The German baritone Jochen Schmeckenbecher was raised in Hockenheim, and studied with Kurt Moll at the Musikhochschule Köln. After being a member of the ensemble of the Theater Hagen and the Komische Oper Berlin he now is a regular guest on the leading opera and concert stages.

He focuses mainly on the German repertoire with parts like Amfortas and Klingsor/Parsifal, Kurwenal/Tristan und Isolde, Musiklehrer/Ariadne auf Naxos, Faninal/ Rosenkavalier, Orest/ Elektra, Peter Besenbinder/Hänsel und Gretel, Gloster/ Lear, the title role in Wozzeck and Dr. Schön/ Lulu. 

As Alberich/ Ring des Nibelungen he repeatedly achieves special success, a.o. at the Staatsopern Berlin, Hamburg and Vienna, the operas in Frankfurt and Leipzig, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the Liceu in Barcelona, at the Tanglewood-Festival, the LA Philharmonic, the Dresdner Philharmonie, the Philharmonie Berlin, the Müpa in Budapest, at the Bastille and the Maison de la Radio Paris as well as on several CD/ DVD-recordings.

 

Since his role debut at the Wiener Staatsoper as Musiklehrer in 2010 he returns to this house as a regular guest for parts like Alberich, Amfortas and Klingsor, Kurwenal, Faninal, Frank/ Fledermaus, Sprecher/ Zauberflöte, Musiklehrer and Peter Besenbinder.  

 

Further engagements led him to the Staatsopern Dresden, Munich and Stuttgart, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Met New York, the Scala di Milano, the Teatro Real Madrid, the Theater an der Wien, the Volksoper Wien, the Salzburger Festspiele as well as to the opera companies in Basel, Essen, Lyon, Turin and San Francisco, Dallas, Philadelphia and Santa Fe.

 

The season 2025/26 includes Alberich/ Ring des Nibelungen at the Staatsoper Berlin, Peter Besenbinder in a new production of „Hänsel und Gretel“ at the Oper Zürich, Frank/ Fledermaus and Musiklehrer/ Ariadne auf Naxos at the Wiener Staatsoper as well as Alberich at the Müpa in Budapest.