Austrian tenor Andreas Schager has received resounding acclaim for his performances of some of the most demanding roles in the Heldentenor repertoire. His recent seasons included celebrated performances of the title role in Wagner’s Rienzi with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Real in Madrid, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and the Hamburg State Opera.
Highlights of his 2012-13 season included Siegfried in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung at the Staatsoper Berlin conducted by Daniel Barenboim, followed by a concert presentation at the BBC Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall with the Berlin Staatskapelle, again under Daniel Barenboim. The Independent praised the “golden tone” of his Siegfried and called him a “big star in the making”. He repeated the role of Siegfried for his debut at Teatro alla Scala in Götterdämmerung under the baton of Karl-Heinz Steffens, after having sung both Siegfried and Götterdämmerung under Maestro Steffens in the Halle Opera and Ludwigshafen Theatre Ring Cycles.
In 2013-14 Mr. Schager can be heard at the Vlaamse Opera and at Staatstheater Darmstadt in the role of Tristan in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, and he returns to Halle Opera as Siegfried, and sings Max in Von Weber’s Der Freischütz at Opera Cologne. He also sings Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the NDR Symphony in Hamburg and Bremen.
Mr. Schager studied with Prof. Walter Moore at the University for Music in Vienna. He completed his studies with James King and Toma Popescu. He began gaining attention through his success in various competitions: In 1998 he won the Special Jury Prize at the 5th International Viennese Music Competition. The following year, he won the medal of the Foundation „Jean-Frédéric Perrenoud“ in Neuchâtel in Switzerland, the Critic’s Prize and the Prize of the town Constanza in the International Competition for Tenors in Lugoj, Romania, which led to his opera debut as Ferrando in Così fan tutte at the Festival Mozart in Schönbrunn. Since 2012, Mr. Schager studies with Prof. Heidrun Franz-Vetter in Berlin.
In the following years he took the stage at Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Theater Koblenz, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, the International Music Festival Chiemgau, the Wiener Festwochen, the Markgräfliches Opernhaus in Bayreuth, Opera Cologne and the Royal Opera Canada in Toronto, where he could be heard as Tamino in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. He has also performed the roles of Erik and Steuermann in Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer with the Tiroler Festspiele Erl, as well as David in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg under the baton of Gustav Kuhn.
On the concert stage, Andreas Schager has been featured in performances in the Franz Liszt Hall in Budapest, the Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He recently performed Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde at the Gustav Mahler Musikwochen Toblach and the tenor part in Beethoven’s Symphony Nr. 9 in Bolzano and Salzburg. He has given numerous recitals with Jörg Demus and Walter Moore, amongst others. Future engagements include his debut with Canadian Opera Company.