Michael Volle was a member of the ensemble at the Zurich Opera House and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich after engagements at the opera houses in Mannheim, Bonn, Düsseldorf, and Cologne. In 2008 and 2023, the magazine Opernwelt named him "Singer of the Year"; in 2009, he received the German Theater Prize "Der Faust" and in 2023 was awarded an Oper!Award in recognition of his achievements. As a guest artist, he was invited to the state operas in Berlin, Hamburg, and Vienna, to the Semperoper Dresden, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Opéra de Paris, the Royal Opera London, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Liceu in Barcelona, La Scala in Milan, the New York Met, as well as to the Salzburg, Bregenz, and Bayreuth Festivals. Michael Volle has made a name for himself especially as a Wagner singer, as well as with Richard Strauss roles and the interpretation of major Italian baritone parts, including Verdi operas. Recently, he appeared in David McVicar’s "Ring" at La Scala, returned in the title role of "Falstaff" at the Berlin State Opera, where he also portrayed Wotan/the Wanderer. As part of the 150th anniversary of the Bayreuth Festival, he will sing two "Ring" cycles as well as Amfortas ("Parsifal") in 2026. At the Zurich Opera House, he has appeared as Eugene Onegin, Yeletzky ("Pique Dame"), Roland ("Fierrabras"), Sixtus Beckmesser, Hans Sachs ("Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg"), Golaud ("Pelléas et Mélisande"), Wolfram ("Tannhäuser"), the Dutchman, Nabucco, and Boris Godunov, as well as in Schubert’s "Winterreise".
4. April 2018
Michael Volle is not only known in Zurich as an interpreter of great Mozart, Wagner or Verdi roles, he has also often appeared on stage as a sensitive singer. Before spring sets in, the baritone interprets Franz Schubert's Winterreise together with the pianist Helmut Deutsch. The 24 songs based on poems by Wilhelm Müller are the climax of Schubert's lieder and at the same time the pinnacle of romantic song art.
Cast
Michael Volle
Helmut Deutsch
Helmut Deutsch is one of the most sought-after and successful Lied pianists of our time. Born in Vienna, he studied piano and composition at the city’s University of Music and Performing Arts, as well as musicology at the University of Vienna. He specialized in song accompaniment and chamber music and began his international concert career as the piano partner of Irmgard Seefried. Since then, he has appeared in the world’s leading concert halls and at major festivals with many distinguished singers, including Juliane Banse, Grace Bumbry, Ileana Cotrubas, Diana Damrau, Brigitte Fassbaender, Angelika Kirchschlager, Genia Kühmeier, Christiane Oelze, Anne Sofie von Otter, Dawn Upshaw, Ruth Ziesak, Olaf Bär, Matthias Goerne, Dietrich Henschel, Wolfgang Holzmayr, Jonas Kaufmann, Thomas Moser, Christoph Prégardien, Josef Protschka, Thomas Quasthoff, Andreas Schmidt, Bo Skovhus, Peter Schreier, Christoph Strehl, Michael Volle, and Bernd Weikl, and has released several highly acclaimed recordings on various labels. He enjoyed a twelve-year close artistic partnership with the baritone Hermann Prey. Helmut Deutsch is a winner of the Vienna Composition Prize, teaches at the University of Music in Munich, and gives masterclasses and interpretation courses throughout Europe and Japan.