Ain Anger (born 17 June 1971) is an Estonian opera

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

Life and career

Born in Kihelkonna, Anger grew up on the Estonian island Saaremaa. He commenced his vocal training at Tallinn's Academy of Music in 1996. After initial professional experience in Estonia, he broadened his repertoire with Leipzig Opera before joining the Ensemble of the Vienna State Opera in the 2004/2005 season. Since his house debut as Monterone ('' Rigoletto'') he has sung over 40 roles on Vienna's main stage including Sarastro ('' Die Zauberflöte''), Philippe II ('' Don Carlos''), Sparafucile (''Rigoletto''), Titurel ('' Parsifal''), Daland ('' Der fliegende Holländer''), Pogner (''

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...

''), Varlaam (''

Boris Godunov Borís Fyodorovich Godunóv (; russian: Борис Фёдорович Годунов; 1552 ) ruled the Tsardom of Russia as ''de facto'' regent from c. 1585 to 1598 and then as the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. After the end of his ...

''), Padre Guardiano (''

La forza del destino ' (; ''The Power of Fate'', often translated ''The Force of Destiny'') is an Italian opera by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on a Spanish drama, ' (1835), by Ángel de Saavedra, 3rd Duke of Rivas, wi ...

''), Heinrich ('' Lohengrin''), Zaccaria ('' Nabucco''), Fiesco ('' Simone Boccanegra''), Hermann ('' Tannhäuser'') and Hunding ('' Die Walküre''). Guest engagements have taken Anger to Berlin, Munich, Paris and Tokyo (on tour with the Vienna State Opera) as well as to the Savonlinna, Helsinki, Bergen and

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

festivals. Anger made his

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

debut in 2009 as Fafner in both '' Das Rheingold'' and ''

Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

'' with Christian Thielemann, and it was under

Lorin Maazel Lorin Varencove Maazel (, March 6, 1930 – July 13, 2014) was an American conductor, violinist and composer. He began conducting at the age of eight and by 1953 had decided to pursue a career in music. He had established a reputation in th ...

that he made his US debut in 2002 in the title part of Rodion Shchedrin's ''The Enchanted Wanderer'' with the New York Philharmonic. Equally at home on the concert platform, recent seasons have seen Anger's debut with the

San Francisco Symphony The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Fr ...

in Beethoven's ''

Missa Solemnis {{Audio, De-Missa solemnis.ogg, Missa solemnis is Latin for Solemn Mass, and is a genre of musical settings of the Mass Ordinary, which are festively scored and render the Latin text extensively, opposed to the more modest Missa brevis. In French ...

'' (under Michael Tilson Thomas) and in Verdi's

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

( James Conlon) as well as Orest in Strauss' ''

Elektra Electra was a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra in Greek mythology. Electra or Elektra may also refer to: Greek mythology *Electra (Pleiad), one of the Pleiades * Electra, one of the Danaids, daughter of Danaus and Polyxo * Electra (Oc ...

'' with the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...

(Charles Dutoit) and Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra ( Mariss Jansons). Anger has also appeared as guest soloist with orchestras in New York, Cleveland, Saint Louis, Stockholm and Tokyo and has worked with renowned conductors including Lorin Maazel, Christian Thielemann,

Seiji Ozawa Seiji (written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or in hiragana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese ski jumper *, Japanese racing driver *, Japanese politician *, Japanese film directo ...

, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti and Esa-Pekka Salonen. 2013 he made his debut at Milan's Scala. Anger will make his Edinburgh International Festival debut in August 2019 in

Wagner's Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

'' Götterdämmerung'' with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Sir Andrew Davis. 2013 he was rewarded the

Order of the White Star The Order of the White Star ( et, Valgetähe teenetemärk; french: Ordre de l'Etoile Blanche) was instituted in 1936. The Order of the White Star is bestowed on Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic ...

. On 12 June 2020 he was rewarded in Vienna with the title Kammersänger."Ain Anger und Peter Rose zum Kammersänger ernannt"
Vienna State Opera, 12 June 2020 Anger is married and father of three children. He lives with his family in Vienna, Austria.

References

External links

Ain Anger, bass
HarrisonParrot {{DEFAULTSORT:Anger, Ain 1971 births Living people People from Saaremaa Parish Operatic basses Österreichischer Kammersänger Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre alumni 20th-century Estonian male opera singers 21st-century Estonian male opera singers Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 3rd Class