Michael Volle is one of the foremost German baritones. He has been a student of the distinguished singers Josef Metternich and Rudolf Piernay and has won various singing competitions, including the CIEM in Geneva and the Neue Stimmen in Gütersloh. His first permanent engagements were at the National Theater in Mannheim and in Bonn and Cologne. From 1999 to 2007, Michael Volle was a regular member of the Zurich Opera House were he has since then interpreted such important roles as Beckmesser in the new production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (leading team: Welser-Möst/ Lehnhoff), Eugen Onegin (under Vladimir Fedoseyev), Golaud/Pelléas et Mélisande, Marcello/La Bohème, Count/Le Nozze di Figaro. In 2009, he will make his role debut as Barak in a new production of Die Frau ohne Schatten, also at the Zurich Opera House. Michael Volle will join the ensemble of the Munich State Opera starting with the 2007-2008 season, singing the title roles in Eugen Onegin and Wozzeck (both new productions) and further roles, such as Count/Le Nozze di Figaro, Kurwenal, Amfortas, Morone, Wolfram, and Amonasro. Guest performances at important international opera houses include: the Royal Opera House in London (2008: Salome/Jochanaan, 2009: Lulu/Dr. Schön and Jack the Ripper, Tristan und Isolde/Kurwenal), Opéra National de Paris, Théâtre de la Monnaie Brussels, and the Vienna State Opera where he has sung Le Nozze di Figaro/Count and the title role in Don Giovanni under Seiji Ozawa, and the Berlin, Dresden, and Hamburg State Operas. Mr. Volle is a regular performer at the leading festivals; he interpreted the role of Tamare with enormous success in the new production of Die Gezeichneten (leading team: Nagano/Lehnhoff), Salzburg Festival 2005.
Bayreuth Festival 2007: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg/Beckmesser (production by Katharina Wagner). Michael Volle also dedicates a great part of his career to lieder recitals and concerts with leading orchestras and renowned conductors, such as Zubin Mehta, Maurizio Pollini, Seiji Ozawa, Charles Dutoit, Riccardo Muti, Franz Welser-Möst, Antonio Pappano, Lawrence Foster, Mstislav Rostropovich, Kent Nagano, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Thomas Hengelbrock, Marek Janowski, Mariss Jansons, Philippe Herreweghe, James Conlon, and James Levine.
Television appearances/ARTE, CD and DVD recordings with the labels EMI, HARMONIA MUNDI, ARTHAUS, NAXOS, and PHILIPS.
