Vita

German baritone Thomas Johannes Mayer has for many years been recognized as one of the leading interpreters of the German and Italian repertoire. Recent engagements have included Hans Sachs (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) at the New National Theatre Tokyo and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Telramund (Lohengrin) at Dutch National Opera, the Vienna State Opera, and the Bayreuth Festival, Amfortas (Parsifal) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Vienna State Opera, and Wotan/Wanderer (Der Ring des Nibelungen) at the Stuttgart State Opera, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, and Oper Leipzig. Further highlights include Kurwenal (Tristan und Isolde) at Teatro Real Madrid, Sharpless (Madama Butterfly) at the Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, the title role in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer at the Bayreuth Festival and in Hamburg, as well as performances as Scarpia (Tosca) at Zurich Opera and the Stuttgart State Opera, Jochanaan (Salome) at the Bolshoi Theatre Moscow, and Don Pizarro (Fidelio) in Copenhagen.

His international career was launched at La Scala Milan in the title role of Berg’s Wozzeck (directed by Jürgen Flimm), followed by Posa in a new production of Don Carlo. Since then, he has appeared at many of the world’s most prestigious houses, including the Bavarian State Opera Munich, Opéra National de Paris, Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburg State Opera, Zurich Opera House, Cologne Opera, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, New National Theatre Tokyo, and Palau de les Arts Valencia, as well as at major festivals such as the Bayreuth Festival, Salzburg Festival, and Bregenz Festival. On the concert stage, he has collaborated with ensembles such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Odense Symphony Orchestra.

At the core of his repertoire are the great Wagner and Strauss roles – among them Barak (Die Frau ohne Schatten), Mandryka (Arabella), Amfortas (Parsifal), Telramund (Lohengrin), Jochanaan (Salome), Wotan/Wanderer (Der Ring des Nibelungen), and the Dutchman (Der fliegende Holländer). His versatility also extends to roles such as Moses in Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron, Thoas in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride, Mizguir in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden, the Water Sprite in Dvořák’s Rusalka, and the title role in Trojahn’s Orest.

He has worked with many of the world’s leading conductors, including Daniel Barenboim, Semyon Bychkov, Daniele Gatti, Philippe Jordan, Vladimir Jurowski, Zubin Mehta, Kent Nagano, Andris Nelsons, Sir Simon Rattle, Donald Runnicles, Christian Thielemann, and Simone Young.

Thomas Johannes Mayer studied voice at the Cologne University of Music with Liselotte Hammes and Kurt Moll, after completing degrees in history, German literature, music education, and philosophy. Following his first engagements in Regensburg and Darmstadt, he gained recognition at Theater Basel as Don Giovanni and as Achilles in Schoeck’s Penthesilea. He subsequently became a member of the Hamburg State Opera before embarking on his international freelance career.

2025-08-11

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