Martin Koch

Martin Koch has been an ensemble member of Oper Köln for many years, prior to which he was an ensemble member of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf. Guest engagements have taken him to the Bregenz Festival, Komische Oper Berlin, Oper Bonn, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Staatstheater Wiesbaden and the Semperoper, Dresden.

In summer 2012 he successfully debuted at the Bregenz Festival as Snaut in the world premiere of Detlev Glanert's "Solaris". He also performed this demanding role at Oper Köln in the 2014.15 season. In 2013 and 2014 Koch returned to the stage as Monostatos and 1st Armed Man for the new production of “Die Zauberflöte” at Bregenz Festival.

He had a particular success in 2014 at the Komische Oper Berlin with his role debut as Desportes in Bernd Alois Zimmermann's "Die Soldaten" (director: Calixto Bieito). He also performed role at the Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden in 2016 and at the Teatro Real Madrid in spring 2018. He made his house debut at the Semperoper Dresden as Robert Hot in "Hot" by Friedrich Goldmann.

Martin Koch is internationally active as a concert singer and has many diverse recordings with a repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Mauricio Kagel. In addition, he has a wide operetta repertoire and is frequently invited to sing in operetta gala concerts.

At Oper Köln he has appeared as Fatty in "The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny", Count Boni in "Die Csárdásfürstin", Andres in "Wozzeck", Tanzmeister in "Ariadne auf Naxos" and David in "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg". He was also successful as Mime in "Das Rheingold" and "Siegfried" during Oper Köln’s guest performance in Shanghai in 2010. Since the 2016.17 season, Martin Koch has performed the roles of Dr. Cajus in Verdi's "Falstaff", Count Stanislaus in the operetta "Der Vogelhändler", Jaquino in "Fidelio", several roles in Leonard Bernstein's "Candide" and in Johannes Maria Staud's "Die Antilope", Tenor Soloist in "Das Lied der Frauen vom Fluss", Guidobaldo Usodimare in Schreker's "Die Gezeichneten" and Pong in "Turandot” at Oper Köln.

In June 2017 he scored outstanding success as Adam Schaf in Georg Kreisler's "Adam Schaf hat Angst" at the outdoor venue on Offenbachplatz. His most recent roles in Cologne include Dr. Blind ("Die Fledermaus"), Harlequin ("Der Kaiser von Atlantis"), Desportes ("Die Soldaten"), Dr. Cajus ("Falstaff"), Zahlkellner Leopold Brandmeyer ("Im weißen Rössl"), Lippo Fiorentino ("Street Scene"), in the title role in "Siegfried für Jung und Alt", Eunuch Kaliboul in "Barkouf ou un chien au pouvoir" and as Priest / Narrator in Michael Hampe's new Mozart production of "Die Zauberflöte".

When Oper Köln had to close in spring 2020 due to the corona pandemic, the artistic 'all-rounder' – together with Rainer Mühlbach – presented the chamber music programme "Mit Kreisler im Nachtzug von Wien nach Milano" (“With Kreisler on the Night Train from Vienna to Milan”) several times at the StaatenHaus. In addition, his solo performance in the short film "Solo Turandot – Opera in Isolation" (director: Eike Ecker; editor: Anna-Lu Masch) received particular recognition on the internet.

In the 2021.22 season Martin Koch appeared as Besdomny / Levi Matthäus in York Höller's "Der Meister und Margarita", 1st Vagabond in "Die Kluge" and as Siegfried in "Der Ring für Jung und Alt" on stage.