| Biography | Franz-Josef Selig (Bass) , (July 11, 1962, Germany)
The German bass, Franz-Josef Selig, first studied church music at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik, Cologne. After graduating, he changed to the voice class under Claudio Nicolai. Already during his voice studies, he gave numerous concerts and was permanently engaged at the Aalto Theatre, Essen, where he was member at the ensemble until 1995. In 1992, he was awarded the "Aalto Stage Prize for Young Artists.
Having joined the ensemble of the Aalto Theatre in Essen in 1989, Franz-Josef Selig has given guest performances at all great opera houses worldwide, such as the Wiener Staatsoper, the Royal Opera Covent Garden, the Milan Scala, the Staatsoper Hamburg, the Opéra de la Bastille and the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Théâtre de la Monnaie Bruxelles, the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and the Frankfurt and Lyons opera houses. He sings the serious bass parts such as Sarastro, Komtur, Rocco, Osmin, Fasolt, Daland, Arkel and his most important roles, King Marke and Gurnemanz.
On the concert stage Franz-Josef Selig has worked with many renowned conductors, such as Antonio Pappano, Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Christian Thielemann, Mariss Jansons, Herbert Blomstedt, Marek Janowski, Semyon Bychkov, Helmuth Rilling, Philippe Herreweghe, Colin Davis and René Jacobs, and with outstanding orchestras, such as Musica Antiqua Köln, Concentus Musicus Wien, and Stuttgarter Kammerchor. |