Tómas Tómasson

The Icelandic bass-baritone Tómas Tómasson is one of the most impressive singing actors on the international opera scene, distinguished by his “dark vocal richness and impressive stage presence” (DC Theatre Scene). A celebrated interpreter of modern music, he has appeared in numerous major world premieres.

His wide-ranging repertoire extends from Verdi and Puccini to Wagner and Richard Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Prokofiev, as well as Zemlinsky, Glass and contemporary music.

In the current 2026/27 season, Tómasson returns as Maljuta-Skuratow in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Die Zarenbraut at the Staatsoper Berlin, as Kaspar in a new production of Der Freischütz at the Staatsoper Prag, as Amfortas and Klingsor in Parsifal at the Goetheanum, and as Fasolt in a concert performance of Das Rheingold in Hangzhou.

Throughout his career, Tómasson has appeared on the stages of numerous renowned opera houses and concert venues around the world, including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scala Milan, the Wiener Staatsoper, Opéra National de Paris, Bayerische Staatsoper München, Dresdner Semperoper, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Oper Köln, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro Regio Turin, Teatro San Carlo Naples, Teatro Real de Madrid, Théâtre de la Monnaie Brussels, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam, Royal Danish Opera Copenhagen, Lyric Opera Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera and New National Theatre Tokyo.

There, he has worked with conductors including Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, Antonio Pappano, Andris Nelsons, Simone Young, René Jacobs, Fabio Luisi, Stefan Soltesz, Hartmut Haenchen, Mark Elder, Carlo Rizzi, James Conlon, Juraj Valčuha, Ingo Metzmacher, Jakub Hrůša, Lorin Maazel and Semyon Bychkov.

Recent highlights in modern and contemporary music have included the roles of Wesener in Zimmermann’s Die Soldaten (in concert with the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln), Löwel Perl in Penderecki’s Die Schwarze Maske (in concert with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra), Créon in the world premiere of Pascal Dusapin’s Antigone with the Orchestre de Paris and Klaus Mäkelä, as well as the Man in Black in the world premiere of Péter Eötvös’ opera Sleepless at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, with subsequent performances in Geneva and Budapest.

Further highlights included Dino in the world premiere of Beat Furrer’s La Bianca Notte at the Hamburgische Staatsoper, as well as Amfortas in the much-discussed world premiere of Jonathan Meese’s Mondparsifal Alpha 1-8 at the Wiener Festwochen under Simone Young and in Mondparsifal Beta 9-23 at the Berliner Festspiele.

Among his most successful roles on the opera stage are Amfortas and Klingsor in Parsifal, Telramund in Lohengrin, the Holländer in Der fliegende Holländer, Scarpia in Tosca, Jochanaan in Salome, Orest in Elektra, Wotan in Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, the Wanderer in Siegfried, Alberich in Ring, Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Tomski in Pique Dame, Dikój in Katia Kabanova, Jaroslav Prus in Die Sache Makropulos, Don Pizarro in Fidelio, the Ruler in Das Wunder der Heliane, Napoleon in Prokofiev’s Krieg und Frieden, as well as the title roles in Wozzeck and Reimann’s Lear.

On the concert platform, he performs works including Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Mahler’s Eighth Symphony.

Tómasson studied at the Reykjavik College of Music and the Royal College of Music in London, where he graduated with distinction.