Georg Nigl © Katharina Grossow
Georg Nigl © Katharina Grossow
BARITONE | BASS

Georg Nigl

Representation: World

BIOGRAPHY

Georg Nigl is internationally acclaimed for the intensity, authenticity, and dramatic conviction of his performances. Whether as Wozzeck at La Scala, in the title role of Wolfgang Rihm's Jakob Lenz in Brussels and Berlin, or as Gabriel von Eisenstein in Strauss's Die Fledermaus at the Bavarian State Opera, he has consistently won praise from audiences and critics alike. His profound engagement with every work he performs, his close affinity with spoken theatre, and his exceptional sensitivity to language and rhetoric have established him as one of the most distinctive and celebrated baritones in the world.

Music has been central to Nigl's life from an early age. As a soprano soloist with the Vienna Boys' Choir, he appeared on many of the world's leading stages before continuing his studies with the legendary Kammersängerin Hilde Zadek, who provided important artistic guidance for his later career as a baritone.

His uniquely recognisable timbre and compelling stage presence have taken him to the world's foremost opera houses and festivals, including the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Berlin State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Dutch National Opera, and La Monnaie in Brussels, as well as the Salzburg Festival, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Ruhrtriennale, and Wiener Festwochen. He has collaborated with many of the leading conductors of our time, among them Daniel Barenboim, Teodor Currentzis, Valery Gergiev, Daniel Harding, Pablo Heras-Casado, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, René Jacobs, Vladimir Jurowski, Ingo Metzmacher, Kent Nagano, Kirill Petrenko, and Sir Simon Rattle, as well as directors including Andrea Breth, Romeo Castellucci, Frank Castorf, Barrie Kosky, Hans Neuenfels, Johan Simons, Dmitri Tcherniakov, and Sasha Waltz.

Alongside his operatic career, Nigl has earned particular recognition as a leading interpreter of contemporary music. He has appeared in numerous world premieres and has served as an important artistic collaborator and source of inspiration for composers including Friedrich Cerha, Pascal Dusapin, Georg Friedrich Haas, Wolfgang Mitterer, Olga Neuwirth, and Wolfgang Rihm.

His extensive recital repertoire ranges from the Baroque and Viennese Classical periods to contemporary music, developed in close collaboration with artists such as Alexander Melnikov, Luca Pianca, Olga Pashchenko, and Alexander Gergelyfi. His recording Vanitas, featuring Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte, songs by Schubert, and Wolfgang Rihm's Vermischter Traum, received the 2021 Annual Prize of the German Record Critics' Award. His 2023 album Echo, devoted to songs and ballads by Schubert, Loewe, Schumann, and Wolf, was widely acclaimed by the press. In 2025, Alpha Classics released Mozarts Clavichord, recorded with clavichordist Alexander Gergelyfi and featuring songs and arias by Mozart; in summer 2026, Alpha will release their recording of Schubert's Die Schöne Müllerin on period fortepiano.

Recent seasons have included the world premiere of Beat Furrer's Violetter Schnee at the Berlin State Opera and his widely acclaimed interpretation of Jakob Lenz, which he also performed in concert at the Salzburg Festival. At the Vienna State Opera, he has celebrated major successes as Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, the title role in Monteverdi's Orfeo, Ulisse in Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria, Nekrotzar in Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre, and Clov in Kurtág's Fin de partie. At the Bavarian State Opera, his roles have included the title role of Wozzeck, Mercurio in Cavalli's La Calisto, Gloucester in Reimann's Lear, and Gabriel von Eisenstein. Other notable appearances include Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Klingsor in Parsifal at the Tyrolean Festival Erl, and the world premiere of Olga Neuwirth's Monster's Paradise in Hamburg and Zurich. His first Alberich in Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen at the Vienna State Opera also attracted considerable attention.

Since 2023, Nigl has created one of the Salzburg Festival's most distinctive offerings with Nachtmusiken, a series of self-conceived serenade programmes developed together with clavichordist Alexander Gergelyfi and guest actors. Following its success in Salzburg, the project continues at Deutsche Oper Berlin in the 2026/27 season, with programmes featuring August Diehl, Nina Hoss, Alexander Gergelyfi, and Olga Pashchenko.

In summer 2026, Nigl returns to the Salzburg Festival in Pascal Dusapin's Passion and in the title role of Hans Werner Henze's Der Prinz von Homburg. During the 2026/27 season, he appears once again as Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Vienna State Opera and makes his role debut as Dr Schön/Jack the Ripper in Berg's Lulu. He also continues his successful collaboration with the Vienna State Opera's NEST programme, where he conceives and presents a new edition of the Opera Quiz and joins Nicholas Ofczarek, August Diehl, and Alexander Gergelyfi for the production Pathos³. At the Bavarian State Opera, he appears as Alberich in Tobias Kratzer's new production of Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen, returns as Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, and reprises the role of the Despot in Gordon Kampe's monodrama Die Kreide im Mund des Wolfs. He also returns to the Tyrolean Festival Erl as Klingsor in Parsifal.

