Derek Welton
Australian bass-baritone Derek Welton is a regular guest at various opera houses such as the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Salzburg Festival, Vienna State Opera, Bayreuth Festival, Bavarian State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, Hamburg State Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Dutch National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Bolshoi Theatre, in roles such as Wotan (Das Rheingold), Klingsor (Parsifal), König Marke (Tristan und Isolde), Orest (Elektra), Pizarro (Fidelio), Father (Hansel and Gretel), Voland (The Master and Margarita), Bluebeard (Duke Bluebeard's Castle), Förster (Das schlaue Füchslein), Prus (Die Sache Makropulos), Saint-Bris (Die Hugenotten), Pandolfe (Cendrillon), Figaro (Die Hochzeit des Figaro) and Créon (Œdipus Rex).
In the 2023/2024 season he returns to the Opéra de Lyon in the title role of a production of Mendelsson's Elijah, makes his house debut at the Teatro Real Madrid as the Duke of Albany (Lear), and makes his role debut as Wotan (Die Walküre) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
Derek Welton is also a dedicated and versatile concert singer and sings with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Hallé Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra Rotterdam, Gewandhausorchester, Concerto Köln, Academy of Ancient Music, Czech Philharmonic, and the Berlin Philharmonic. His repertoire includes Der Messias, Bach's St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, and Mass in B minor, Haydn's The Creation, Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Tippett's A Child of our Time, and Martinů's The Epic of Gilgamesh.
Welton has appeared in CD and DVD recordings as Wotan in Das Rheingold (Naxos), Orest in Elektra (Unitel Edition), The Porter in Korngold's Das Wunder der Heliane (Naxos), Heerrufer in Lohengrin (Deutsche Grammophon), Creonte in Haydn's L'anima del filosofo (Pinchgut Live), in the title role of Martinů's Epic of Gilgamesh (Supraphon), two recordings as soloist in Beethoven's 9. Symphony (Ondine and Brattle Media), and with a solo CD of songs by Vaughan Williams with Iain Burnside (Albion Records).
Derek Welton is a graduate of the University of Melbourne (Linguistics and German) and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
In the 2023/2024 season he returns to the Opéra de Lyon in the title role of a production of Mendelsson's Elijah, makes his house debut at the Teatro Real Madrid as the Duke of Albany (Lear), and makes his role debut as Wotan (Die Walküre) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
Derek Welton is also a dedicated and versatile concert singer and sings with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Hallé Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra Rotterdam, Gewandhausorchester, Concerto Köln, Academy of Ancient Music, Czech Philharmonic, and the Berlin Philharmonic. His repertoire includes Der Messias, Bach's St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, and Mass in B minor, Haydn's The Creation, Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Tippett's A Child of our Time, and Martinů's The Epic of Gilgamesh.
Welton has appeared in CD and DVD recordings as Wotan in Das Rheingold (Naxos), Orest in Elektra (Unitel Edition), The Porter in Korngold's Das Wunder der Heliane (Naxos), Heerrufer in Lohengrin (Deutsche Grammophon), Creonte in Haydn's L'anima del filosofo (Pinchgut Live), in the title role of Martinů's Epic of Gilgamesh (Supraphon), two recordings as soloist in Beethoven's 9. Symphony (Ondine and Brattle Media), and with a solo CD of songs by Vaughan Williams with Iain Burnside (Albion Records).
Derek Welton is a graduate of the University of Melbourne (Linguistics and German) and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
Engagements in Bayreuth
| Year | Opera | Part |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Parsifal | Amfortas |
| 2023 | Parsifal | Amfortas |
| 2022 | Lohengrin | Der Heerrufer des Königs |
| 2021 | Konzert Parsifal | Klingsor |
| 2019 | Parsifal | Klingsor |
| 2018 | Parsifal | Klingsor |
| 2017 | Parsifal | Klingsor |
