Biography

Bassist Yorck Felix Speer received his vocal training from Hanna Schwarz, Brigitte Fassbaender and Andreas Schmidt, among others. He studied German language and literature and theology. His extensive concert and opera repertoire ranges from Schütz, Buxtehude, Bach and Handel to Haydn, Mozart, Rossini, Beethoven and Brahms, as well as the great bass roles in the Wagner repertoire. 

Numerous engagements have taken him to renowned venues and festivals, where he has worked with conductors such as Ivor Bolton, Marc Minkowski, Thomas Hengelbrock, Roger Norrington, Semyon Bychkov, Francois-Xavier Roth, Enoch zu Guttenberg, Philippe Herreweghe, Marek Janowski, Trevor Pinnock and Kristjan Järvi.

He made his opera debut as Sarastro in The Magic Flute, followed by engagements at the Cologne Opera in Schreker's Die Gezeichneten and Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde/Marke and Der fliegende Holländer/Daland in the Netherlands, Die Walküre/Hunding in the RING production in Kassel and Daland at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Italy. 

In 21/22, he made his house debut in new productions at the Zurich Opera House in Le nozze di Figaro/Bartolo and at the Theater St. Gallen as Sarastro in The Magic Flute, with invitations to return in the 22/23 season.  Further important role debuts followed with Rocco in Fidelio and Fasolt in Rheingold, including in the Netherlands and in Southeast Asia, in Singapore. In the concert field, he toured with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and Schumann's rarely performed opera Genoveva, and also sang Verdi's Requiem with the German State Philharmonic Rhineland-Palatinate and the Bach Choir Mainz, as well as at the Teatro Verdi in Florence.

At the start of the 23/24 season, he will become a member of the ensemble at the renowned Leipzig Opera, where he will perform important roles in revivals and new productions such as Sarastro/ Magic Flute, Hunding/Valkyrie, Commendatore/ Don Giovanni, Orest/Elektra, Hobson/Peter Grimes and, in the 24/25 season, Oroveso/Norma, Daland/The Flying Dutchman, Eremit/Freischütz and Fasolt/Rheingold. A particular highlight was his debut as Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier and the Missa Solemnis at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. 

In the 2025/26 season, Yorck Felix Speer will perform in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis under Florian Helgath at the Zurich Singakademie and will take on the roles of Oroveso/Norma, Hagen/Götterdämmerung, Daland/Der fliegende Holländer, Sarastro/Die Zauberflöte, Marke/Tristan and Simon in the opera premiere of Lortzing's Regina.

Radio and CD productions document his career, including Ferdinand Ries' opera Die Räuberbraut with WDR and Richard Wagner's Das Liebesverbot with MDR under Kristjan Järvi. Many recordings have also been released with works by Bach and Haydn under the direction of Helmuth Rilling. Handel's Messiah and Saul, Mendelssohn's Elijah and Beethoven's Missa Solemnis are also among his recordings. In 2024, César Franck's Les Béatitudes was released with the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège.

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www.felix-speer.de

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Photo: Bettina Naehring

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Photo: Bettina Naehring

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Photo: Bettina Naehring

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Video
G. Mahler: "Revelge"

Yorck-Felix SpeerW.A. Mozart: "O wie will ich triumphieren"

Yorck-Felix Speer

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