Wolfgang Stefan Schwaiger

Born in

Innsbruck/Austria

Education

• University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna (K.-H. Hanser, F. Boesch)
• Opera Studio Cologne
• Opera Studio Bregenz Festival

Engagements

• Oper Köln
• Teatro Real Madrid
• Vlaamse Opera
• Bregenz Festival
• Staatstheater Darmstadt
• Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck
• Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe
• Staatstheater Hannover
• Oper Graz
• Konzerthaus Vienna

Important Roles

• Il barbiere di SivigliaFigaro
• La CenerentolaDandini
• Le nozze di FigaroConte Almaviva
• Don GiovanniDon Giovanni
• Così fan tutteGuglielmo
• The BatFalke
• The Magic FlutePapageno
• ManonLescaut
• Weiße RoseHans
• L'elisir d'amoreBelcore
• La CalistoGiove
• The Dead CityFrank/Fritz
• FaustValentin

Website

The Tyrolean baritone Wolfgang Stefan Schwaiger has been a member of the ensemble of Oper Köln since 2016, where he has sung roles such as Lescaut in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Dandini in La Cenerentola, Ned Keene in Peter Grimes, and Figaro in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia.

An invitation to sing the title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in the current season follows a series of successful guest appearances at the same house: in 2024/25 as Thaos in Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride in a production by Rafael Villalobos conducted by Benjamin Bayl, as Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus under Alexander Joel, and in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem. At the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Wolfgang Stefan Schwaiger appeared as the Gamekeeper in Dvořák’s Rusalka and as Schaunard in Puccini’s La Bohème.

In the 2021/22 season, he also appeared as Taddeo in L’italiana in Algeri at the Tiroler Landestheater. In addition, he regularly performs song recitals, including Die schöne Müllerin with pianist Barbara Moser in Paris, as well as concerts featuring oratorios and orchestral songs.

In recent years, the young baritone has appeared as Giove in La Calisto at Teatro Real Madrid, as Maximilian in Bernstein’s Candide at the Staatsoper Hannover, as Marullo in Verdi’s Rigoletto, as Moralès in Bizet’s Carmen, with Ravel’s Don Quichotte songs at the Bregenz Festival, and as Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Staatstheater Darmstadt.

At Oper Köln, where Wolfgang Stefan Schwaiger was already a member of the Opera Studio from 2014 to 2016, he has built up a wide-ranging repertoire, including Lescaut in Massenet’s Manon, Valentin in Gounod’s Faust, Frank/Fritz in Korngold’s Die tote Stadt, Count Dominik in Richard Strauss’ Arabella, the title role in Purcell’s King Arthur (in a version for children), Freddy in My Fair Lady, Ping in Turandot, and Hans Scholl in Die Weiße Rose.

During his studies, the young singer already gained extensive stage experience: in 2011 he performed in a production of the Wiener Taschenoper and at the Oper Graz. From 2012 to 2014, he appeared at the Schlosstheater Schönbrunn as Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, as Frank and Falke in J. Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, and in the title role of Mozart’s Don Giovanni—a role with which he also attracted attention at the Opera Studio of the Bregenz Festival in the summer of 2016.

At an early age, Wolfgang Stefan Schwaiger won numerous competitions, including the Brahms Competition in Pörtschach, Gradus ad Parnassum (2011), and Musica Juventutis at the Wiener Konzerthaus. He was awarded second prize at the International Ferruccio Tagliavini Competition, was a finalist at the 1st Otto Edelmann Competition, and was named a Lauréat of the Festival Juventus in Cambrai, France (2013).

Born in Innsbruck in 1991, the young baritone received a diverse musical education as a child (recorder, trumpet, piano) and was a member of the Wiltener Sängerknaben, where he soon performed as an alto soloist. From 2010 to 2014, he studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (MDW) with Prof. Karlheinz Hanser; in 2019, he successfully completed his Master’s degree in Lied and Oratorio under Florian Boesch.

10/2025

Berlioz, Hector

• Benvenuto Cellini Pompeo

Bernstein, Leonard

• Candide Maximilian, Captain

Bizet, Georges

• Carmen Moralès

Blacher, Boris

• Romeo and Juliette Capulet

Britten, Benjamin

• Peter Grimes Ned Keene
• The Rape of Lucretia Junius

Cavalli, Francesco

• La Calisto Giove

Charpentier, Marc Antoine

• David et Jonathas Saul

Dallapiccola, Luigi

• Il prigionero 2nd Priest

Dean, Brett

• Hamlet Horatio

Donizetti, Gaetano

• L'elisir d'amore Belcore

Dvořák, Antonín

• Rusalka Gamekeeper

Goldschmiedt, Berthold

• Beatrice Cenci Marzio

Gounod, Charles

• Faust Valentin

Haendel, Georg Friedrich

• King Arthur König

Korngold, Erich Wolfgang

• The Dead City Fritz/Frank

Lehar, Franz

• The Merry Widow Bogdanowitsch

Loewe, Frederick

• My Fair Lady Freddy

Massenet, Jules

• Manon Lescaut

Montsalvatge, Xavier

• The booted Tomcat King

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

• The Magic Flute Papageno
• Le nozze di Figaro Conte Almaviva
• Don Giovanni Don Giovanni
• Così fan tutte Guglielmo
• La finta giardiniera Nardo

Naske, Elisabeth

• Little I am Me

Orff, Carl

• The Wise Girl Mule Owner

Puccini, Giacomo

• La Bohème Marcello, Schaunard
• Madama Butterfly Yakuside
• Turandot Ping

Rossini, Gioacchino

• Il barbiere di Siviglia Figaro
• La Cenerentola Dandini
• L'italiana in Algeri Taddeo

Soyka, Ulf-Dieter

• The little Ghost

Strauss, Johann

• The Bat Falke, Frank

Strauss, Richard

• Arabella Count Dominik

Stravinsky, Igor

• The Nightingale The Emperor

Verdi, Giuseppe

• Rigoletto Marullo
• Un ballo in maschera Silvano

Weber, Carl Maria von

• Der Freischütz Ottokar
• Oberon Scherasmin

Zeller, Carl

• The Bird Seller Schneck

Zimmermann, Bernd Alois

• The Soldiers Mary

Zimmermann, Udo

• White Rose Hans Scholl

Bach, Johann Sebastian

• Christmas Oratorio
• St. John's Passion
• Cantata "Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele", BWV 69

Beethoven, Ludwig van

• Christ on the Mount of Olives

Bernstein , Leonard

• Arias and Barcaroles

Brahms, Johannes

• Ein deutsches Requiem
• Lieder und Gesänge op. 32
• 4 Lieder op. 96

Einem, Gottfried von

• An die Nachgeborenen

Fauré, Gabriel

• Requiem

Orff, Carl

• Carmina Burana

Mahler, Gustav

• Rückert-Lieder

Ravel, Maurice

• Don Quichotte à Dulcinée

Schubert, Franz

• Die schöne Müllerin
• Die Winterreise

Schumann, Robert

• Paradies und die Peri
• Liederkreis op. 39
• Dichterliebe

Vaughan Williams, Ralph

• Songs of Travel

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