©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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“Derek Welton was in insolently gorgeous voice as Wotan, taking the long phrase ‘In des Morgens Scheine mutig erschimmernd lag sie herrenlos’ in one breath, and relishing the high tessitura throughout.”
(Opera, September 2021)

Starting with early-career performances as Donner in Das Rheingold under Richard Farnes at Opera North and as Klingsor in Parsifal at the Beijing Music Festival, Australian-born bass-baritone Derek Welton is now firmly established as a noted interpreter of Wagner. Welton went on to appear at Semperoper Dresden as the Herald in Lohengrin under the baton of Christian Thielemann, as Klingsor at Bayreuth Festival under Hartmuth Haenchen, and at Bayerische Staatsoper under Kirill Petrenko, both marking house debuts, with these successes leading to acclaimed performances in his role debut as Wotan (Das Rheingold) at Deutsche Oper Berlin under Donald Runnicles.

Derek Welton was a soloist at the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 2015 to 2020, where he amassed a wide repertory of roles including Der Pförtner (Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane), Altair (Die ägyptische Helena), Peter Besenbinder (Hänsel und Gretel), Forester (The Cunning Little Vixen) and Prus (The Makropulos Case). Notable guest engagements have included Herzog von Albany in Lear at the Salzburg Festival (Franz Welser-Möst), the Opéra national de Paris and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Fabio Luisi), Pandolfe (Cendrillon) in his debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago (Sir Andrew Davis), Voland in York Höller’s Der Meister und Margarita at the Staatsoper Hamburg (Marcus Bosch), Pangloss in Candide at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and Mozart’s Figaro at Glyndebourne. In recent seasons he has had great success as Orest in Elektra, which he has sung at the Salzburg Festival, the Wiener Staatsoper (Welser-Möst), and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia (Marc Albrecht).

Closing his 2020/21 season as Wotan in the new Stefan Herheim production of Das Rheingold at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Derek Welton returned to the Bayreuth Festival as Klingsor under Thielemann before opening the 2021/2022 season with his debut at Dutch National Opera in Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg, under Music Director Lorenzo Viotti. Other season highlights include Wotan in historically-informed performances of Das Rheingold with Concerto Köln under Kent Nagano, and his house debut at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as the Herald in Lohengrin, under the baton of Jakub Hrůša.

An accomplished and diverse concert artist, Welton has performed across Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia in many choral and orchestral works as well as a diverse range of song repertoire. Recent highlights have included Martinů’s The Epic of Gilgamesh with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (Manfred Honeck), A Child of our Time with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Stefan Asbury), St Matthew Passion with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (Pablo Heras-Casado) and Bruckner’s Mass in F minor at the BBC Proms (Juanjo Mena). He sang the title role of Bluebeard’s Castle at the George Enescu Festival (Christian Mandeal), Don Pizarro in Fidelio with the Hallé Orchestra (Sir Mark Elder) and, most recently, he sang the roles of Creon and The Messenger in Œdipus Rex with the Berlin Philharmonic (Kirill Petrenko).

Derek Welton’s discography includes DVDs of Elektra (Unitel), The Epic of Gilgamesh (Supraphon Records), Das Wunder der Heliane (Naxos), Lohengrin (Deutsche Grammophon). On CD he can be heard as Creonte in Haydn’s L’anima del filosofo (Pinchgut Live), in two recordings of Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 (Ondine and Brattle Media) and in a solo recital of Vaughan Williams songs with Iain Burnside for Albion Records.

Das Rheingold - Abendlich strahlt der Sonne Auge © Deutsche Oper Berlin

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)

“The cast it excellent. Derek Welton sounds so fresh and sings with such warm intelligence and refinement that you think, ‘This opera is really about Wotan!’ ”

(Shirley Apthorp, November 2021)

“…Derek Welton’s Wotan. The Australian bass-baritone sang the young god with fresh vigour and vitality. His gently powerful and darkly lacquered voice tempered nobility with arrogance.”

(Opera News, September 2021)

“All the smaller roles were well taken and characterful, particularly the resonant bass of Derek Welton as Creon and the messenger.”

(Chris Garlick, BachTrack, 14 February 2021)

“Orest, a firm-voiced Derek Welton, singing with incisive diction.”

(Derek Welton, October 2020)

“The Australian bass-baritone Derek Welton also proves to be an absolute win, portraying an incisive, intense Orest with his beautiful timbre.”

(Peter Jarolin, Kurier, 9 September 2020)

“Derek Welton, who first sang the young Wotan at the last outing of the Götz Friedrich Ring three years ago, has grown into a highly distinguished exponent of the role”

(Opera Magazine, August 2020)

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)

“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)

“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)