The austrian singer Günther Groissböck was born in 1976 and is today one of the most interesting Basses of the young generation. He completed his music studies at the Academy for music and performing arts in Vienna where he had been taking part in Robert Holl’s master class. Since 2005 he works regularly with José van Dam.

Günther Groissböck professional career began already during his studies. In 2001 he was awarded first prize in the austrian national competition „Gradus ad Parnassum“, followed by his first engagement as „Pluto“ (Euridice by Jacopo Peri) at the Kammeroper Vienna. As a fellow of the Herbert von Karajan Centre, Günther Groissböck has been a member of the ensemble of the
Vienna State Opera in the season 2002/03 where he appeared as „Don Fernando“ (Fidelio), „Geharnischter“ (Die Zauberflöte) and other roles.

He first sang „Sarastro“ (Die Zauberflöte), one of the central roles of his repertoire, at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt in 2002 and since then most successfully at the Zurich Operahouse, Deutsche Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, at the Salzburg Festival 2005, Wiener Festwochen, Festival d`Aix en Provence, Grand Theatre de Luxembourg, Teatro Regio Torino and Wiener Volksoper. In the future he will sing this role again at the Oper Köln in 2008, at the Los Angeles Opera and Bayerische Staatsoper Munich in 2009, at the Wiener Staatsoper in 2010 and 2012 at the Chicago Lyric Opera.

In 2003 Günther Groissböck joined the ensemble of the Zurich Operahouse for four years where, apart from „Sarastro“ (Die Zauberflöte), he performed „Don Fernando“ (Fidelio), „Sparafucile“ (Rigoletto), „Il Re“ (Aida), Jorg“ (Stiffelio), „Carlo V“ (Don Carlo), „Nachtwächter“ (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), „Titurel“ (Parsifal), „Publio“ (La Clemenza di Tito), „Zoroastro“ (Orlando) and „Böser Geist/Mephisto/Pater Profundus“ (Szenen aus Goethes Faust).

He was also guest in other roles at various Operahouses and Festivals, including „Landgraf“ and „Commendatore“ at the Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, „Fafner“ (Das Rheingold) at the Théâtre du Châtelet Paris and at the San Francisco Opera, “Zoroastro” (Orlando) and “Fürst Gremin” (Eugen Onegin) at the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, “Colline” (La Bohème) at the Washington National Opera and “The Hermit” (Der Freischütz) at the Salzburg Festival 2007.

Future important debuts will include roles such as „Wassermann“ (Rusalka) at the Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, “Alidoro” (Cenerentola) at the New National Theatre Tokyo, “König Heinrich” (Lohengrin) at the Houston Grand Opera, “Hunding” (Die Walküre) at the Opéra National de Paris (Bastille), „Daland“ at the Atlanta Opera and “Banquo” (Macbeth) at the Metropolitan Opera New York.

Among the several engagements of the next years he will also appear 2009 as „Landgraf“ at the Teatro Real Madrid, 2010 as “Fafner” at the Bastille in Paris, as “König Heinrich” 2010 at the Bayerische Staatsoper München. In the same season he will make his first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera New York in the role of “Colline” (La Bohème) and 2011 he will give his debut at the Bayreuth Festival.

Günther Groissböck is also a versatile and successful concert singer performing, among others, already at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Gewandhaus Leipzig, the Philharmonie Berlin, at the Royal Festival Hall London, the Boston Symphony Hall and the Wiener Musikverein.

Franz Welser-Möst, Riccardo Chailly, Donald Runnicles, Zubin Mehta, Bernard Haitink, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Riccardo Muti, Valery Gergiev, Seji Ozawa, Kent Nagano, Sir Roger Norrington, William Christie, Philippe Jordan, Sebastian Weigle, Ingo Metzmacher, Fabio Luisi, Nello Santi, Christoph Eschenbach, Ivor Bolton and Peter Schneider are among some of the world’s leading conductors with whom Günther Groissböck has already appeared in opera and concerts.

~ Back to Top ~