Stephen Milling

Danish bass Stephen Milling was trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, and joined the Royal Danish Opera in 1994 where he debuted a number of roles now central to his repertoire and recent guest appearances in Copenhagen include as Daland, Sarastro and Rocco.

International debuts at Teatro alla Scala as Don Fernando in Fidelio under Riccardo Muti, and as both Fasolt and Hunding in The Seattle Opera’s new Ring Cycle in 2000 paved an early way to today’s thriving global career.

Milling ranks among the world’s foremost interpreters of Wagner’s repertoire. Strongly associated with the role of Hagen since his critically acclaimed 2015 role debut at the Bayreuth Festival under Kirill Petrenko. His portrayal at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden’s Ring Cycle, conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano, was hailed by audience and critics alike, the Financial Times writing:

– Stephen Milling is outstanding as Hagen, singing with huge power, but also scrupulous in his care for the text and phrasing.

Other Wagner highlights include Hunding in Die Walküre at The Metropolitan Opera, Daland in Der fliegende Holländer at Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, and König Marke in Tristan und Isolde at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden under the baton of Daniel Barenboim.

Stephen Milling made his debut with Berliner Philharmoniker in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem under Mariss Jansons, and features on several CDs including Les Troyens with London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Colin Davis. On DVD he stars in Der Ring des Nibelungen staged in Valencia by La Fura dels Baus.

After singing Sarastro here in Bergen this autumn, he will join Thomas Oliemans (Papageno) spring 2023 when Simon McBurney's version of The Magic Flute is performed at The Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Updated August 2022