Ain Anger

(bass)

EDUCATION AND WORK
Ain Anger studied singing at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (1992–1996) with Ivo Kuusk, Virgilijus Noreika and Matti Pelo. In 1993–2001, Anger sang at the Estonian National Opera and in 2001–2004 he was the soloist of the Leipzig Opera.
Ain Anger joined the ensemble of Vienna State Opera in 2004, but he is also a frequent guest at major opera houses and concert halls around the world. He performs regularly in Berlin, Munich, Milano, Paris, Tokyo, New York, San Francisco, Sydney, etc. He has also sung at opera festivals in Bayreuth, Helsinki, Bergen, Luzern, Savonlinna, etc. He made his US debut in 2002 with the title part in Shchedrin’s “The Enchanted Wanderer” together with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (cond. Lorin Maazel). In the season 2012/13 he made his debut at Milano La Scala as Daland in “Der fliegende Holländer” (conductor Hartmut Haenchen) and Barcelona Gran Teatre del Liceu (conductor Josep Pons). Besides his roles in Vienna State Opera, he also sang at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (conductor Ulf Shirmer), Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich (conductor Kent Nagano), Oper Frankfurt (conductor Sebastian Weigle), Nederlandse Opera (conductor Marc Albrecht), Paris Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (conductor Jean-Christophe Spinosi), Lyric Opera of Chicago (conductor Sir Andrew Davis) and Tokyo Opera Nomori.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In 2013, Ain Anger won the Annual Estonian Theatre Award and the President of the Estonian Republic awarded him with the 3rd Class Order of the White Star. In 2014, he was awarded the Cultural Endowment of Estonia in the category of music. On 12 June 2020, Estonian bass Ain Anger was awarded the honorary title of Kammersänger by the government of Austria as the first Estonian. The title of Kammersänger is the highest recognition awarded by Austrian and German governments.

REPERTOIRE
Philippe II and Grand Inquisitor (Verdi’s “Don Carlos”)
Sarastro (Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte”)
Gremin (Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin”)
Boris Godunov and Pimen (Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov”)
Dosifei (Mussorgsky’s “Khovanshchina”)
Fiesco (Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra”)
Wagner’s Pogner (“Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg”)
Daland (Wagner’s “Der fliegende Holländer”)
King Heinrich (Wagner’s “Lohengrin”)
Hermann (Wagner’s “Tannhäuser”)
Hunding (Wagner’s “Die Walküre”)
Titurel (Wagner’s “Parsifal”)

In 2017, Ain debuted in one of his favourite roles as Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” at Deutsche Oper Berlin and as Hagen (“Götterdämmerung”) at the Canadian Opera Company that both garnered universal acclaim.

Concert repertoire:
Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis” (San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas)
Verdi’s “Requiem” (San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, conductor James Conlon)
Strauss’ “Elektra” (The Philadelphia Orchestra, conductor Charles Dutoit)
Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, conductor Mariss Jansons; Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, conductor Paavo Järvi).

Ain Anger has also performed with the symphony orchestras of New York, Cleveland, Saint Louis, Stockholm and Tokyo, and worked with many renowned conductors, such as Lorin Maazel, Christian Thielemann, Seiji Ozawa, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Franz Welser-Möst.