Karl-Heinz Lehner

Vita

Austrian-born Karl-Heinz Lehner already sang as a treble and alto soloist with the boys' choir of the Benedictine monastery Stift Altenburg during his grammar school years. After gaining his high school diploma, he studied singing at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Vienna with Leopold Spitzer, and lied and oratorio with Kammersängerin Edith Mathis. Karl-Heinz Lehner received his first permanent engagement at Stadttheater Bremerhaven. After two seasons he moved to the Oper Dortmund, where he was able to develop a large repertoire, and then to the Aalto Theater Essen.

In 2016 and 2017, the artist made his Bayreuth Festival debuts as Fafner in "Das Rheingold" and "Siegfried", Titurel in "Parsifal" and Nightwatchman in "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg". He has also made guest appearances at the Hamburg State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Semperoper Dresden, Graz Opera House, Komische Oper Berlin, Volksoper Vienna, Oper Frankfurt, Oper Leipzig, Semperoper Dresden, Teatro dell'Opera Rome and the Bregenz Festival, among others. At the same time, Lehner was a member of the ensemble of the Oper Dortmund, where he sang roles such as Baron Ochs, King Marke, Sarastro in "Die Zauberflöte", Mephistophélès in "Faust", Komtur in "Don Giovanni", Zaccharia in "Nabucco" and Ramfis in "Aida". In 2018.19 he made guest appearances at Oper Nürnberg as King Heinrich in "Lohengrin", at Oper Köln as Rocco and at Oper Leipzig as Landgraf ("Tannhäuser") and Baron Ochs. Karl-Heinz Lehner has worked with renowned conductors such as George Prêtre, Phillipe Jordan, Ulf Schirmer, Leopold Hager, Jac van Steen, Stefan Soltesz, Axel Kober, Gabriel Feltz and directors Mariame Clément, Claus Guth, Jens Daniel Herzog, Stefan Herheim, Anselm Weber and Richard Jones. In addition to his operatic activities, Karl-Heinz Lehner is also a sought-after concert singer. He has sung at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Musikverein Vienna, Salzburg Festival, Konzerthaus Dortmund and Philharmonie Essen, among others.  In 2018 he sang the bass part in Mahler's 8th Symphony including a CD production with the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra (Gabriel Feltz). In the 2019.20 season Karl-Heinz Lehner appeared as King Marke ("Tristan und Isolde") at Oper Köln, Baron Ochs ("Der Rosenkavalier") at Staatstheater Wiesbaden and Rocco ("Fidelio") at Oper Bonn.

In the 2019.20 season he a member of the ensemble of the Aalto-Theater Essen. There he performed the title role in Bartók's "Duke Bluebeard's Castle", Sparafucile ("Rigoletto"), Grand Inquisitor ("Don Carlo") and Count Lamoral ("Arabella") as well as the title role in the Offenbach operetta "Auf Ihr Wohl, Herr Blumenkohl!". 2022.23 he moved to the ensemble of Oper Köln.