Biography

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

Numerous engagements have taken him to renowned opera houses 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 operatic debut as Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, 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. 21/22 followed house debuts in new productions at the Zurich Opera House in Le nozze di Figaro/Bartolo and at the St. Gallen Theatre as Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte and with revival invitations in the 22/23 season. Further important role debuts followed with Rocco in Fidelio and Fasolt in Rheingold, among others in the Netherlands and in South East Asia, in Singapore. In concert, he toured with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and Schumann's rarely performed opera Genoveva, and also sang the Verdi Requiem with the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and the Bachchor Mainz, as well as at the Teatro Verdi in Florence.

Since the beginning of the 23/24 season, he has been a member of the ensemble at the renowned Leipzig Opera, where he can be heard in important specialist 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 as Oroveso/ Norma, Daland/ Flying Dutchman, Hermit/ Freischütz, Fasolt / Rheingold. A particular highlight is his debut as Baron Ochs in Rosenkavalier this season and the Missa Solemnis at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.

Radio and CD productions document his career, including Ferdinand Ries' opera “Die Räuberbraut” on WDR and Richard Wagner's Das Liebesverbot under Kristjan Järvi on MDR. 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.

---

Artist Website

www.felix-speer.de

Management

Artist Manager

News

Media

Images
Portrait
Photo: Bettina Naehring

Download availablePortrait
Photo: Bettina Naehring

Download availablePortrait
Photo: Bettina Naehring

Download available

---

Video
G. Mahler: "Revelge"

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

Yorck-Felix Speer

---

Press

---

---