Weikl, Bernd

Weikl, Bernd, esteemed Austrian baritone; b. Vienna, July 29, 1942. He received his training at the Mainz Cons. (1962-65) and the Hannover Hochschule für Musik (1965-67). In 1968 he made his operatic debut as Ottakar in Der Freischütz at the Hannover Opera, where he sang until 1970. From 1970 to 1973 he was a member of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf. In 1971 he made his first appearance at the Salzburg Easter Festival as Melot in Tristan und Isolde. In 1972 he sang for the first time at the Bayreuth Festival as Wolfram. He appeared at the Hamburg State Opera (from 1973) and at the Berlin Deutsche Opera (from 1974). In 1975 he made his debut at London’s Covent Garden as Rossini’s Figaro. In 1976 he created the role of Ferdinand in Einem’s Kabale und Liebe in Vienna. On Dec. 22, 1977, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Wolfram, where he returned in such roles as Amfortas, Jochanaan, Beethoven’s Don Fernando, and Mandryka. He was a soloist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at his Salzburg Festival debut in 1984. His portrayal of Hans Sachs was greatly admired, and he sang that role at Milan’s La Scala and at Covent Garden in 1990 and at the Metropolitan Opera and the San Francisco Opera in 1993. In 1995 he was engaged as Amfortas at the Bayreuth Festival. He portrayed Jochanaan at the Metropolitan Opera in 1996 and at the San Francisco Opera in 1997. On March 21, 1999, he sang Wagner’s Dutchman at the opening of the new Macau Cultural Centre. As a concert artist, he appeared widely in oratorio and lieder performances.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire