Tannhäuser

The bass Christof Fischesser, born in Wiesbaden, studied singing with Martin Gründler at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt am Main. In 2000 he won first prize at the Federal Singing Competition in Berlin, which was followed by an engagement at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe. In 2004 he moved to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin; from 2012 to 2015 he was a member of the ensemble at the Zurich Opera House, with which he has maintained a close collaboration ever since. Guest engagements have taken him, among others, to the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, the Opéra national de Paris, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Bavarian State Opera Munich, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Semperoper Dresden, the Opéra de Lyon, the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, the Houston Grand Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, as well as to the opera houses of Antwerp, Copenhagen and Gothenburg. His wide-ranging repertoire includes roles such as King Marke in "Tristan und Isolde", Landgrave in "Tannhäuser", King Henry in "Lohengrin", Gurnemanz in "Parsifal", Sarastro in "The Magic Flute", Figaro in "Le nozze di Figaro", Rocco in "Fidelio", Banquo in "Macbeth", Méphistophélès in "Faust" and Baron Ochs of Lerchenau in "Der Rosenkavalier". Numerous CD and DVD recordings document his artistic work. At the Zurich Opera House he has appeared, among others, as King Henry, Orest in "Elektra", Kaspar, Daland, Gremin, Gurnemanz, Marchese di Calatrava and Padre Guardiano in "La forza del destino", Hunding in "Die Walküre" as well as Jacopo Fiesco in "Simon Boccanegra".

Eric Cutler, born in Iowa, completed his studies at Luther College and the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program of the Metropolitan Opera. In 2005, he won the Richard Tucker Award. He has appeared at major international opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Bavarian State Opera, the Royal Opera House, the Paris Opera, La Fenice, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, the Canadian Opera Company, the Santa Fe Opera, as well as at the festivals in Salzburg, Glyndebourne, and Bayreuth. After beginning his career in the Mozart and bel canto repertoire, as well as lyrical roles by Bellini, Donizetti, Bizet, and Gounod at venues including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Bavarian State Opera, the Royal Opera House, the Paris Opera, and the festivals in Salzburg and Glyndebourne, he now primarily performs roles from the youthful heroic tenor repertoire. Recent highlights include the title role in "Lohengrin" (Hamburg State Opera, Salzburg Easter Festival, and Berlin State Opera), Siegmund in "Die Walküre" (Berlin State Opera), Florestan in "Fidelio" (Royal Opera House, Dutch National Opera & Ballet, and Zurich Opera House), Peter Grimes (Theater an der Wien), as well as the Emperor in Richard Strauss’s "Die Frau ohne Schatten" (Semperoper Dresden). Earlier highlights included the title role in Offenbach’s "Les Contes d’Hoffmann" (Brussels and Dresden), Bacchus in "Ariadne auf Naxos" (Festival d'Aix-en-Provence), Max in Weber’s "Der Freischütz", and Erik in "Der fliegende Holländer" (Bavarian State Opera and Bayreuth Festival). He made his debut at the Zurich Opera House in 2022/23 as Siegmund in "Die Walküre", returned in 2025 as Paul in Korngold’s "Die tote Stadt", is making his role debut as Tannhäuser in the current season.

Christina Nilsson completed her vocal studies at the University College of Opera in Stockholm. The award-winning soprano — including recipient of the Renata Tebaldi International Voice Competition (2017) and the Operalia (2019) — was appointed Hovsångerska by Carl XVI Gustaf in 2025. The Swedish-born singer achieved her international breakthrough in the 2017/18 season as Aida at the Royal Swedish Opera, where she subsequently performed numerous major roles such as Tosca, Ariadne, and Countess Almaviva ("Le nozze di Figaro"). She has appeared at leading international opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House in London, the Bavarian State Opera, the Semperoper Dresden, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and the Oper Frankfurt. Recent highlights include her debut at the Bayreuth Festival as Freia ("Das Rheingold"), as well as her role debut as Eva in "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" under Daniele Gatti, her house debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Aida, her role debut as Chrysothemis in "Elektra" at the Royal Swedish Opera, as well as Elisabeth in "Tannhäuser" and Aida at Oper Frankfurt. Other important engagements include Rosalinde ("Die Fledermaus") at the Bavarian State Opera, as well as Aida at the Royal Opera House and the Semperoper Dresden. On the concert stage, she most recently performed Schönberg’s "Gurre-Lieder" under Alan Gilbert with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Verdi’s Requiem under Andrés Orozco-Estrada with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, as well as Symphony No. 9 by Beethoven under Alan Gilbert with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. With "Tannhäuser" under the musical direction of Tugan Sokhiev, she makes her house debut at the Zurich Opera House.

