Biography

The bassist, Yorck Felix Speer, obtained his singing education under Theoder Greß, Hanna Schwarz and Alan Speer. He was a masterclass student of Brigitte Fassbaender and Andreas Schmidt and is an awardee of the Queen- Sonja- Music- Competition. Speer studied German and theology and, since 1996, works as a freelance concert singer with increasingly frequent engagements in opera as well.

Yorck Felix Speer worked with conductors, such as Ivor Bolton, Jan Willem de Vriend, Marc Minkowski, Thomas Hengelbrock, Hans- Christoph Rademann, Roger Norrington, Semyon Bychkov, Francois-Xavier Roth, Enoch zu Guttenberg, Philippe Herreweghe, Marek Janowski, Carlos Kalmar, Christoph Pregardien, Trevor Pinnock, Kristjan Järvi, Howard Griffith, Peter Dijkstra, Charles Dutoit, Christopher Hogwood, Claus Peter Flor, Marcus Creed,  Markus Stenz, Christoph Spering, Helmuth Rilling and Ingo Metzmacher.

Engagements led him to renowned houses and festivals, such as the Théâtre de Champs-Elysées and Cité de la Musique Paris, Musikverein and Konzerthaus Vienna, Philharmonie and Konzerthaus Berlin, Mariinski-Theater, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Herkulessaal and Philharmonie am Gasteig Munich, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Semperoper Dresden, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Oper Köln, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Teatro Monumental Madrid, Palau de la Música Catalana Barcelona and Warsaw Philharmonic.
Furthermore, he has been a guest at the Schleswig- Holstein Musikfestival, Festival de Beaune, Rheingau Musik Festivals, Musikfestspiele Dresden, Festspiele Herrenchiemsee, Budapest Spring Festivals, Mozartfestes La Coruňa, Oregon Bach Festivals, Russian Easter Festivals, Beethovenfest Bonn and Bachfest Leipzig.

In 2011 he made his debut as Sarastro at Staatstheater Oldenburg, which was followed by engagements at Opera Cologne in Schrekers “Die Gezeichneten”, as well as his role debut as King Marke in Tristan und Isolde at the Nationale Reisopera Enschede. Furthermore, he sang in the concert version of Der Freischütz under the baton of Thomas Hengelbrock and the NDR  Elbphilharmonie Orchestra.

In the previous seasons he was a frequent guest at the Staatstheater Kassel where he has performed in many premieres: Bartolo/ Marriage of Figaro, Capellio/I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Baculus/Der Wildschütz and his charismatic Hunding/Die Walküre in the new RING production; further highlights include Tannhäuser/Reinmar von Zweter at Opera Cologne under François-Xavier Roth, Daland/Der fliegende Holländer at Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari under Giampaolo Bisanti and at the Nederlandse Reisopera Enschede under Benjamin Levy. In the 21/22 season he made his acclaimed debut at the Zurich Opera House as Bartolo in the new production of Le Nozze di Figaro under the leading team of Stefano Montanari and Jan Philipp Gloger and at the Theater St. Gallen, where he performed Sarastro in the new production of The Magic Flute sang under Katharina Müllner.

In concert he recently has been heard with: Mozart Requiem and the Bamberger Symphoniker, Mozart Requiem under Rinaldo Alessandrini and the Tonkünstler-Orchestra, Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in Hamburg at the Elbphilharmonie with the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg under Markus Poschner, Faust-Scenes at Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival under the baton of Matthias Janz and Klaus Maria Brandauer as narrator, Mozart Requiem together with the Barucco ensemble under Heinz Ferlesch in Vienna, Mozart Requiem under Hansjörg Albrecht and the Haydn- Orchester and the Münchener Bach -Choir in Italy and Munich, Missa Solemnis under Asher Fisch in Bologna and Mendelssohn "Erste Walpurgisnacht" under the direction of Andrés Orozco-Estrada with the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig - in 2020/21 he restarted the season with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra singing the St. John's Passion in a live stream production under Christoph Prégardien and together with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia  under Dima Slobodeniouk he sang the Mozart Requiem in A Coruña. 

In the past season he has performed Mozart's Mass in C minor and Schumann's Das Paradies und di Peri in the Hamburg Laeiszhalle and Bach's Christmas Oratorio in the neuen Wohnung Isarphilharmonie in Munich and he sang the Johannespassion in Basel and Lucerne with the Basel Chamber Orchestra under Christoph Prégardien.

The 22/23 season begins with the WA of Le Nozze di Figaro at the Zurich Opera House, this time under the baton of Christoph König. Tour concerts with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and Schumann's rarely performed opera Genoveva are on the agenda, as well as the Verdi Requiem with the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and the Bachchor Mainz under the direction of Ralf Otto, including a guest performance tour to Italy. He will again sing Sarastro in the WA of The Magic Flute at the St. Gallen Theater and another important role debut is planned at the Nederlandse Reiseopera as Rocco in Fidelio, directed by John Fulljames and co-produced with the Royal Danish Opera and Teatr Wielki Poznań. At the end of the season, Yorck Felix Speer will again be a guest at the Teatro Verdi in Florence with the Verdi Requiem.

Radio and CD productions document his career, most recently he recorded the robber captain Roberto in Ferdinand Ries' opera Die Räuberbraut for WDR and Wagner's Das Liebesverbot under Kristjan Järvi for MDR.

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Artist Website

www.felix-speer.de

Management

Artist Manager

Media

Images
Portrait
Photo: Bettina Naehring

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Photo: Bettina Naehring

Download availablePortrait

Photo: Bettina Naehring

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VideoG. Mahler: "Revelge"

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

Yorck-Felix Speer

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Press
 

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