Franz-Josef Selig

Bass
© Marion Koell
General Management

Franz-Josef Selig is internationally recognized as one of the most renowned singers of serious bass roles such as Gurnemanz, King Marke, Sarastro, Rocco, Osmin, Daland, Fiesco, and Fasolt. He has performed at all major opera houses worldwide, including the Bavarian State Opera, the Vienna State Opera, La Scala in Milan, Teatro Real Madrid, the Paris opera houses, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, as well as at prestigious festivals such as the Bayreuth, Baden-Baden, and Salzburg Festivals and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. Prominent orchestras and conductors have been and continue to be his partners, including Christian Thielemann, Sir Simon Rattle, Marek Janowski, Zubin Mehta, Semyon Bychkov, Riccardo Muti, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Antonio Pappano, Philippe Jordan, Daniel Harding, and many others.

The artist initially completed his studies in church music at the State University of Music in Cologne before switching to the vocal class of Claudio Nicolai. He began his career as an ensemble member at the Aalto Theatre in Essen for six years. Since then, Franz-Josef Selig has worked as a freelance singer. As in every season, numerous international opera projects are on his schedule, including Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Daland) at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia and the Bavarian State Opera Munich, as well as Mozart's The Magic Flute (Sarastro) at the Vienna State Opera.

The 2024/25 season begins for the artist with Bruckner’s Te Deum on a Germany tour with the SWR Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Pablo Heras-Casado. At the Isarphilharmonie, he will sing King Marke in a concert performance of Act 2 of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. Additionally, he will perform as Gurnemanz in a concert version of Parsifal under the baton of Vasily Petrenko in Oslo. Lieder evenings will take him to Brussels with Inge Spinette and to the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid with Gerold Huber.

Numerous CD and DVD productions document the artistic range of this exceptional singer—from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion to Mozart’s The Magic Flute (Royal Opera London/Sir Colin Davis), Don Giovanni (Vienna State Opera/Riccardo Muti), Le nozze di Figaro (Salzburg Festival/Nikolaus Harnoncourt), The Abduction from the Seraglio (Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona/Ivor Bolton/Christoph Loy) to L’incoronazione di Poppea (Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona/David Alden/Harry Bicket). He has recorded the role of Gurnemanz in Wagner’s Parsifal with Christian Thielemann (Vienna State Opera, released by Deutsche Grammophon) as well as with Marek Janowski and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (Pentatone). The DVD of the production Der Ring des Nibelungen (DG, Metropolitan Opera New York) featuring Franz-Josef Selig as Fasolt won the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording in 2013. A DVD of The Flying Dutchman from the Bayreuth Festival (Thielemann/Gloger) has also been released. Deutsche Grammophon has recordings of Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio and The Magic Flute under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. On his CD Prometheus (Label AVI), accompanied by Gerold Huber, he brings together songs by Schubert, Wolf, and Strauss.

In the summer of 2024, the singer made his debut at the Glyndebourne Festival (as King Marke in Tristan und Isolde). In the magazine ‘Gramophone’ (Leah Broad), it is stated: “Even within an excellent cast, Franz-Josef Selig stole the show as King Marke. With a sonorous bass that filled the house, time seemed to stop for his Act II monologue. There was no melodrama. Selig just gave us a man of integrity torn apart by grief, managing to communicate a wealth of emotion in the short time allowed him. Thanks to Selig’s rendition, Tristan’s devotion to Marke was completely understandable, giving the second act the depth it needs to be truly heart-breaking.”




1. November 2024 - 20:00

München, Isarphilharmonie

Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde

Info & Tickets



3. November 2024 - 19:00

München, Isarphilharmonie

Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde

Info & Tickets



20. January 2025

Madrid, Teatro de la Zarzuela

-: Liederabend

Info & Tickets



  • "Die Besetzung entspricht in allen Positionen dem Niveau, wie es von einem Haus wie der Wiener Staatsoper zurecht erwartet wird. Franz-Josef Selig ist mit seinem profunden Bass ein in sich ruhender, souveräner Gurnemanz, der sich mit eloquenter Autorität zwischen den Grals- bzw. Gefängnisinsassen bewegt und dort auch mit seinen versierten Fertigkeiten als Tätowieren für Ausgleich sorgt. Michael Nagy als ein ausdrucksstarker Amfortas verkörpert glaubhaft Titurels, von Wolfgang Bankl energisch aus dem Off beigesteuerte Mahnung, dass er im Dienste seine Schuld zu büßen habe."
    nmz
    Joachim Lange: "Durchzittert und vergittert – Kirill Serebrennikovs „Parsifal“-Inszenierung in Wien", in: nmz, 08.04.2023
  • "Selig’s is truly a hugely imposing instrument, thrillingly resonant in its lower reaches, switching from the sepulchral to saturnine to mellow with ease. He proved to be a consummate communicator of the narratives, relishing the descriptive poetry as well, alive to every mood and inflection."
    Classical Source
    Alexander Campbell, „Franz-Josef Selig & Gerold Huber at Wigmore Hall – Carl Loewe, Hugo Wolf, Rudi Stephan“, in: www.classicalsource.com, 22.06.2019
  • "Even within an excellent cast, Franz-Josef Selig stole the show as King Marke. With a sonorous bass that filled the house, time seemed to stop for his Act II monologue. There was no melodrama. Selig just gave us a man of integrity torn apart by grief, managing to communicate a wealth of emotion in the short time allowed him. Thanks to Selig’s rendition, Tristan’s devotion to Marke was completely understandable, giving the second act the depth it needs to be truly heart-breaking."
  • „Franz-Josef Selig singt mit unangestrengtem, substanzreichem Bass einen tiefenentspannten Sarastro.“
    Badische Zeitung
    Georg Rudiger, „Der forcierende Vogelfänger“, in: Badische Zeitung, 10.07.2018
  • “Franz-Josef Selig (Gurnemanz) hat einen über einstündigen Monolog ab Vorspielende bis Verwandlung kurz vor Totenmessenanbeginn zu absolvieren; seine Textverständlichkeit muss als grandios bezeichnet sein, und sein sonorer Bass hat fast schon auswüchsiges Edelmaß. Der Mann ist als gesangliches Gesamtkunstwerk sensationell!!”



Elisabeth Ehlers

Elisabeth Ehlers

Director, General Management
e-mail
+49 89 44488790
Katharina Klapsing

Katharina Klapsing

Associate Artist Manager
On maternity leave.
Sophie Kurzbauer

Sophie Kurzbauer

e-mail
Assistant Artist Manager
+49 89 444887910

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