Performance Database

Danish bass Stephen Milling ranks among the world’s foremost interpreters of Wagner's repertoire and last season he sang the role of König Marke (Tristan und Isolde) at the newly re-opened Staatsoper Unter den Linden under the baton of Daniel Barenboim. Known for his strong association with the role of Gurnemanz, Milling has performed it at both Wiener Staatsoper under Sir Simon Rattle and at Osterfestspiele Salzburg under Christian Thielemann, as well as being immortalised in the role on DVD for Deutsche Grammophon. Other recent Wagner highlights include a critically acclaimed debut at the 2015 Bayreuth Festival as Hagen (Götterdämmerung), Hunding (Die Walküre) at the Metropolitan Opera, Fasolt (Das Rheingold) at the BBC Proms and Dutch National Opera, Daland (Der fliegende Holländer) at Bayerische Staatsoper, and both Landgraf (Tannhäuser) and Pogner (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden under Sir Antonio Pappano.

Keen to maintain a broad and diverse repertoire, Stephen Milling's other roles feature Philip II (Don Carlos) at San Francisco Opera, Rocco (Fidelio) at Teatro alla Scala and Gran Teatre del Liceu, Padre Guardiano (La forza del destino) at Semperoper Dresden and Palau de les Artes Reina Sofia in Valencia, Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater at Opéra national de Paris, Sparafucile (Rigoletto) at The Met, and Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte) at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Bayerische Staatsoper and Wiener Staatsoper.

In the 2018/19 season Milling sings Hagen in the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden’s Ring Cycle under Sir Antonio Pappano, and Landgraf at De Nederlandse Opera under Marc Albrecht, at the Bayerische Staatsoper under Simone Young and at the Bayreuther Festspiele under Valery Gergiev. Concert performances include Tristan und Isolde with the Orchestra National de Montpellier under Michael Schønwandt, and Die Walküre with the LPO under Vladimir Jurowski.

Trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Stephen Milling joined the Royal Danish Opera in 1994 where he debuted a number of roles now central to his repertoire and recent guest appearances in Copenhagen include Daland and Sarastro. International debuts at Teatro alla Scala as Don Fernando (Fidelio) and as both Fasolt and Hunding in The Seattle Opera’s Ring Cycle paved an early way to today’s thriving global career.  

Stephen Milling made his debut with Berliner Philharmoniker in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem under Mariss Jansons, and features on several CDs including Les Troyens with London Symphony Orchestra (Sir Colin Davis). On DVD he stars in Der Ring des Nibelungen staged by La Fura dels Baus in Valencia and on three collaborations with Kasper Holten at the Royal Danish Opera: The Copenhagen Ring, Tannhäuser, and Maskarade.