Wolfgang Koch (singer)

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Wolfgang Koch (center) as Cardinal Morone in Palestrina at the Hamburg State Opera (2011)

Wolfgang Koch (* 1966 in Burghausen ) is a German opera singer ( baritone ). The dramatic baritone is best known for his Wagner roles.

Life

Wolfgang Koch studied singing at the Munich Music Academy and was also a student of Josef Metternich in Feldafing and Gianni Raimondi in Milan. After completing his studies, he was permanently engaged as a soloist at the Bern City Theater from 1991 . In 1993 he moved to the Stuttgart State Theater , where he stayed until 1996. He then worked as a freelance singer, but was regularly hired as a guest at the Stadttheater Bern. In 2005 Koch moved to Vienna , where he was engaged at the Volksoper . He still lives in Vienna today.

repertoire

Koch's Wagner repertoire includes Hans Sachs from the Meistersinger , a role in which he made his debut in Bielefeld in 2004 and in which he has since performed in Frankfurt , at the Vienna State Opera and at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London. As Kurwenal in Tristan and Isolde , he has already been heard at the Salzburg Festival and in Hamburg . In 2008 Koch made his debut as Alberich in the Ring of the Hamburg State Opera . In addition, Wolfgang Koch had success with large roles in rather seldom played operas, for example with the title role in Busoni's Doktor Faust (Munich 2008) and the cardinal legate Morone and Cardinal Borromeo in Pfitzner's Palestrina (Munich 2009 / Hamburg 2011 / Frankfurt 2010 under Kirill Petrenko ). At the Vienna State Opera sang cooking next to Hans Sachs also Kothner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg , Telramund in Lohengrin and Jochanaan in Salome , the Theater an der Wien , the title role in Mathis der Maler of Hindemith (2012).

In 2013 he made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival as Wotan / Wanderer in Wagner's Ring . In 2014/2015 he gave the premiere of Frau ohne Schatten at the Bavarian State Opera Barak , in which role he was also seen at the Vienna State Opera.

Awards

reception

In 2013, on behalf of the Bavarian State Opera , the video artist Christoph Brech portrayed Wolfgang Koch in an eight-minute video for their portrait gallery in the foyer and the walkways. It shows the singer in seven roles: as Wotan from the Ring of the Nibelung , as Don Pizarro from Fidelio , as Alberich , as Jochanaan from the opera Salome by Richard Strauss , as Carlo Borromeo from the opera Palestrina by Hans Pfitzner and as Don Giovanni . The seventh is a dream role that he has not yet sung: Falstaff from the opera of the same name by Giuseppe Verdi . At the same time, Koch's view of the viewer remains the same in all roles, the transformation happens, initially barely perceptible, in front of the viewer's eyes. The portrait represents “a successful attempt to capture and shape artistic versatility and role portraits”.

literature

Web links

Commons : Wolfgang Koch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wolfgang Koch's appearances at the Vienna State Opera
  2. ↑ Annika Täuschel: Bavarian chamber singer. Award for baritone Wolfgang Koch. BR-Klassik, December 22, 2014 ( memento of January 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on December 23, 2014.
  3. ↑ Katharina Winterhalter: Where is the person Wolfgang Koch? Christoph Brech's unusual video portrait of the baritone between two grave slabs. , Mainpost, May 19, 2014 , accessed December 23, 2014.
  4. ↑ Wolf-Dieter Peter: Wonderful portraits: The Bavarian State Opera shows 21 new artist portraits in the National Theater. nmz online October 19, 2013, accessed December 23, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Koch, Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German opera singer (baritone)
DATE OF BIRTH 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH Burghausen