Johannes Weisser was born in 1980 in Norway. He studied at the Music Conservatory in Copenhagen and at the Royal Danish Academy of Opera in Copenhagen with Susanna Eken. He has quickly made a name for himself as one of the most exciting up-and-coming Scandinavian singers.
In the spring of 2004, at the age of 23, he made his debut at the Norwegian National Opera as well as at the Komische Oper Berlin, in both houses as Masetto in Don Giovanni.
Since then he has appeared as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte at the Salzburg Festival, the title role in Don Giovanni at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der alten Musik, Baden-Baden, Komische Oper Berlin, Norwegian National Opera and in concert performances in Paris, Brussels and Cologne, Giove in Cavalli’s La Calisto at Théâtre de La Monnaie in Brussels, Mr. Flint in Billy Bud at Opera Bilbao, Tobit in Haydn’s Il ritorno di Tobia in Rome, and Valens in Handel’s Theodora in Cuenca. He has also sung Papageno in The Magic Flute, Schaunard in La Bohème, Plutone and Pastore 4 in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and a gala with arias by Mozart at the Norwegian National Opera, Leporello in Don Giovanni and King Theseus in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Royal Danish Opera, Adonis in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis at the Flanders Festival Bruges, and Valens in Handel’s Theodora in Cologne as well as in Ambronay.
Johannes Weisser is a much sought after concert and oratorio singer and he regularly appears in concert venues and festivals throughout Europe. He has already built a considerable repertoire that spans music from the early 17th Century works of Monteverdi up to 20th Century works of Weill and Britten. He is an exceptionally communicative “Lied”-singer. His concerts have attracted much attention and have been highly praised, notably the concerts with the pianist Leif Ove Andsnes.
He has worked with conductors such as Rinaldo Alessandrini, Alfredo Bernardini, Fabio Biondi, Iona Brown, Francesco Corti, Alan Curtis, Ottavio Dantone, Stéphane Denève, Laurence Equilbey, Adam Fischer, Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, Fredrik Malmberg, Juanjo Mena, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Andris Nelsons, Kirill Petrenko, George Petrou, Daniel Reuss, Kwame Ryan, Andreas Spering, Christoph Spering and Andrew Wilder.
Engagements in 2010 included Guglielmo in Così fan tutte at Opéra national du Rhin Strasbourg as well as in semi-staged performances in Paris, Brussels and Lisbon, recording as well as concerts in Vienna and La Coruña of Licaone in Handel’s Giove in Argo, Bach’s St. John Passion in Bordeaux, Cantatas by Bach in France, Germany and Switzerland with the Freiburger Barockorchester, Ramiro in Ravel's L'heure espagnole at the Edinburgh International Festival, Handel’s Messiah in Madrid, Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle in Kristiansand and Fauré’s Requiem in Moss.
2011 has started with Garzia in Attilio Ariosti’s La Fede nei tradimenti in Vienna, Siena and Montpellier, Arsitobolo in Handel’s Berenice in Vienna, Agamemnon in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide in Athens, arias by Mozart with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Bach’s St. John Passion with Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder in Hasselt (Belgium), Ramiro in Ravel's L'heure espagnole with Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s Mass in B minor in Leipzig and Zürich.
Johannes has recorded the title role in Don Giovanni, Telemann’s Brockes Passion, and Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with René Jacobs for Harmonia Mundi, Haydn’s Applausus with Andreas Spering (Capriccio), Licaone in Handel’s Giove in Argo with Alan Curtis (to be released), and a CD with songs by Grieg for Simax.
forthcoming ENGAGEMENTS
Kleiberg - David og Bathsheba / Bathsheba - CD recording
Tõnu Kaljuste, conductor
Handel - Messiah - Oslo
Vigdis Oftung, conductor
Handel - Giulio Cesare / Achilla - Tour + recording
Alan Curtis, conductor
Handel - Deidemia / Licomede - Tour
Alan Curtis, conductor
Haydn - Die Schöpfung - Rennes
Olari Elts, conductor
Haydn - Die Schöpfung - Paris
Laurence Equilbey, conductor
Mozart - Così fan tutte / Guglielmo - Dijon
Christophe Rousset, conductor
Haydn - Die Schöpfung - Oslo
Grethe Pedersen, conductor
Cavalieri - La rappresentazione di anime / Corpo - Staatsoper Berlin
René Jacobs, conductor
Mozart - Don Giovanni / Don Giovanni - Copenhagen
NN, conductor
Bach - St. Matthew Passion / Christ - Brussels, Rheingau + recording
René Jacobs, conductor
Grieg - Peer Gynt / Peer Gynt - Cologne, Essen, Dortmund
Marc Minkowski, conductor / Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Bach - St. John's Passion - Paris
Laurence Equilbey, conductor
Handel - Agrippina / Pallante - Tour + recording
Alan Curtis, conductor
Grieg - Peer Gynt / Peer Gynt - London
Marc Minkowski, conductor / BBC Symphony Orchestra
Handel - Arianna in Creta / Minos - Tour + recording
Alan Curtis, conductor
August 2011