Günther Groissböck

Günther Groissböck enchants on the opera and concert stages around the world – with the unique noble sound of his voice and virtually breath-taking verve of performance, he awakens his characters, and makes each song cycle authentically come alive. After his studies at the University for Music and the Performing Arts in Vienna with Robert Holl and José van Dam, the Austrian bass was a member of the ensemble at the Vienna State Opera during the 2002/03 season, and at the Zurich Opera from 2003 to 2007. In 2002 he made his debut at the Salzburg Festival, where – in 2014 – he celebrated his much acclaimed role debut as Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier directed by Harry Kupfer. In 2011 he made his debut at La Scala in Milan, as well as - as Landgraf Hermann (Tannhäuser) – at the Bayreuth Festival where he has been a regular guest ever since, singing roles including Gurnemanz (Parsifal), Fasolt (Rheingold) and Pogner in the renowned Meistersinger production by Barrie Kosky and Philippe Jordan. As one of the most sought singers of his fach, celebrated by audience and media alike, Günther Groissböck guests at the leading opera houses of the world. He has a particular close connection to the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, as well as the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where – since his debut in 2010 as Colline (La bohème) – he has performed roles including Ochs, Filippo II or Landgraf Hermann. Guestings bring him to opera houses including the Paris Opera, La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the National Opera in Amsterdam, as well as the Deutsche Oper, and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, where he created a furore as Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier in February 2020 in the new production by André Heller and Zubin Mehta. His enthusiasm for art song reveals itself in his programs – created with love for detail and thorough knowledge of repertoire – which he performs in London, Salzburg, Munich or Vienna. Together with Malcolm Martineau he recorded his new album Nicht Wiedersehen! (awarded a Choc de Classica) with songs by Strauss, Mahler and Hans Rott, with Gerold Huber he recorded the double album Winterreise/ Schwanengesang as well as Herz-Tod with works by Brahms, Wagner, Wolf and Mahler, as well as an album with traditional Viennese Songs with the Philharmonia Schrammeln. Günther Groissböck feels at home in the symphonic repertoire as well – from Haydn's Creation to Shostakovitch's Symphony No. 13 Babi Jar – he invariably impresses through musical expression, stylistic command, and a particularly clear articulation. Concerts bring him to halls including the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, to the philharmonic halls in Munich and Berlin, the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, to Carnegie Hall as well as Boston Symphony Hall. A close collaboration connects him with conductors like Philippe Jordan, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Zubin Mehta, Andris Nelsons, Sir Antonio Pappano, Kirill Petrenko, Sir Simon Rattle and Christian Thielemann. Among his recent DVD releases are Der Rosenkavalier (Salzburg, 2015; The Metropolitan Opera, 2017, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, 2021) as well as Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Philippe Jordan and the Orchestra of the Paris Opera, further recordings include Das Rheingold, Lohengrin and Fidelio with Marek Janowski, Mahler's Symphony No. 8 and Anton Bruckner's Mass No. 3. With his much-noticed debut as a stage director in 2021 at the Theater an der Wien with Tristan Experiment (Austrian Music Theater Award 2022), Günther Groissböck took on an exciting new challenge which he successfully explored further in his celebrated new production of Verdi’s Don Carlo at Oper Klosterneuburg in the summer of 2023. Further plans include song recitals at the Vienna Musikverein, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Theatre de La Monnaie in Brussels, and at the Hamburg Elbphiharmonie; König Marke (Tristan), Gurnemanz (Parsifal), Pogner (Meistersinger) and Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte) at the Wiener Staatsoper, Ochs (Rosenkavalier) and König Heinrich (Lohengrin) at the Berlin Staatsoper, Gurnemanz (Parsifal) and König Marke (Tristan) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. His acclaimed role debut as Boris Ismailov (Lady Macbeth von Mzensk) at the Wiener Staatsoper will be followed by concert performances in Boston and at Carnegie Hall in New York with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Andris Nelsons. His new Lied album Männerliebe und -leben with Malcom Martineau including songs and cycles by Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms, will be released in the spring of 2024 by Gramola / Naxos international.