Werner Güra

Werner Güra © Marco Borggreve

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The Munich-born tenor Werner Güra completed his studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, before continuing his vocal training with Prof Kurt Widmer in Basel, Prof Margreet Honig in Amsterdam and Prof Wessela Zlateva in Vienna.

After operatic guest appearances in Frankfurt and Basel, he became a member of the ensemble at the Semperoper in Dresden in 1995, where he sang the major roles of his fach, particularly in Mozart and Rossini. He sang at the Berlin State Opera under the direction of Daniel Barenboim and appeared as a guest in new productions of Die Zauberflöte at the Opéra national de Paris and La Monnaie in Brussels. He sang Ferrando (Così fan tutte) at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa and interpreted the role of Don Ottavio at the 2006 Innsbruck Festival of Early Music and the Baden-Baden Festival under the direction of René Jacobs. In 2014, he enjoyed great success in the new Zurich production (Willy Decker) of Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in patria.

As a concert and oratorio singer, Werner Güra performs on Europe’s most prominent concert stages in and has worked with orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Wiener Symphoniker, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, the German (BR, SWR, HR, NDR) and Dutch radio orchestras as well as BBC Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre National de France, under conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Michel Corboz, Sir Colin Davis, Adam Fischer, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Bernard Haitink, Leopold Hager, Daniel Harding, Thomas Hengelbrock, Pablo Heras-Casado, René Jacobs, Marek Janowski, Philippe Jordan, Ton Koopman, Fabio Luisi, Kurt Masur, Ingo Metzmacher, Riccardo Muti, John Nelson, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sir Roger Norrington, Trevor Pinnock, George Prêtre, Peter Schreier, Thomas Zehetmair. Werner Güra also enjoyed a close working relationship with Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

Highlights of recent years include concerts with Mendelssohn's ‘Lobgesang’ Symphony with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir John Eliot Gardiner in Berlin and under Andris Nelsons at the Gewandhaus Leipzig. At the Vienna Musikverein, Werner Güra performed Handel's Messiah with the Lautten Compagney Berlin and appeared with the Concentus Musicus under the direction of Stefan Gottfried in Schubert's Mass in A flat major and Mozart's Mass in C minor. He took on the role of the Narrator in Schumann's Paradise and the Peri at the Musiktheater an der Wien. He has also appeared with Andris Nelsons at the Gewandhaus Leipzig in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, with Bach's St John Passion at the Queen Elisabethzaal in Antwerp and the Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, and with Bach's St Matthew Passion under the direction of Enrico Onofri at the Philharmonie de Paris.

In the 2025-2026 season, Werner Güra will once again perform as the Evangelist in Bach's St Matthew Passion at Santory Hall in Tokyo. Other highlights include Mozart's Requiem with Le Cercle de l'Harmonie at the Philharmonie de Paris and a concert of selected Bach cantatas with Concentus Musicus at the Vienna Musikverein followed by Mendelssohn's Paulus at the Tonhalle Zurich. He will also take on the tenor role in Mendelssohn's ‘Lobgesang’ Symphony with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra in Pamplona and in Mendelssohn's ‘Die erste Walpurgisnacht’ with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under the direction of Andris Nelsons and in Bach's B minor Mass with Laurence Equilbey in Paris, Budapest, Toulouse and Amsterdam.

Werner Güra is especially recognised internationally as a Lied interpreter with appearances at London's Wigmore Hall, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Vienna Musikverein, the Cologne Philharmonie, Gulbenkian Lisbon, Lucerne Festival, Lincoln Center New York, at the Schubertiades in Schwarzenberg and in Barcelona.

Around 50 recordings document the artist's versatility. In September 2000, Harmonia Mundi released his first solo CD with Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin (accompanist Jan Schultsz), which was followed by Schumann: Dichterliebe, Liederkreis op. 39 and Hugo Wolf: Mörike Lieder. With pianist Christoph Berner he released Schubert's Schwanengesang, Mozart Lieder and Schubert's Winterreise. Together with fellow singers, he recorded Brahms Liebesliederwalzer and Schumann's Spanische Liebeslieder as well as a selection of Schubert songs. All these CDs have been very well received by both the public and critics and garnered numerous prizes. In spring 2021, Hugo Wolf's "Italian Songbook" was released together with Anke Vondung and Christoph Berner.

Werner Güra has been a professor at the Zurich University of the Arts since 2009.

2025 | 2026

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DISCOGRAPHY

Johann Sebastian Bach: Johannes-Passion BWV 245
Werner Güra, Sophie Gallagher, Aleksandra Lewandowska, Alex Potter, Maximilian Vogler, Drew Santini
Gli Angeli Geneve
Stephan MacLeod
Conductor: Stephan MacLeod
Label: Claves | 2023

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WERNER GÜRA sings "Das Paradies und die Peri" at the Theater an der Wien

WERNER GÜRA looks forward to fascinating concert projects

WERNER GÜRA performs in Barcelona, Cologne and Geneva