Rachael Wilson, born in Las Vegas, completed her vocal training at Juilliard School in New York. From 2013 to 2015, she was a member of the opera studio of the Bavarian State Opera, and subsequently a member of the company until 2019, where she performed roles including Dorabella ("Così fan tutte"), Hänsel ("Hänsel und Gretel"), Cherubino ("Le nozze di Figaro"), as well as Fatime in Weber’s "Oberon", for which she received the Bavarian Festival Prize. From 2019 to 2023, she was a member of the ensemble at the Stuttgart State Opera, where she made her role debut as Fricka ("Das Rheingold") and performed, among others, the title roles in "Carmen" and Vivaldi’s "Juditha triumphans", as well as Charlotte ("Werther"). As a freelance artist, she has since appeared at venues including the Teatro Real, Theater Basel, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Hamburg State Opera, as Lola ("Cavalleria rusticana") at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, and as Varvara ("Káťa Kabanová") at the Glyndebourne Festival. In 2023/24, she made her role debut as Donna Elvira ("Don Giovanni") at the Santa Fe Opera. Other recent role debuts include Blanche de la Force in Poulenc’s "Dialogues des Carmélites" at the Stuttgart State Opera, as well as Armida in Handel’s "Rinaldo". She is a recipient of the Bavarian Art Prize. At the Zurich Opera House, she has previously appeared as Balkis ("Barkouf") and Olga ("Eugene Onegin"); this season she is making her role debut here as Venus in Wagner's "Tannhäuser".

Christian Gerhaher studied medicine and voice in Munich and completed his training in masterclasses with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and Inge Borkh. During his studies, he already formed a partnership with the pianist Gerold Huber, which has set standards in song interpretation for more than three decades. Collaborations with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Herbert Blomstedt, Bernard Haitink, Daniel Harding, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Mariss Jansons, Andris Nelsons, Antonio Pappano, Kirill Petrenko, Simon Rattle, and Christian Thielemann have taken him to the world’s leading orchestras and concert halls. He is a regular guest at the festivals in Edinburgh, Lucerne, and Salzburg, as well as at the Rheingau Musik Festival and the BBC Proms. His principal opera roles include Wolfram ("Tannhäuser"), Posa ("Don Carlo"), Germont ("La traviata"), Il Conte di Almaviva ("Le nozze di Figaro"), Orfeo, Don Giovanni, Simon Boccanegra, Amfortas ("Parsifal"), Pelléas, the Prince of Homburg, as well as Lenau in Holliger’s "Lunea". His portrayal of Wozzeck at the Zurich Opera House is considered a milestone. Together with Gerold Huber, he released song cycles by Schubert, Schumann, and Mahler, as well as most recently a Brahms album (2025); their recording "Robert Schumann: Alle Lieder" received the OPUS Klassik in 2022, and the duo was awarded the Hugo-Wolf-Medaille in 2024. The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Zurich awarded him an honorary doctorate. Gerhaher is the author of "Lyrisches Tagebuch" (C. H. Beck, 2022) and Professor of Song Interpretation at the University of Music and Theatre Munich as well as at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Andrew Moore, an American bass-baritone from New Jersey, received his training at Rutgers University (Mason Gross School of the Arts) and at the renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. In 2019, he reached the New England Region Finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, where he was awarded the Susan Eastman Encouragement Award. Further important artistic milestones included the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco as well as the Santa Fe Opera, where he appeared as an Apprentice Singer in "La bohème", "Così fan tutte", and "Jenůfa". From 2020 to 2022, he was a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House. He was subsequently engaged in the company ensemble, which he has belonged to since the 2022/23 season. There, he has appeared as Figaro ("Le nozze di Figaro"), Paolo Albiani ("Simon Boccanegra"), Don Fernando ("Fidelio"), De Brétigny ("Manon"), Marullo ("Rigoletto"), Paris ("Roméo et Juliette"), Marchese d’Obigny ("La traviata"), Pritschitsch ("Die lustige Witwe"), Johann ("Werther"), and Fix ("In 80 Tagen um die Welt"). His recent international engagements include his debut with the Warsaw Philharmonic as bass soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 as well as his Salzburg debut as Marchese d’Obigny ("La traviata"). In summer 2026, he will appear at the Salzburg Festival as Johann ("Werther"). His repertoire also includes roles such as Leporello ("Don Giovanni"), Guglielmo ("Così fan tutte"), and Rocco ("Fidelio").

