The bass Magnus Piontek is a highly sought-after opera and oratorio singer. His signature roles include major Wagner parts as well as those in the romantic oratorio repertoire.
He gained recognition in the German opera repertoire with Wagner roles such as Gurnemanz (Parsifal), Veit Pogner (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), King Heinrich (Lohengrin), as well as Fasolt, Hunding, and Fafner in the Ring cycle. As a member of the ensemble in Chemnitz, he also shone in roles such as Boito’s Mefistofele, Timur (Turandot), and Rocco (Fidelio).
Guest engagements have taken him to prestigious houses such as the Semperoper Dresden (Moses und Aron, La Bohème) and the Komische Oper Berlin, where he toured Asia as Sarastro (The Magic Flute). As a freelance artist, he made his debut in Prague (Tristan und Isolde), at the Deutsche Oper (Elektra), and at the Staatsoper (Le nozze di Figaro) in Berlin, as well as at the Opernhaus Zürich (Life with an Idiot). Other roles included Jeronimus (Maskarade) at the Leipzig Opera, Doctor (Wozzeck) at the Staatstheater Kassel and Aalto Theater Essen, and King (Love of Three Oranges) at the Bonn Opera and the Grand Inquisitor (Don Carlo) at the Theater Osnabrück.
Future engagements include performances at the Semperoper Dresden, at Händelfestspiele Halle and Wagner roles such as Daland (The Flying Dutchman) and Landgraf Hermann (Tannhäuser). His house debut at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels will be a next highlight of his career.
In addition to his opera work, Magnus Piontek is deeply committed to the oratorio repertoire, impressing audiences with his interpretations of Verdi’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Paulus, Bach’s Mass in B minor, Martin’s In terra pax, and Haydn’s Creation. His concert performances have taken him to the Mozartfest in Würzburg, the Glocke in Bremen, the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden, the Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester, and the Berlin Philharmonie.
He has collaborated with renowned conductors (Alan Gilbert, Dan Ettinger, Frieder Bernius, Pietari Inkinen), famous directors (Peter Konwitschny, Achim Freyer, Calixto Bieito, Kirill Serebrennikov), and prominent ensembles (Berliner Philharmoniker, Concerto Köln, musikFabrik, Lautten Compagney Berlin, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin).
Radio and CD productions such as Hunding (Die Walküre) alongside Klaus-Florian Vogt and Catherine Foster, Il Commendatore (Don Giovanni) with Lautten Compagney at the Mozartfest Würzburg, the premiere recording of Hans Sommer’s Rübezahl in the title role, and Zimmermann’s The Cuckoo and the Flying Princess document his work.
Magnus Piontek studied conducting with Prof. Marcus Creed (Cologne), voice with Prof. Rudolf Piernay (Mannheim), and was a scholarship holder of the Richard Wagner Association Heidelberg and the Deutsche Bank Foundation Academy Music Theater Today during this time.
Magnus Piontek was born in 1985 in Bonn and currently resides in Leipzig. Interested in cultural exchange and authentic language use, he travels extensively and speaks German, English, Russian, Arabic, Italian, French, and has begun learning Korean and Swahili.
