©Photo: SIMON PAULY

Derek Welton Elektra © Wiener Staatsoper GmbH, Michael Pöhn

©Photo: Wiener Staatsoper GmbH, Michael Pöhn

Derek Welton © Mikel Ponce/Miguel Lorenzo

©Photo: Mikel Ponce/Miguel Lorenzo

©Photo: SIMON PAULY

1333_Chicago Lyric 2018 Cendrillon5 © Todd Rosenberg

©Photo: Todd Rosenberg

©Photo: SIMON PAULY

©Photo: Monika Rittershaus

©Photo: Jeff Busby

Derek Welton

Bass-baritone

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“Perhaps the greatest revelation was Derek Welton’s dark, resonant singing and powerful physical presence as Klingsor. Clearly this young, British-trained Australian is destined for a big Wagnerian career”
(Hugh Canning, Opera, October 2018)

Now firmly established as a noted interpreter of the music of Wagner, Derek Welton made his first foray into this repertoire as Donner (Das Rheingold) under Richard Farnes at Opera North in 2011. He subsequently appeared as Klingsor (Parsifal) at the Beijing Music Festival before joining an all-star cast at the Semperoper Dresden for his first Heerrufer (Lohengrin), conducted by Christian Thielemann and subsequently released on DVD. In 2017, Welton debuted at the Bayreuth Festival as Klingsor under Hartmut Haenchen and was highly acclaimed for his first Wotan (Das Rheingold) at Deutsche Oper Berlin in the final presentation of the historic Götz Friedrich production.

Derek Welton made his debut at the 2017 Salzburg Festival as Herzog von Albany in Aribert Reimann’s Lear conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, a role he reprised at Opéra national de Paris under Fabio Luisi. The 2018/19 season saw two important house debuts: at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Pandolfe (Cendrillon) under Sir Andrew Davis, and at the Bavarian State Opera as Klingsor under Kirill Petrenko. Last season he made his role debut as Orest (Elektra) at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia under Marc Albrecht and returned to the Salzburg Festival in the same role in Krzysztof Warlikowski’s acclaimed production under Welser-Möst.

In the 2020/21 season Derek Welton makes his house debut at the Vienna State Opera as Orest (Welser-Möst), appears as Wotan in a new Das Rheingold at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, directed by Stefan Herheim and conducted by Donald Runnicles, and returns to the stage of the Bavarian State Opera as Klingsor (Welser-Möst). In concert, Welton joins Sir Mark Elder and the Sinfonieorchester Basel as Wanderer/Siegfried, a role he performs for the first time. In addition to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Trondheim Symphony Orchestra under Ha-Na Chang, he makes his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in Stravinsky’s Œdipus Rex, conducted by Kirill Petrenko.

As a member of the Ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin until the close of the 2019/20 season, Derek Welton amassed a wide repertory of roles including Altair (Die ägyptische Helena), Forester (The Cunning Little Vixen), Saint-Bris (Les Huguenots), Mr Flint (Billy Budd) and Peter (Hänsel und Gretel) and starred in new productions of The Makropulos Case under Donald Runnicles, Meyerbeer’s Le prophète under Enrique Mazzola and Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane under Marc Albrecht, released on DVD by Naxos and winner of the Opera of the 20^th/21st Century category at the Opus Klassik 2020 awards.

An accomplished concert performer, Derek has recently appeared in Bluebeard’s Castle at the George Enescu Festival with the Polish National Radio Orchestra under Christian Mandeal, The Epic of Gilgamesh with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under Manfred Honeck, A Child of Our Time with the Gewandhausorchester under Stefan Asbury and Glagolitic Mass with the National Orchestra of Spain under Xian Zhang. He has performed St Matthew Passion with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Pablo Heras-Casado, St John Passion with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Theater an der Wien under Stephen Layton and Messiah with the Hallé under Christian Curnyn. A new recording of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra under Robert Treviño is released on the Ondine label.

Born in Australia, Derek Welton is a graduate of both the University of Melbourne and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Wagner - Das Rheingold - Abendlich strahlt der Sonne Auge full (start 1m11s) © DOB

Korngold: Das Wunder der Heliane © Naxos

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, Op. 125 Choral IV. An die Freude © Brattle Media

Handel: Messiah (excerpt)

Derek Welton has the ideal nobility of voice at his command for the father of the gods, as well as the ability to impress thrillingly at the right moment.’

(U. Ehrensberger, Das Opernglas, July-August 2020)

‘Derek Welton’s Wotan acquitted himself with a powerfully and supremely unfurling, grandly flowing voice’.