Johan Krogius began his musical training in the boys’ choir of the Domkantorei Cantores Minores in Helsinki. He later studied in Helsinki and Stockholm, won the Timo Mustakallio Singing Competition in 2021, and in the same year was awarded first prize at the Helsinki Song Competition. In opera, he has sung roles such as Jaquino ("Fidelio") and Pong ("Turandot") in Helsinki, First Man and Juhana in "The Last Temptations" at the Opera in Jyväskylä, Don Ottavio ("Don Giovanni") at the Finnish National Opera, Kuska ("Chowanschtschina") with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen in Helsinki and Stockholm, and Tamino ("Die Zauberflöte") at the Opera in Tampere and at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, where he also performed as Don Ottavio and Ismaele ("Nabucco") in 2024 and as Macduff ("Macbeth") in 2025. From 2022 to 2024, he was a member of the International Opera Studio of the Berlin State Opera, where he performed roles including Leukippos (Strauss’ "Daphne"), Tamino, First Armored Man and First Priest ("Die Zauberflöte"), Innkeeper and Major-domo to Faninal ("Der Rosenkavalier"), Trojan ("Idomeneo"), Parpignol ("La bohème"), and Borsa ("Rigoletto"). As a guest, he returned to the Berlin State Opera as Tybalt ("Roméo et Juliette"), among others. On the concert stage, he has appeared with the Jyväskylä Sinfonia, the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, the Tapiola Sinfonietta, and the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, and made his debut in 2024 with Mozart’s "Requiem" at the Berlin Philharmonie. Since the 2025/26 season, he has been a member of the ensemble at the Opera House Zurich, where he has performed in "Der Rosenkavalier," "Tosca," and "Carmen."

Nathan Haller is from Canada and studied voice at the Juilliard School in New York. In 2013, he participated in the International Meistersinger Academy in Neumarkt. From 2015 to 2017, he was a member of the OperAvenir Studio at Theater Basel, where he sang roles such as Tamino ("The Magic Flute"), Romeo ("Romeo and Juliet"), and Oronte ("Alcina"). In 2016, he appeared as Belmonte ("The Abduction from the Seraglio") at the Akko Opera Festival in Israel, and in 2017/18 as François in Leonard Bernstein’s "A Quiet Place" at Neue Oper Wien. Further engagements took him to the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Vienna Volksoper, the Malmö Opera, and Deutsche Oper am Rhein. On the concert stage, he performed at the New York Festival of Song at Carnegie Hall and in Handel’s "La Resurrezione" with William Christie. He made his debut at the Zurich Opera House in 2018 in Schreker’s "Die Gezeichneten" and returned the following year as Albazar ("Il turco in Italia") as well as later in the title role of Mitterer’s "Tapferen Schneiderlein". Since the 2021/22 season, Nathan Haller has been a member of the Zurich Opera House ensemble. Here, he has recently sung roles including Mercure in Rameau’s "Platée", Gobin/Un giovane/Adolfo in Puccini’s "La rondine", Boni ("Die Csárdásfürstin"), Pong ("Turandot"), a Dance Master ("Ariadne auf Naxos"), as well as Andrès in "Les Contes d’Hoffmann", First Jew ("Salome"), Victorin ("Die tote Stadt"), Raoul de St. Brioche ("Die lustige Witwe"), Goro ("Madama Butterfly"), Valzacchi ("Der Rosenkavalier"), and Dr. Blind ("Die Fledermaus").

Brent Michael Smith is from the United States. He studied voice at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and at the University of Northern Iowa, as well as piano at Hope College in Michigan. In 2021, he was a finalist at the Queen Sonja International Music Competition and a semifinalist at the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions in 2020, and he won prizes at several other international singing competitions. He also received scholarships from the Loren L. Zachary Society and the Young Patronesses of the Opera Competition in Miami. In the United States, he sang roles including Zuniga ("Carmen"), Friedrich Bhaer (Mark Adamo’s "Little Women"), and Ashby ("La fanciulla del West") at Michigan Opera, Antonio ("Le nozze di Figaro") at Toledo Opera, Ariodante ("Xerxes") at the Glimmerglass Festival, Lakai ("Ariadne auf Naxos") at the Santa Fe Opera, as well as Celio (Prokofiev’s "The Love for Three Oranges") and Peter Quince ("A Midsummer Night’s Dream") at Opera Philadelphia. In 2020/21, he was a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House. Since then, he has been a member of the ensemble and has appeared there in roles including Sparafucile ("Rigoletto"), Raimondo ("Lucia di Lammermoor"), Prince Gremin ("Eugene Onegin"), Frère Laurent ("Roméo et Juliette"), Fafner ("Das Rheingold"), and Angelotti ("Tosca").

Yewon Han is a South Korean soprano. She completed her bachelor’s degree at Seoul National University and continued her training in the Young Artist Program of the Korea National Opera Studio, as well as from 2022 to 2024 in the International Opera Studio in Zurich. She has interpreted a wide range of roles in Korea and Europe, including Lauretta in "Gianni Schicchi", Papagena in "Die Zauberflöte", Adele in "Die Fledermaus", Romilda in "Serse", Li Si in "Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer", Titania in "A Midsummer Night’s Dream", and Najade in "Ariadne auf Naxos". In 2025, she appeared as Ophelia in "Hamlet" at the Buxton International Festival. She has received numerous awards, including first prize at the 60th Concurso Tenor Viñas (2023), third prize at the International Singing Competition Neue Stimmen (2022), as well as several first prizes at major singing competitions in South Korea. Since the 2025/26 season, she has been a permanent ensemble member of the Zurich Opera House and has recently been seen there in "Hänsel und Gretel", "Manon", and "Carmen".