The bass Magnus Piontek is a much sought-after opera and oratorio singer. Among his parade roles are the major roles of Wagner and the romantic oratorio. Starting his freelance career in the season 2022/23 he will make his debuts as Grande Inquisitor in Verdi’s Don Carlos at Theater Osnabrück, as Colline in La Boheme at Semperoper Dresden, King Marke in Tristan with Radio Symphony Orchestra Prague as well as King Treff in Love of three oranges in Bonn.
In season 2021/22 he made his critically acclaimed debut at Oper Leipzig as Jeronimus (Maskarade), at Staatstheater Kassel as Doktor (Wozzeck) and at Oper Bonn as Un Frate (Don Carlo). After successful debuts as Timur (Turandot), Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte) and Rocco (Fidelio), he took on further roles in the 2019/20 season, such as the title role in Boito’s Mefistofele and King Heinrich (Lohengrin).
The Asian tour of the Komische Oper Berlin in autumn 2019, during which he performed again as Sarastro (Magic Flute), was another highlight of his career.
In the spring of 2019 he appeared in a DLF radio production as Hunding in Wagner’s Die Walküre alongside Klaus-Florian Vogt and Catherine Foster. In 2016 he made his debut at the Semperoper Dresden, where he has appeared since then as Bartolo (Le nozze di figaro), Méru (Die Hugenotten), Zeremonienmeister (Doktor Faustus) and Priester (Moses und Aron). Since 2016/2017 Magnus Piontek has established himself at the Chemnitz Theatre with the leading Wagnerian roles Gurnemanz (Parsifal), Landgraf (Tannhäuser), Veit Pogner (Meistersinger) as well as Fasolt, Hunding and Fafner in Der Ring des Nibelungen. During his studies Magnus Piontek made his debut in 2012 at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, where he appeared in many Italian and German roles as well as in numerous world premieres.
In addition to his operatic activities, Magnus Piontek devotes himself to the oratorio repertoire and has performed Verdi’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Paulus, Bach’s Mass in B minor, Martin’s In terra pax and Haydn’s Creation among others. Guest appearances have taken him to the theatres of Münster, Braunschweig and Pforzheim as well as to the Mozart Festival in Würzburg, the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden and the Berliner Philharmonie.
He has worked with renowned conductors, such as Alan Gilbert, Dan Ettinger, Gotthold Schwarz, Pietari Inkinen, famous directors, such as Peter Konwitschny, Achim Freyer, Calixto Bieito, Balázs Kovalik and prominent ensembles, such as Berliner Philharmoniker, Concerto Köln, musikFabrik, Lautten Compagney Berlin, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.
Magnus Piontek studied conducting with Prof. Marcus Creed (Cologne), voice with Prof. Rudolf Piernay (Mannheim) and during that time was a scholarship holder of the Richard-Wagner-Verband Heidelberg and the Deutsche Bank Foundation Akademie Musiktheater heute.
Magnus Piontek was born in Bonn in 1985 and currently lives in Leipzig. He speaks German, English, Russian, Arabic, Italian, French and started learning Korean.
