Born in Austria, he studied in Vienna with singers José van Dam and Robert Holl. In his early career, he was part of the companies at the Wiener Staatsoper and the Opernhaus Zürich, later starting an international career that has taken him to major theatres in Europe and the United States, such as the Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Opéra National de Paris, Royal Opera House in London, Metropolitan Opera in New York, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, as well as the Salzburg and Bayreuth festivals.
His two albums, Winterreise / Schwanengesang and Herz-Tod, have been released by the Decca label. His upcoming engagements include Landgraf Tannhäuser, Gurnemanz Parsifal, Heinrich der Vogler Lohengrin and Baron Ochs Der Rosenkavalier in Vienna and King Marke Tristan und Isolde in Bayreuth.
He made his debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in the 2007/08 season with Tannhäuser, returning with Don Giovanni (2007/08), “Scenes from Goethe’s Faust” (2011/12), and Rusalka (2012/13).
(photo: Gerhard Ringhofer)