Whether at his celebrated Wozzeck at The Scala, Rihms Lenz in Brussels or his interpretations of the Bach cantatas with Luca Pianca, Georg Nigl consistently inspires audiences and press with his passionate, authentic performances. His profound, comprehensive engagement with the musical work, his close connection with spoken theater with its accompanying emphasis on text and rhetoric, and his expressive stage acting have made Georg Nigl into one of the most celebrated baritones worldwide.

Georg Nigl’s close connection to music began in childhood. He performed on important stages as a soprano soloist with the Wiener Sängerknaben. His studies with the Kammersängerin Hilde Zadek gave him further important inspiration for his forthcoming career.

Due to his talent for giving roles individual character through his voice and expression, he has performed at all the important opera houses. He has appeared at the Bolshoi Theater Moscow, the Staatsoper Berlin, the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam and the Théatre de La Monnaie in Brussels as well as at festivals such as the Salzburger Festspiele, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, the Ruhrtriennale and the Wiener Festwochen. He has collaborated with renowned conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Teodor Currentzis, Valery Gergiev, Daniel Harding, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, René Jacobs, Kent Nagano and Kirill Petrenko and with directors such as Andrea Breth, Romeo Castellucci, Frank Castorf, Hans Neuenfels, Johan  Simons, Dmitri Tcherniakov, and Sasha Waltz.

Georg Nigl has won special recognition not only by performing numerous world premieres, but also by serving as an inspiration for or taking part in initiating the creation of compositions and publications by artists such as Friedrich Cerha, Pascal Dusapin, Georg Friedrich Haas, Wolfgang Mitterer, Olga Neuwirth and Wolfgang Rihm.

Georg Nigl’s chamber music repertoire covers a broad spectrum from baroque to Viennese classicism to contemporary music. He frequently performs with Alexander Melnikov, Andreas Staier and Gérard Wyss. His newest recording Bach privat has been awarded a Diapason d’or in November 2017.

Highlights of the last two seasons included Papageno and the title role in the world premiere of Dusapin’s Macbeth Underworld at the Théatre de la Monnaie in Brussels, the title part in Monteverdi’s Orfeo and the world premire of Beat Furrer’s Violetter Schnee at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, the title role in Trojahn’s Orest at the Wiener Staatsoper as well as the titele role in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at the Hamburgische Staatsoper, a tremendous success with Lenz as well as Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte (Tcherniakov / Hengelbrock) at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, and his acclaimed interpretation of Pilate in St. John Passion under Sir Simon Rattle in the legendary staging of Peter Sellars with the Berlin Philharmonic and on tour with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

His 2020/21 season begins with „Molto agitato“ (Nagano / Castorf) at the season opening of the Hamburg State Opera followed by Orfeo and Frau ohne Schatten at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus at the Wiener Staatsoper, Dusapin’s
Penthesilea with the Orchestre de Paris as well as concerts at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Elbphilharmonie, as well as in Paris, Munich, Vienna and Cologne. His season will end with a new production of Reimann’s Lear at the Bayerischen Staatsoper in Munich. For his interpretation of Wolfgang Rihm’s Lenz Georg Nigl has been awarded the "Singer of the Year 2015“ award by the magazine Opernwelt.

2020 | 2021

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