(Gerald Felber, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 15 June 2020)

‘At [the head of the cast] was the magnificent Wotan of Derek Welton. He’s an imposing, authoritative presence on stage and unfurled apparently endless smooth, rich tone with a properly noble and heroic ring to it – he stepped in during the last run of Götz Friedrich’s Ring, and when he finally appears in Herheim’s production, he’s likely to be quite something.’

(Hugo Shirley, Bachtrack, 13 June 2020)

“Orest … was sung by the Australian bass-baritone Derek Welton, whose attractive dark timbre fulfilled this heroic and lyrical music … Welton sang with extreme beauty and style, creating a noble character.”

(Mauricio Villa, Opera Wire, 22 January 2020)

“Excellent interpretation and vocal performance from Derek Welton as Herzog von Albany.”

(CONNESSI ALL'OPERA, May 2019)

“… with Derek Welton’s Cardinal Orvieto showing off his deep sonorous bass”

(BACHTRACK, April 2019)

“As Cendrillon’s wife-weary father, Derek Welton was impressive. His resonant bass-baritone supported the well-shaped lines with ease. The confidence Welton gave to the high passages stood out, along with this clarity in his lower register. In Act III, Welton approached the scene with Cendrillon with the intimacy some would associate with Verdi’s famous father-daughter exchanges.”

(SEEN AND HEARD, December 2018)

“… his consolation scene with Cinderella, when all seemed headed for the worst possible end for them both, was stunning in its deep expression of father-daughter love.”

(CHICAGO SUN TIMES, December 2018)

“The Jailer was compassionately sung by Derek Welton”

(Opera Magazine, October 2018)

“Derek Welton shows that Klingsor’s hatred of the Grail World is above all self-loathing. With his comprehension of the text and his vocal sound, he presents himself as one of the best Klingsor performers of recent times.”

(BR Klassik, August 2018)

“Expelled from the order for impure desires, Klingsor’s domain is an Islamic hall where he keeps a secret stash of crosses above, perhaps trophies for every knight Kundry has seduced. At the very least, it’s a room of penitential flagellation and a treat to see robust Australian bass Derek Welton in a brilliant Bayreuth debut, mining the villainy of his character in acting and voice while projecting the text with meaning and expression.”

(Limelight, August 2018)

“[impersonating] the unholy trio of Anabaptists with a fine feeling for their grotesque elements, [Derek Welton dispatched] Zacharie’s couplets with great verve.”

(Opera Magazine, March 2018)

“Baritone brilliance. Derek Welton gives a stand out turn singing Martinu.”

(BBC Music Magazine, January 2018)

“The young Wotan was sung by the ensemble member Derek Welton, who scored a personal triumph, crowned by a most lyrical ‘Abendlich strahlt’.”

(Opera Magazine, July 2017)

“The new Klingsor of the powerful-voiced Derek Welton stands out from the cast.”

(Bayerischer Rundfunk Klassik, July 2017)

“The part of Klingsor is often more characterised than sung; Derek Welton sings it fully and on top of that is convincing in characterisation.”

(Neue Musikzeitung, July 2017)

“Derek Welton made a terrific demonic entrance as Klingsor. With shaved head, black beard and a similarly coloured voice”

(Mittelbayerische Zeitung, July 2017)

“In contrast, Derek Welton sounds full-bodied and youthfully fresh.”

(Die Presse, July 2017)

“With striking timbre and strong stage presence, Derek Welton is a splendidly disingenuous Klingsor.”

(Münchner Merkur, July 2017)

“Derek Welton gave the murderous St Bris appropriately lugubrious tones.”

(Opera Magazine, February 2017)

“Similarly impressive, the Australian baritone Derek Welton in the role of Saint-Bris, absorbed in the ecstasy of his barbarism”

(Opernwelt, January 2016)

“Derek Welton provides contrast with his broad bass-baritone as a dark Comte de Saint-Bris.”

(Die Presse, November 2016)

“Derek Welton sang a beautiful-sounding Heerrufer…[and] was on par with the rest of the star cast.”

(Der Neue Merker, May 2016)

“Derek Welton’s Heerrufer demonstrated impressive stage and vocal presence across the three acts, with intelligently declaimed text and a certain ease across his vocal range.”

(Altamusica, May 2016)

“Derek Welton was a convincing Heerrufer with an attractive Heldenbaritone timbre and striking declamations.”

(Opernnetz, May 2016)

“Derek Welton was an impressive complement to the cast as Heerrufer and impressed with a deep understanding of the text and a beautiful timbre.”

(Online Musik Magazin, May 2016)

“Deutsche Oper Berlin came up with a very good ensemble performance: Derek Welton as passionately potent, big-voiced Jaroslav Prus and also vocally a genuine opponent of Marty.”

(Opernglas, April 2016)