship of M° Alberto Zedda.
His projects include Papageno at the Volksoper Wien, Fra Melitone in “La Forza del Destino“, Lord Sidney in “Viaggio à Reims” and Papageno at the Vlaamse Opera, and Don Giovanni at the St. Margarethen Festival (Austria) as well as a new production of “Zauberflöte” at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence.
Josef Wagner is also greatly in demand as a concert singer, whose repertoire ranges from Baroque to contemporary pieces. He has performed under the conductors Ton Koopman, Dennis Russel Davies and Nikolaus Harnoncourt also at the Viennese Musikverein and at the Wiener Konzerthaus. He has sung Frank Martin’s “Der Sturm” at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and “Die Schöpfung” and “Der Messias” with the Orchestra of the Vlaamse Opera. Among his projects are Verdi’s Requiem at the Carinthian Summer Festival and concerts at the Ludwigsburger Festspiele and in the Vienna Musikverein.
Last updated: 10.10.2011© We kindly ask you to seek our approval for any alteration or abbreviation of the biography. Thank you for your kind understanding.