Donald E. Osborne,  Director California Artists Management 564 Market Street, Suite 420, San Francisco, CA  94104-5412 415 362-2787 / fax: 415 362-2838 / Skype: calartistsdon  / Email

Susan Endrizzi Morris,  Director California Artists Management P.O. Box  2479, Mendocino, CA  95460-2479 707-937-4787 / cell: 415-302-1083 / Skype: sueendrizzi / Email

Download Bio

Robert Holl Bass baritone

One of the major singers of our time, Robert Holl was born in Rotterdam where he studied singing with Jan Veth and David Hollestelle. He studied later with the renowned bass-baritone Hans Hotter in Munich. In 1971 he won First Prize at the International Singing Competition's-Hertogenbosch. A year later he won First Prize at the ARD Competition in Munich. He became a member of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich from 1973-1975, but worked primarily as a concert singer.

The 1980’s brought more frequent work in opera. He has appeared frequently with the Vienna State Opera, Brussels Opera and since 1991 with Zurich Opera in such roles as the Speaker and Sarastro in The Magic Flute, Gremin in Eugene Onegin, Basilio in Il Barber of Seville, Assyria in Semiramide, La Roche in Capriccio, Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte, Aquarius in Rusalka and Robert in The Devil Lustschloss, working under such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Franz Welser-Möst.

Among many notable performances at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin working with Daniel Barenboim, Robert Holl sang the roles of Landgraf Hermann in Tannhäuser,  the Commendatore  in Don Giovanni, Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Daland  in Der Fliegender Hollander. He sang Sachs in a revival of Die Meistersinger with Peter Schneider at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2008 and again in 2009 in a new production forf Cologne Opera, directed by Uwe Eric Laufenberg.

More recent appreances with the Vienna State Opera include Landgraf Hermann in Tannhäuser, King Marke in Tristan und Isolde (conducted by Christian Thielemann, Franz Welser-Möst and Peter Schneider) and Gurnemanz in Parsifal under Donald Runnicles. In 2006/07 and 2007/08 he sang Pimen in Boris Godunov in new production under Daniele Gatti.

From 1996 to 2002 Robert Holl sang the role of Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg numerous times at the Bayreuth Festival under Daniel Barenboim and Christian Thielemann). From 2004 to 2007 he was Gurnemanz in Schlingensief production of Parsifal in Bayreuth under Pierre Boulez and Adam Fischer). In 2008 and 2009 he sang King Marke there in Tristan und Isolde.

For his entire career, Robert Holl has been an extremely successful and much sought concert singer, performing with the most renowned conductors and orchestras in Europe, the United States and Japan. Above all, he is one of the great lieder singers of our time. His particular passion is the German and the Russian song repertoire, particularly Schubert Lieder. He regularly can be heard in recitals in the musical centers of Europe, Israel, the United States, Russia and Japan.

Robert Holl is a regular guest at the major international festivals of Europe. He sang several times as part of the "Moscow Winter" at the invitation of Sviatoslav Richter. He has had innumerable radio and television appearances. More than a hundred recordings and CDs with renowned conductors and an extensive discography of art song with Andras Schiff and Oleg Maisenberg as collaborators on the piano, document the versatility of this singer. His original compositions (songs and piano pieces) have been published by Doblinger and many released on CD.

Robert Holl is the Artistic Director of "Schubertiades" in Holland and Austria and regularly presents the series "Poetry and Music" at the Brahms-Saal of the Musikverein in Vienna. He gives masterclasses throughout the world.

The recipient of numerous awards and distinctions, in 1990 Robert Holl was awarded the Austrian title of Kammersänger. In 1997 he became an honorary member of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde of the Musikverein in Vienna and an honorary member of the Carinthian Summer Festival. In 2005 he received the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, First Class and in October 2007 the Knight’s Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion from his hometown of Rotterdam.

Since 1998 Robert Holl has been Professor of Lied and Oratorio at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Vienna.