David Wakeham

The British-based baritone David Wakeham has established an international reputation, with critically acclaimed performances at La Scala Milano, Teatro Massimo Palermo, Theater an der Wien, the Komische Oper Berlin, Oper Leipzig, the Bayerische Staatsoper München, the Staatsoper Stuttgart, and Opera Australia in major roles in the Czech, German and Italian repertoire.

From 1993, David Wakeham was a member of the Zürich Opernstudio, making his debut at the Opernhaus Zürich in secondary roles in Fedora, Rigoletto, Macbeth and Don Carlo under conductors such as Santi, Franci, Honeck and Fischer.

Amongst David Wakeham’s most notable engagements are: Falstaff, Macbeth and Rigoletto for the Komische Oper Berlin; Il Conte di Luna (Il Trovatore) and Jochanaan (Salome) at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf; Germont Pere (La Traviata) and Genoveva at Oper Leipzig; Der Vater (Hänsel und Gretel) at the Bayerische Staatsoper München; Jochanaan (Salome) at the Staatsoper Stuttgart; Alfio and Tonio (Cavalleria Rusticana and Il Pagliacci), Der Graf (Capriccio) and Rodrigo (Don Carlo) at Opera de Nantes; Nabucco in Bern, Western Australia Opera Company; Zurga (Les Pecheurs de Perles) at Opera Queensland; and Germont Pere (La Traviata) at Opera Australia. He has performed the role of Kurwenal (Tristan and Isolde) many times both in concert and on the opera stage in Halle Germany, Queensland Music Festival and Western Australia Opera.

At the invitation of Lothar Zagrosek, David Wakeham sang performances of Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony, in Brussels, Antwerp and Stuttgart. The final performance was broadcast live and recorded by DeutschlandRadio, Berlin. As a result of these concerts, Maestro Zagrosek invited David Wakeham to sing Jochanaan on tour at the Canary Islands Music Festival.

In 2010, he sang the Australian premiere of Ich Wandte mich und sah an alles Unrecht.., by Bernd Alois Zimmermann, coupled with Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Johannes Fritzsch. This continues his concert repertoire which includes Bach’s Magnificat and St. Matthew Passion, Messiah, Brahms Reqiuem, (Cairo), In Terra Pax by Finzi and Orff’s Carmina Burana.

In June 2003, David Wakeham made his debut at La Scala Milan, in the role of Harasta (Forrester) in The Cunning Little Vixen. This was the first performance of a Czech opera in the original language ever mounted in Milan. It was broadcast nationally and recorded live.

David Wakeham performed the role of The Old Doctor (Vanessa) in May 2006 at Theatro Massimo, Palermo. This was the first occasion this opera had been performed in Italy for 35 years.

David Wakeham has worked with many renowned conductors and directors, including: Sir Andrew Davis and David Poutney (Cunning Little Vixen, La Scala), Mikhail Jurowski, Vladimir Jurowski, Daniel Lipton, Carlo Felice Cillario, Mark Elder, Kyrill Petrenko, Gabriele Ferro, Francesco Corti, and Yakov Kreizberg; Achim Freier, Christine Mielitz, Andreas Homoki, Pet Halmen, and Grisha Asagaroff.