Estonian bass – baritone Lauri Vasar has become one of the most sought-after singers of his generation due to his passionate role interpretations and expressive singing voice.

In the upcoming 2023/2024 season, he will be performing at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin as Orest in Elektra, at the Royal Opera House in London as Sharpless in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, at the Teatro Real in Madrid as the Count of Gloster in Aribert Reimann’s Lear, and at the San Francisco Opera as Papageno in Mozart’s Magic Flute.

At the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, he has appeared as Gunther and Donner in Wagner’s Ring under the musical direction of Daniel Barenboim, as well as Jochanaan in Salome, staged by Hans Neuenfels. At the Opernhaus Zürich, he sang the leading role in George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence.

Lauri Vasar began his career at the Estonian Academy of Music and at the Theatre in Tallinn before completing his studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He quickly conquered international stages and performed at renowned opera houses such as the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, and the Salzburg Festival.

Some of his career highlights include his debut at the Opernhaus Zürich in the leading role in Shostakovich’s The Nose, the title role in Il prigioniero in London, as well as Wolfram (Tannhäuser) and Amfortas (Parsifal) at the Budapest Wagner Days. Furthermore he perfcormed in Lyon, Brussels, and at the Opéra National de Paris as Olivier in Capriccio.

Vasar was nominated for the Faust Prize for his portrayal of Billy Budd at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and made his debut at the Royal Opera House in London as Schaunard in La Bohème. At the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, he sang the role of the Count in a new production of Le Nozze di Figaro and triumphed as Amfortas under the baton of Daniel Barenboim.

With Reimann’s Lear, he achieved great success under Simone Young and Fabio Luisi, and he also made an impressive debut with this role at the Salzburg Festival 2017. In the 2017/2018 season, he made his role debut as Tschang-Ling in Zemlinsky’s Der Kreidekreis and performed in Britten’s War Requiem in Lyon. His portrayal of Amfortas at the Berliner Festtage 2018 and at the Opernhaus Zürich was widely acclaimed, leaving a lasting impression on audiences and critics.

In June 2018, Vasar appeared as Roland in Schubert’s Fierrabras at La Scala in Milan. In June 2019, he made his debut as Gunther in Götterdämmerung at the Budapest Wagner Festival.

In the 2021/22 season, he portrayed Orest (Elektra) in Dmitri Chernyakov’s new production at the Hamburg State Opera, as well as Gunther at the Teatro Real in Madrid.

Lauri Vasar has a wide range of roles in his repertoire, including Shaklovity in Khovanshchina, Marcello in La Bohème, Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore, Yeletsky in The Queen of Spades, Escamillo in Carmen, Lescaut in Manon Lescaut, the Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen, as well as the title roles in Don Giovanni and Eugene Onegin.

As a sought-after opera singer, Lauri Vasar has performed under the baton of renowned conductors such as Bertrand de Billy, Marc Albrecht, Sebastian Weigle, Michael Boder, Kirill Petrenko, Jesús López-Cobos, Adam Fischer, Peter Schneider and Valery Gergiev. He has also collaborated with esteemed directors including Robert Carsen, Stefan Herheim, Jürgen Flimm, Calixto Bieito, Christopher Alden, Peter Stein, Christoph Loy, Álex Ollé, and Vincent Boussard.