Dan Karlström
The Finnish Spieltenor Dan Karlström is distinguished not only by his vocal brilliance in the higher registers, but in particular by his versatility and his ability to transform himself as a performer. His repertoire encompasses numerous roles from opera, operetta and musical theatre, making him indispensable not only at his home company, Leipzig Opera, but also a sought-after guest artist internationally.
Highlights of the 2026/27 season include Mime in a semi-staged performance of Siegfried in Singapore, the Innkeeper in Der Rosenkavalier at Dresden’s Semperoper, Monostatos in The Magic Flute at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, and the tenor role in Alexander Raskatov’s oratorio Green Mass with the MDR Symphony Orchestra under Dennis Russell Davies at Leipzig’s Gewandhaus.
At Leipzig Opera, he can be seen in The Flying Dutchman, The Magic Flute, La traviata, Hansel and Gretel, Nabucco, Tosca, Carmen, Salome, as well as in the new productions of Eugene Onegin, Le nozze di Figaro and Il tabarro.
In Leipzig, where Karlström has been a permanent ensemble member since 2001, he has sung roles including Mime/The Ring of the Nibelung, David/The Mastersingers of Nuremberg, Steersman/The Flying Dutchman, Boles/Peter Grimes, Luzio/The Forbidden Love, the Gingerbread Witch/Hansel and Gretel, Monostatos/The Magic Flute, Don Basilio/Le nozze di Figaro, Prince/Lulu, Spoletta/Tosca, Pong/Turandot, Roderigo/Otello, Goro/Madama Butterfly, Hunter/Rusalka and Veit in Albert Lortzing’s Undine.
In Leipzig, wo Karlström schon seit 2001 festes Ensemblemitglied ist, sang er Rollen wie Mime/Der Ring des Nibelungen, David/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Steuermann/Der fliegende Holländer, Boles/Peter Grimes, Luzio/Das Liebesverbot, Knusperhexe/Hänsel und Gretel, Monostatos/Die Zauberflöte, Don Basilio/Le nozze di Figaro, Prinz/Lulu, Spoletta/Tosca, Pong/Turandot, Roderigo/Otello, Goro/Madama Butterfly, Jäger/Rusalka oder Veit in Albert Lortzings Undine.
Sein Repertoire umfasst ebenfalls Partien wie Walther von der Vogelweide/Tannhäuser, Tamino/Die Zauberflöte, Cassio/Otello, Truffaldino/Die Liebe zu den drei Orangen und Judas/Jesus Christ Superstar, die ihn an renommierte Häuser wie die Semperoper Dresden, die Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, die Komische Oper Berlin, die Hungarian State Opera in Budapest sowie die Bayreuther Festspiele führten.
In Leipzig, where Karlström has been a permanent ensemble member since 2001, he has sung roles such as Mime/Der Ring des Nibelungen, David/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Steuermann/Der fliegende Holländer, Boles/Peter Grimes, Luzio/Das Liebesverbot, Knusperhexe/Hänsel und Gretel, Monostatos/Die Zauberflöte, Don Basilio/Le nozze di Figaro, Prinz/Lulu, Spoletta/Tosca, Pong/Turandot, Roderigo/Otello, Goro/Madama Butterfly, Jäger/Rusalka and Veit in Albert Lortzing’s Undine. His repertoire also includes roles such as Walther von der Vogelweide/Tannhäuser, Tamino/The Magic Flute, Cassio/Otello, Truffaldino/The Love for Three Oranges and Judas/Jesus Christ Superstar, which have taken him to renowned houses including Dresden’s Semperoper, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest, as well as the Bayreuth Festival.
Particular highlights as a guest artist have included his Mime in the Ring at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Piet vom Fass in Le Grand Macabre at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, as well as the title roles in Zemlinsky’s The Dwarf at Theater Chemnitz and The Tales of Hoffmann at Halle Opera. In Italy, he has also appeared as the Dancing Master in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and as the Fourth Jew in Salome at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples.
He has a close and long-standing relationship with the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki, where he made his debut as Tobias in Sweeney Todd and has since appeared, among others, as Mime, Witch, Pong/Turandot, Lindorf, Coppelius, Dapertutto and Dr. Miracle/Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Pedrillo/Die Entführung aus dem Serail, as well as Yonas in Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater. He is also a welcome guest at the Savonlinna Opera Festival.
Dan Karlström has worked with conductors including Marc Albrecht, Ralf Weikert, Asher Fisch, Sakari Oramo, Patrick Fournillier, Ulf Schirmer and Christoph Gedschold, as well as with directors including Peter Sellars, Claus Guth, Robert Carsen and Francisco Negrín.
His concert repertoire includes key works by J.S. Bach and Handel, Mozart and Rossini, Beethoven and Orff. In recent seasons, he has been heard at Theater Magdeburg in the tenor part of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, at the Lausitz Festival in concert performances of Candide, and at Theater Pori in Mahler’s The Song of the Earth.
Der in Åland geborene Tenor studierte an der Sibelius Akademie in Helsinki und arbeitete später u.a. mit Herbert Brauer in Berlin sowie in Meisterklassen bei Jaakko Ryhänen, Tom Krause und Elisabeth Werres. Bevor er dem Ensemble der Oper Leipzig beitrat, war er fest engagiert in Wuppertal und am Staatstheater Darmstadt.