Horst Lamnek – bass-baritone
The Viennese bass-baritone Horst Lamnek studied singing at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, graduating with distinction. His teachers included, among others, Charles Spencer, Brigitte Fassbaender, Horst Günter, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Nicolai Gedda, Wicus Slabbert, and David Jones. Horst Lamnek is a laureate of national and international competitions, a scholarship holder of the Richard Wagner Foundation, and recipient of the Recognition Award from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Culture.
His career began at the International Opera Studio Zurich, and he was an ensemble member at Ulm Theatre and the Komische Oper Berlin. He has also performed at opera houses in Bonn, Essen, Wiesbaden, Leipzig, Chemnitz, the New Music Theatre Linz, Theater an der Wien, Opéra-Théâtre de Metz Métropole, Opéra Grand Avignon, Teatro alla Scala Milano, Teatro Verdi Trieste, Teatro Petruzzelli Bari, Teatro Regio Turin, New National Theatre Tokyo, and many more.
The bass-baritone has appeared at numerous festivals, including the Grafenegg Music Festival, Mörbisch Lake Festival, Tyrolean Festival Erl, Klosterneuburg Opera, St. Margarethen Opera Festival, Daegu Opera Festival (South Korea), Auckland Festival (New Zealand), Adelaide and Perth Festivals (Australia), and the Festival de Pâques (Aix-en-Provence).
Opera & Operetta
His wide-ranging repertoire spans from early music to the operas of Mozart (Figaro, Bartolo and Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro, Leporello in Don Giovanni, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte), Rossini (Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola, Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia), Puccini (La Bohème, Sacristan in Tosca), and Verdi (Monterone in Rigoletto), to Prokofiev (Leander in The Love for Three Oranges), contemporary opera and world premieres (including Neuwirth’s American Lulu, Jost’s Mikropolis, Aichinger’s Totenschiff), as well as operetta (Frank in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, Baron Weps in Zeller’s Der Vogelhändler, among others). His repertoire also includes more dramatic roles such as La Roche in Richard Strauss’ Capriccio or Klingsor in Wagner’s Parsifal.
Horst Lamnek has collaborated with directors including Damiano Michieletto, Andreas Homoki, Lutz Hochstraate, Reto Nickler, Nadja Loschky, Renzo Giacchieri, Daniel Benoin, Sven-Eric Bechtolf, and Robert Dornhelm, as well as conductors such as Alfred Eschwé, Michael Gielen, Henrik Nánási, Gerrit Prießnitz, Felix Bender, Johannes Klitzke, Stefan Soltesz, Stefan Blunier, Dirk Kaftan, Michael Güttler, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Giovanni Antonini, Peter Schneider, Ulf Schirmer, Franz Welser-Möst, Gianandrea Noseda, Hartmut Haenchen, Christopher Franklin, and Axel Kober.
Lieder & Oratorio
In the concert field, Horst Lamnek’s repertoire ranges from Bach’s Passions to the great Romantic oratorios and world premieres. He has performed with the Vienna Symphony, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, the Wiener Akademie, and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, in venues including the Berlin Philharmonie (Mass in B Minor), Bremen Glocke (Magnificat), Megaron in Athens (Les Noces), Vienna Konzerthaus (St. John Passion), and Madrid Auditorio Nacional (Elijah, St. Matthew Passion). On the Lied stage, he has performed in Switzerland, Slovenia, Germany, and Austria, accompanied by artists such as Charles Spencer, Gerold Huber, Andreas Fröschl, and Deirdre Brenner. His CD Der heitere Wolf (Coviello Classics) documents his deep engagement with the songs of Hugo Wolf.
Recent Highlights
Recent seasons included engagements at La Scala in Milan and Teatro Petruzzelli in Italy as the Fifth Jew in Salome, as Baron Mirko Zeta in The Merry Widow at the Classionata Music Festival in Solothurn (Switzerland), at Theater Biel Solothurn in Paul Burkhard’s opera Casanova, at the opera houses in Rennes and Avignon (France) as Prison Director Frank in Die Fledermaus, as King in Aida at the New Music Theatre Linz, and as Bill in Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny in Reggio Emilia (Italy).
Most recently, Horst Lamnek appeared as Feri Baci in Die Csárdásfürstin and as Sacristan in Tosca. He also gave song recitals at Liederherbst Vienna and the Serenaden Niederösterreich, followed by participation in a world premiere as part of Wien Modern (Abendsonne by Tomasz Skweres).
In the upcoming season, Horst Lamnek will return to the New National Theatre Tokyo for Die Fledermaus and will also appear at the Palau de les Arts Valencia in Salome.