The baritone Wolfgang Holzmair was born in Vocklabruck in Austria
and studied at the Vienna Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts with Hilde Rossel-Majdan
and Erik Werba. Particularly noted for his intelligent and committed performances
of Lieder, Wolfgang Holzmair performs in recital throughout the world. In 2003/2004
he appeared, inter alia, in London, Lisbon, New York, Ottawa, Graz, Vienna,
and at the Risor and Bregenz festivals. 2004/5 included recitals in New York,
Washington, Dublin, London, Vienna and at the Bath Festival (England), Menuhin
Festival (Switzerland) and Carinthian Summer Festival (Austria), and in 2005/6
Lisbon, London, New York, Washington, Strasbourg amongst others. Pianists he
works with regularly include Imogen Cooper, Till Fellner, Russell Ryan, Roger
Vignoles and Gerard Wyss.
Wolfgang Holzmair is also active in the opera world. He recently
appeared as Pelleas at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees under Haitink, as Enrico
in Haydn's Isola disabitata in Lyon under Holliger, as the Count in Capriccio
in Cagliari under Fruhbeck de Burgos, and Speaker of the Temple in Die
Zauberflote at Opera Bastille. In addition to the title role in a new Casanova
opera composed for the Mehuhin Festival Gstaad by Daniel Schnyder, Wolfgang
Holzmair's roles are to include Papageno in Dallas, Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier
in Seattle, and Don Alfonso in Lyon under William Christie. Equally in demand
on the concert platform, he has sung with leading European and American orchestras,
such as the Israel Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, Leipzig
Gewandhaus, Cleveland and Concertgebouw Orchestras, and the Orchestra of the
Age of Enlightenment, among others, under eminent conductors including Blomstedt,
Boulez, Chailly, von Dohnany, Fruhbeck de Burgos, Haitink, Harnoncourt, Norrington,
and Ozawa.
In 2003/2004 he sang Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with
the Minnesota Orchestra under Kreizberg, orchestrated Schubert songs with the
Orchestra of St Luke's at Carnegie Hall under Norrington, and Mahler's Das
Lied von der Erde at the Vienna Festival. Other appearances include engagements
with the Irish Chamber Orchestra under McGegan, the Akademie fur alte Musik
Berlin at the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt and in Berlin, the Munich Philharmonic
Orchestra under Kreizberg, and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under Janovsky.
Scheduled performances include Krenek Lieder with the Netherlands Philharmonic
under Kreizberg, Mahler's Ruckert Lieder with the BBC National Orchestra
of Wales under Hickox, and with the Minnesota Orchestra under Litton.
Since 1998 he has taught Lied and oratorio at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and
given master-classes in Europe and North America.
