Christoph
Seidl

Austrian bass Christoph Seidl has been a member of the Cologne Opera ensemble since the beginning of the 22/23 season, where he has appeared in roles including Osmin in "Die Entführung aus dem Serail", Don Estoban in "Der Zwerg", Alidoro in "La Cenerentola", Seneca in "L’incoronazione di Poppea", the One-Armed Man in "Die Frau ohne Schatten", Sarastro in "Die Zauberflöte", the Sacristan in "Tosca", Samuel in "Un ballo in maschera", Nourabad in "Les pêcheurs de perles", the Commendatore in "Don Giovanni", Colline in "La Bohème", Zuniga in "Carmen", the High Priest of Baal in "Nabucco", and an Old Servant in "Elektra". He has also appeared in several children's operas and in Saariaho's "La passion de Simone".

The young bass studied with Ralf Döring, Robert Holl and Florian Bösch at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He also attended masterclasses with Angelika Kirchschlager, Thomas Hampson and Helmut Deutsch, and in 2011 received a scholarship from the Richard Wagner Association.

From 2014 to 2016, he was a member of the Young Ensemble at the Theater an der Wien, where he appeared, among other roles, as Gremin in "Eugene Onegin" at the Vienna Chamber Opera and performed numerous major and minor roles on the main stage. During this period, he also established himself as a recital and concert singer, particularly in the field of sacred music, with a broad repertoire ranging from Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert to contemporary works. Concert tours took him, among other places, to Brussels (Palais des Beaux Arts "Bozar"), Moscow (Bolshoi) and New York (Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center NYC). As a member of the Young Singers Project in 2013, Christoph Seidl made his debut at the Salzburg Festival as Osmin in a children's version of "Die Entführung aus dem Serail". He also appeared as Deputato in "Don Carlo" at the Großes Festspielhaus. That same year, his debut in the new production of Shostakovich's "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" at Zurich Opera led to his engagement at the International Opera Studio for the 13/14 season. Christoph Seidl has worked with conductors including Bertrand de Billy, Theodor Currentzis, Hans Graf, Thomas Hengelbrock, René Jacobs, Fabio Luisi, Antonio Pappano and Sebastian Weigle, as well as directors Robert Carsen, Herbert Föttinger, Claus Guth, Tatjana Gürbaca, Andreas Homoki, Peter Stein and Michael Sturminger.

From 2020 to 2022, Christoph Seidl was a member of the ensemble at the Aalto-Theater Essen, where he sang roles including Count Waldner in "Arabella", Prison Governor Frank in "Die Fledermaus", and the Hermit in "Der Freischütz". He appeared in a concert performance of "Das Rheingold" with Kent Nagano and Concerto Köln at the Cologne Philharmonie and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

From 2016 to 2020, he was a member of the ensemble at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich, where he appeared, among other roles, as Sarastro in "Die Zauberflöte", the Commendatore in "Don Giovanni", Baculus in "Der Wildschütz", Alidoro in "La Cenerentola", and Colline in "La Bohème". He also appeared as a guest as Baculus at Kassel Opera and sang Hans Bast in Carl Maria von Weber's "Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn" at the Theater an der Wien. At the "Wagner-Stimmen" competition in autumn 2018, he was awarded second prize by the distinguished jury.

During the 25/26 season, he appeared as Sarastro in "Die Zauberflöte", Alidoro in "La Cenerentola", Antonio in "Le nozze di Figaro", Fasolt in "Das Rheingold", and Timur in "Turandot".

In the 26/27 season, he will appear as the Bonze in Giacomo Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" in Sabine Hartmannshenn's production. In Giuseppe Verdi's "Macbeth", he will portray the Doctor in Damiano Michieletto's acclaimed 2018 production, which premiered at Teatro La Fenice. He will also sing Sarastro in Michael Hampe's fairytale-like production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte". In addition, he will perform Alfred P. Doolittle in Dietrich Hilsdorf's production of Frederick Loewe's musical "My Fair Lady", as well as Seneca in Ted Huffman's highly acclaimed production of Claudio Monteverdi's "The Coronation of Poppea". At Kinderoper Köln, he will take on the role of King Detlef in the world premiere of Philipp Matthias Kaufmann's "Der König verschenkt was", a commissioned work created for the opening of the newly built, unique children's opera house at Offenbachplatz.