Biographie
Johannes Weisser was born in 1980 in Norway. He studied at the Music Conservatory in Copenhagen and at the Royal Danish Academy of Opera in Copenhagen with Susanna Eken.
In the spring of 2004, at the age of 23, he made his debut at the Norwegian National Opera as well as at the Komische Oper Berlin, in both houses as Masetto in Don Giovanni. Since then he has established himself as one of the most exciting Scandinavian singers of his generation.
Engagements have brought him to Salzburg Festival, Staatsoper Berlin, Theater an der Wien, Théâtre de La Monnaie in Brussels, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Opéra national du Rhin Strasbourg, Opéra de Dijon, Opera Bilbao, Megaron Athens, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Komische Oper Berlin, Norwegian National Opera, Royal Danish Opera, Edinburgh International Festival, Innsbrucker Festwochen der alten Musik and Flanders Festival Bruges.
His roles such as the title role and Leporello in Don Giovanni, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Schaunard in La Bohème, Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Mr. Flint in Billy Bud, Agamemnon in Gluck's Iphigénie en Aulide, Giove in Cavalli's La Calisto, Ramiro in Ravel's L'heure espagnole, Plutone and Pastore 4 in Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, King Theseus in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Valens in Handel's Theodora, Melisso in Alcina and Achilla in Giulio Cesare.
Johannes Weisser is a much sought-after concert, oratorio and singer and he regularly appears in concert venues and festivals throughout Europe. He has a considerable repertoire that spans music from the early 17th century works of Monteverdi up to the 20th century works of Weill and Britten. He is an exceptionally communicative "Lied"-singer. His concerts have attracted much attention and have been highly praised, notably the concerts with the pianist Leif Ove Andsnes.
He has worked with conductors such as Rinaldo Alessandrini, Giordano Bellincampi, Alfredo Bernardini, Fabio Biondi, Francesco Corti, Alan Curtis, Ottavio Dantone, Thomas Dausgaard, Stéphane Denève, Laurence Equilbey, Olari Elts, Adam Fischer, Patrick Fournillier, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Olaf Henzold, Philippe Herreweghe, J. David Jackson, René Jacobs, Tõnu Kaljuste, Fredrik Malmberg, Michael McCarty, Juanjo Mena, Ingo Metzmacher, Marc Minkowski, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Andris Nelsons, Andrew Parrott, Kirill Petrenko, Vasily Petrenko, George Petrou, Trevor Pinnock, Daniel Reuss, Jérémie Rhorer, Christophe Rousset, Kwame Ryan, Fredrik Sixten, Andreas Spering, Christoph Spering and Lothar Zagrosek.
Engagements in 2012 included Corpo in Cavalieri's La rappresentazione di anima at the Staatsoper Berlin as well as at Cité de la Musique in Paris, Licomede in Handel's Deidemia at Theater an der Wien as well as in Braunschweig, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte at the Opéra de Dijon, the title role in Don Giovanni in Copenhagen, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte in Stavanger, the title role in Grieg's Peer Gynt in London, Cologne, Essen and Dortmund, Bach's St Matthew Passion with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin in Brussels and Rheingau, Handel's Messiah in Lisbon with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, and Haydn's Die Schöpfung in Rennes with Orchestre de Bretagne, in Paris with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and in Oslo with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.
2013 included Malatesta in Don Pasquale at Norwegian National Opera, Minos in Handel's Arianna in Creta at Theater an der Wien, Bruckner's Mass in F minor in Paris with the Orchestre de Paris, Bach's St John Passion in Paris with the Insula Orchestra, Bach's Christmas Oratorio in Leipzig with the Gewandhaus Orchestra, Mozart's Requiem in Seoul, Tokyo, Fukuoka, Nishinomiva and Tokorozawa with the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, in Versailles and Reims with the Insula Orchestra and in Kristiansand with Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, the title role in Grieg's Peer Gynt with Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Haydn's Die Schöpfung in Krakow with Capella Cracoviensis, Villotto in Haydn's La vera costanza in Cologne with Capella Augustina, the title role in Marx' Mose in Berlin with Kammersymphonie Berlin, Fauré's Requiem in Stockholm with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in Oslo with Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Handel's Messiah in Trondheim with Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem in Sandefjord and Tonsberg with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra as well as in Kristiansund with KK Festival Orchestra and in Oslo with Oslo Baroque Orchestra. He also sang recitals in Berlin, Weimar, Volda and Oslo with music by composers such as Schumann, Britten, Mahler and Grieg.
2014 has so far included Melisso in Alcina at the Norwegian National Opera, Corpo in Cavalieri's La rappresentazione di anima at the Staatsoper Berlin, Beethoven's Missa solemnis in Utrecht with Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra as well as in Warsaw with Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra, Handel's La Resurrezione in Madrid, Brussels, Versailles and Krakow with Le Cercle de l'harmonie, Cantatas by Bach at the Bachfest Leipzig, and Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem with Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra,
Johannes has recorded the title role in Don Giovanni, Telemann's Brockes Passion, Haydn's Die Schöpfung and Bach's St Matthew Passion - all with René Jacobs, Haydn's Applausus with Andreas Spering, Achilla in Giulio Cesare and Licaone in Handel's Giove in Argo with Alan Curtis, David in Staale Kleiberg's David and Bathsheba and a highly acclaimed CD with songs by Grieg.