Following the success of Die letzten Tage der Menschlichkeit? at the Vienna State Opera, Nigl and actor Nicholas Ofczarek bring the programme to the Klagenfurt Festival, Musikfest Bremen, Graz Opera, and the Brucknerhaus Linz.

Recent recital engagements have taken him to the Ludwigsburg Festival, Musikfest Bremen, Carinthischer Sommer, Cologne Philharmonie, the Berlin and Paris Philharmonies, and Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie, to which he returns in autumn 2026. In spring 2027, he joins Nicholas Ofczarek and Olga Pashchenko at the Vienna State Opera for a programme of fairy tales and ballads.

In Opernwelt magazine's annual critics' survey, Georg Nigl was named "Singer of the Year" in 2015 for his acclaimed interpretation of Wolfgang Rihm's Jakob Lenz.

2026 | 2027

This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorized by the artist’s management.

DISCOGRAPHY

Album Cover

Mozart's Clavichord
Wolfgang Amadé Mozart: arias, overtures, cantatas, Lieder, fantasias, rondos 
Georg Nigl, Baritone | Alexander Gergelyfi, Clavichord
Label: Alpha | July 2025

More on outhere-music.com

Album Cover

Echo
Songs and ballades by Franz Schubert,
Carl Loewe, Robert Schumann and Hugo Wolf
Georg Nigl, baritone | Olga Paschenko, piano
Label: Alpha | 2023

More on outhere-music.com

Album Cover

Vanitas
Franz Schubert: a selection of Lieder | Ludwig van Beethoven: An die ferne Geliebte op. 98
Wolfgang Rihm: Vermischter Traum (Gryphius-Stück)
Georg Nigl, baritone | Olga Paschenko, piano
Label: Alpha | 2020

More on outhere-music.com

Album Cover

Johann Strauß: Die Fledermaus
Diana Damrau, Georg Nigl, Katharina Konradi, Martin Winkler, Andrew Watts, Sean Panikkar, Markus Brück
Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper, Orchester der Bayerischen Staatsoper
Conductor: Vladimir Jurowski
Label: Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings | 2024

More on www.staatsoper.de

VIDEOS

CALENDAR

Pascal Dusapin: Passion - Opera with a libretto by Pascal Dusapin and Rita de Letteriis

Sarah Aristidou, Lei
Georg Nigl, Lui
Schola Heidelberg, Gli altri
Thierry Coduys, electronics

Ensemble Modern
Franck Ollu, conductor

FURTHER INFORMATION & TICKETS

Zum Leiden bin ich auserkoren — Mozarts Clavichord

Georg Nigl, baritone
Dörte Lyssewski, recitation
Alexander Gergelyfi, clavichord

Mozart's Nachtmusik will be performed on Wolfgang A. Mozart's original clavichord. The Salzburg Festival would like to thank the Mozarteum Foundation for the use of this unique instrument, which is normally on display in Mozart's birthplace.

FURTHER INFORMATION & TICKETS

To be or not to be — A Shakespeare evening

Georg Nigl, baritone
Dörte Lyssewski, recitation
Alexander Gergelyfi, tafelklavier

FURTHER INFORMATION & TICKETS

Im Sommer war das Gras so tief — A François-Villon-evening

Georg Nigl, baritone
Dörte Lyssewski, recitation
Alexander Gergelyfi, tafelklavier

FURTHER INFORMATION & TICKETS

Zum Leiden bin ich auserkoren — Mozarts Clavichord

Georg Nigl, baritone
Dörte Lyssewski, recitation
Alexander Gergelyfi, clavichord

Mozart's Nachtmusik will be performed on Wolfgang A. Mozart's original clavichord. The Salzburg Festival would like to thank the Mozarteum Foundation for the use of this unique instrument, which is normally on display in Mozart's birthplace.

FURTHER INFORMATION & TICKETS
 

CONTACT

Representation: World

IN FOCUS

GEORG NIGL | A Festival Summer 2026 of Artistic Versatility
09Jul2026
GEORG NIGL | A Festival Summer 2026 of Artistic Versatility

Baritone Georg Nigl will appear at the Salzburg Festival, Carinthian Summer, and Musikfest Bremen this summer 2026, presenting a wide-ranging artistic programme spanning Lied, literature, and music theatre.

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GEORG NIGL takes on the role of Alberich for the first time in Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung
19May2026
GEORG NIGL takes on the role of Alberich for the first time in Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung

Georg Nigl debuts the role of Alberich – in Sven-Eric Bechtolf’s production of Der Ring at the Vienna State Opera, conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado.

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GEORG NIGL in the revival of Monster’s Paradise in Zurich
08Mar2026
GEORG NIGL in the revival of Monster’s Paradise in Zurich

With his role as the tyrannical king-president, Georg Nigl will also take a central position in the Swiss premiere of the new satirical political opera by Olga Neuwirth and Elfriede Jelinek on 8 March 2026 at the Opernhaus Zürich.

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