Wolfgang Stefan Schwaiger

The baritone was born in Innsbruck and began his musical education (recorder, trumpet, piano) as a child. From 1998, he performed as an alto soloist with the Wilten Boys' Choir and gained his first stage experience at the Tyrolean State Theatre in “Turandot”, “Carmen”, “A Midsummer Night's Dream” and “Gypsy” as well as the Third Boy in Mozart's “The Magic Flute” in Bolzano, Rovigo and Trento. In 2019, the young baritone completed his master's degree in song and oratorio at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He has successfully participated in numerous competitions, including the Kärntner Sparkasse competition for operetta and German play opera, the Brahms competition in Pörtschach, the federal competition ‘Gradus ad parnassum’ and the Margaretha Schenk Förderpreis of the Mozartgemeinde Vienna.
During his studies, Schwaiger gained further stage experience: in 2012 he made his debut as Conte di Almaviva in Mozart's ‘Le nozze di Figaro’ at the Schönbrunn Palace Theatre and in 2013 as Frank and Falke in Strauß' “Die Fledermaus”. In 2014, he celebrated a great success there in the title role of Mozart's “Don Giovanni”. From 2014 to 2016, Wolfgang Stefan Schwaiger was a member of the opera studio at Cologne Opera. In his very first season, he took on the role of Papageno in the new production of ‘The Magic Flute’ at the Opera am Dom, Cologne's interim venue at the time. Other roles during this phase included, among others, Count Dominik in ‘Arabella’ and The Emperor of China in Stravinsky's ‘The Nightingale’ (children's opera). In 2017.18 he made his debut at the Hannover State Opera as Maximilian in Bernstein's ‘Candide’ and in 2018.19 at the Teatro Real in Madrid as Giove in ‘La Calisto’ under the direction of Ivor Bolton. In 2016, he transferred from the Opera Studio at Cologne Opera to the permanent ensemble at Cologne Opera, where his roles have included Hans Scholl in Udo Zimmermann's ‘Weiße Rose’, Lescaut in Massenet's ‘Manon’, Mary in Bernd Alois Zimmermann's ‘Die Soldaten’, Junius in Britten's ‘The Rape of Lucretia’, Moralès in ‘Carmen’, Ned Keene in Peter Grimes, Valentin in Gounod's Faust, the double role of Frank/Fritz in the livestream of Korngold's Die tote Stadt, Wiedehopf in Die Vögel, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Der Heger in Rusalka, and Figaro in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia. In 2021, he took on the role of Taddeo in ‘L'Italiana in Algeri’ at the Tiroler Landestheater Innsbruck. His most recent roles in Cologne include Dandini in ‘La Cenerentola’, Guglielmo in ‘Così fan tutte’, Belcore in ‘L'elisir d'amore’, and Silvano in ‘Un ballo in maschera’. In a staged version of Zimmermann's ‘Die Soldaten’ for the Kölner Philharmonie, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and the Philharmonie de Paris, he sang the role of Mary again. At Opera Vlaanderen in Antwerp, he was a guest in 2023 as Dr Falke in ‘Die Fledermaus’ and in 2024 as Thoas in Gluck's ‘Iphigénie en Tauride’. For 2024.25, Masetto in ‘Don Giovanni’, Count Geza in ‘A Woman of Format’, Schaunard in ‘La Bohème’, as well as the donkey in the children's opera ‘The Bremen Town Musicians’ and Papageno in the ‘Magic Flute for Young and Old’ are on the programme.