Biography
Hartmut Welker started his career at the Opera of Aachen. While being a member of the Staatstheater Karlsruhe for three years, he was invited as guest in all big opera houses around the world. At the Scala of Milan he performed roles such as Telramund (Lohengrin), Barak (Die Frau ohne Schatten, 1986), Klingsor (Parsifal, 1991) and Alberich (Siegfried, 1997). Further guest engagements led him to the Edinburgh Festival, Maggio Musicale of Florence, Royal Opera House Covent Garden and to the opera houses of Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, and Vienna. In 1984 Hartmut Welker made his American debut in Chicago under the baton of Claudio Abbado, followed by his debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York and his first appearance in Philadelphia as Barnaba in La Gioconda conducting Riccardo Muti, 1991. In 1997 the bass-baritone participated in a new production of Lohengrin at Opéra de Bastille where he sang Telramund under the baton of James Conlon, then he appeared as Alberich in Siegfried at the Scala under Riccardo Muti and went to New York for Palestrina in a guest performance of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden of London. In the season 1998/99 Hartmut Welker was celebrated for his first portrayal of Wotan in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen in Karlsruhe, in Munich he made his successful debut as Wanderer in Siegfried at the Bavarian State Opera conducted by Zubin Mehta. He gave his debut at the Bayreuth Festival in 2000 with the part of Klingsor in Parsifal which he also sung there in 2001. In the same year he sung at Bayreuth the part of Wotan in Walküre and Siegfried. In a new production of the Ring in Dresden in the season 2002/2003 (conductor: S. Bychkov, director: W. Decker) the artist sings the Alberich - he has been performing this role at the Bayreuth Festival since 2002. In addition to his operatic engagements Hartmut Welker is a well known guest in concerts and TV productions.