Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke
One of his signature roles is the sly smith Mime in The Ring.
Tenor Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke from Zell am See in Austria studied at the Musikhochschule in Vienna, before he got an engagement at Landstheater Linz in 1983, and later also at Theater Basel and Gärtnerplatztheater in Vienna. 1997 he made his début at Opéra National de Paris. He has performedat acclaimed opera houses like La Scala in Milan and The Met in New York – and also at outstanding festivals as in Salzburg, Bregenz and Aix-en-Provence. He is also a regular guest at the Glyndebourne-festival in England, where he among others played a daring version of the Witch in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.
One of his signature roles is the smith Mime in Das Rheingold, whom he will also perform autumn 2019 at Staatsoper unter den Linden in Berlin, conducted by Daniel Barenboim. Herodes is also a well known role for him, among others at Opernhaus Zürich and Wiener Staatsoper (2017):
– He put in an absolutely first-class performance as the Tetrarch. His jerky mannerism and facial expressions were all perfectly placed, his erratic behavior gloriously bizarre. He even managed to be fascinated and aroused by Salome’s dance. Here was a man who had definitely fallen into the abyss. Moreover, his acting was matched by his singing. Ablinger-Sperrhacke possesses a strong and flexible tenor with a pleasant tone, which he colored subtly to successfully underline his irrational behavior. (Operawire about Ablinger-Sperrhacke as Herodes at Wiener Staatsoper 2017)
Summer 2019 he was this tormented tetrarch again, then with Bayerische Staatsoper in their new production of Salome at the Münchner Opernfestspiele, lead by Kirill Petrenko, which also will be performed in October.
Many will also remember Ablinger-Sperrhacke as soloist with the Bergen Philharmonic in 2015, then as Klaus the fool (Klaus Narr) i Schönberg’s Gurre-Lieder conducted by Edward Gardner.
Update: Ablinger-Sperrhacke was to sing Herodes in Salome at Bergen International Festival (Festspillene i Bergen) May 2020, but due to Covid-19, both performances were cancelled.
