Johannes Weisser

Norwegian baritone Johannes Weisser has established himself as one of the most exciting European singers of his generation.

Recent engagements have brought him to the Salzburg Festival, Staatsoper Berlin, Teatro Real Madrid, Théâtre de La Monnaie in Brussels, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Canadian Opera Company, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Komische Oper Berlin, Norwegian National Opera, Royal Danish Opera, and the Edinburgh International Festival. He has worked with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Andris Nelsons, Kirill Petrenko, Thomas Dausgaard, Adam Fischer, René Jacobs, Ingo Metzmacher, Marc Minkowski, Giovanni Antonini, Fabio Biondi, Ottavio Dantone, Diego Fasolis, Philippe Herreweghe, Vasily Petrenko, and Trevor Pinnock.

Johannes Weisser has recently appeared in the title role of Tchaikovsky‘s Eugene Onegin, as Germont in La Traviata, as Don Giovanni and Leporello in Don Giovanni, Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Don Pizarro (Fidelio), Schaunard (La Bohème), Malatesta (Don Pasquale), Mr. Flint (Billy Budd), and the title role in Grieg’s Peer Gynt. At Staatsoper Berlin he has appeared in 2017 in Purcell’s King Arthur. With the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and René Jacobs, Mr. Weisser successfully toured Beethoven’s original Leonore, singing the role of Don Pizarro.

Johannes Weisser is a much sought-after concert and oratorio singer, with repertoire that spans from the early 17th century music of Monteverdi to the works of Weill, Britten and contemporary composers. With the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra he recently sang Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn. The Norwegian Radio Orchestra invited him to sing Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder.

This season will see him appear in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and Mendelssohn‘s Erste Walpurgisnacht at Klarafestival. With Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin he toured St Matthew Passion across Europe. An accomplished Lied singer, he has won international critical acclaim for his performances of Schumann’s Dichterliebe and Grieg’s Vinje Songs in recitals, and for his recent recital appearance at Eppaner Lied Festival, directed by the legendary Brigitte Fassbaender. His recording of Grieg Songs has received international critical acclaim.

Widely known for the numerous award-winning recordings that he has already produced, Johannes has appeared on disc in the title role of Don Giovanni (René Jacobs/harmonia mundi), Don Pizarro in Beethoven’s original Leonore and Haydn’s Die Schöpfung (René Jacobs/harmonia mundi), Bach’s St Matthew Passion and St John Passion (both René Jacobs/harmonia mundi), but also in the role of Achilla in Giulio Cesare (Alan Curtis/naive), and Ståle Kleiberg’s Mass for a Modern Man with Trondheim Sinfonietta. In 2013 he was a GRAMMY nominee for his role as David in Ståle Kleiberg‘s opera David and Bathsheba, a recording with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tönu Kaljuste (best opera recording).

Johannes Weisser studied at the Music Conservatory in Copenhagen and at the Royal Danish Academy of Opera in Copenhagen with Susanna Eken. In the spring of 2004, aged 23, he made his debut at the Norwegian National Opera as well as at Komische Oper Berlin, in both houses as Masetto in Don Giovanni. He lives in Oslo.