JOHN WEGNERBass-baritone
Born in Germany, John Wegner went to Australia at an early age and was a member of Melbourne's St Patrick's Cathedral Choir. He completed an associate diploma in Opera and Music Theatre at the Victorian College of the Arts. John Wegner was awarded the prestigious Australian Entertainment Industry “Mo Award” for the Operatic Performer of the year in the 1998/99 season. Other awards include Best Male Performer in an Opera at The Australian Entertainment Industry Association, Helpmann Awards (2005) and Winner of the National Opera Prague's Komercni Bank Award as the Best Artist of the Season (2007).
John Wegner was a member of Opera Australia from 1981 to 1992 and has continued to guest there ever since. He is currently a member of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf/ Duisburg. He has sung with La Scala, Milan, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Gran Theatre de Liceu, Barcelona, the Royal Danish Opera, Copenhagen, De Nederlandse Opera, Amsterdam, Norwegian National Opera, the Theatre Royale de la Monnaie, Brussels, Vienna State Opera, Theatre du Capitole, Toulouse, Komische Oper and Staatsoper Berlin, Stuttgart, Munich, Bonn, Opera Australia Sydney, Melbourne, Lyric Opera of Queensland, State Opera of South Australia, De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam, English National Opera, Opera North, Opera Ireland, Prague, Bern and the Bayreuth and Adelaide Festivals.
John Wegner’s large repertoire includes Wotan/ Wanderer, Alberich, Günther Fasolt and Donner DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN, Telramund LOHENGRIN, Kurwenal TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, Klingsor PARSIFAL and Biterolf TANNHÄUSER, Jokanaan SALOME, Orestes ELEKTRA, Scarpia TOSCA, Iago OTELLO, Prus MAKROPULOS, Alfio CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA, Jack Rance LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST, Claggart BILLY BUDD, Pizarro FIDELIO, Boris LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK, Marquis DIALOGUES DES CARMÉLITES, St Bris LES HUGUENOTS, (Joan Sutherland’s farewell opera appearances), title-roles FALSTAFF, BORIS GODUNOV, CARDILLAC, PRINCE IGOR, DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER, and Battistelli’s RICHARD III, Escamillo CARMEN, Lindorf, Coppelius, Dr. Miracle and Dapertutto LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN, Méphistophèles FAUST, Prus THE MAKROPULOS CASE, Herzog Antonietto Adorno DIE GEZEICHNETEN, Kissinger in the Australian premiere of NIXON IN CHINA, Sebastiano in the new production of TIEFLAND.
Engagements in 2011/12 include Jochanaan SALOME in Tokyo, Scarpia TOSCA, Marquis DIALOGUES DES CARMÉLITES and Jokanaan SALOME all in Düsseldorf, Alberich DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN for Hamburg Staatsoper and DIE WALKÜRE concert performances for Opera New Zealand. Future engagements include a return to Opera Australia.
