Mika Kares
Mika Kares is one of the most internationally sought-after basses of today. His wide-ranging repertoire includes Mozart and the great Verdi and Wagner roles, as well as significant works from the Slavic and Finnish traditions.
Distinguished by his vocal tonal beauty, Kares makes guest appearances at the most prestigious opera houses and concert halls, as well as at leading festivals, and has worked with conductors such as Christian Thielemann, Teodor Currentzis, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Fabio Luisi, Marc Minkowski, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Franz Welser-Möst, Sebastian Weigle, François-Xavier Roth, Klaus Mäkelä, Kent Nagano, Kirill Petrenko, Marco Armiliato and Thomas Guggeis.
Opera highlights of recent seasons have included. Sarastro/The Magic Flute at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Il Commendatore/Don Giovanni at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Salzburg Festival, Jacopo Fiesco/Simon Boccanegra at the Opéra National de Paris (R: Calixto Bieito), King Marke/Tristan und Isolde, Padre Guardiano/La forza del destino and Balthazar/La Favorite at the Bavarian State Opera, Gremin/Eugen Onegin at the Vienna State Opera, Landgraf Hermann/Tannhäuser at the Zurich Opera House, Zaccaria/Nabucco at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Inquisitor/The Fiery Angel at the Teatro Real de Madrid, Grand Inquisitor/Don Carlo at the Teatro alla Scala and Ramfis/Aida at the Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie in Brussels.
Mika Kares is also a highly sought-after concert singer. His wide-ranging concert repertoire includes key works such as Mozart's Requiem, Rossini's Stabat Mater, Beethoven's 9th Symphony and Missa solemnis, Verdi's Messa di Requiem, Mahler's 8th Symphony, and Shostakovich's Symphonies No. 13 and 14.
Concert highlights of the last seasons were the concert performances of Tchaikovsky's Jolanthe/King René with Kirill Petrenko and the Berliner Philharmoniker and of Adriana Lecouvreur/Prince of Boullion with Anna Netrebko and Marco Armiliato at the Salzburg Festival, Beethoven's 9. Symphony with the hr Symphony Orchestra and at the BBC Proms under the baton of Sakari Oramo, Mozart's Requiem with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Riccardo Muti) and the Vienna Philharmonic, Shostakovich's 14th Symphony under Klaus Mäkel. Symphony under Klaus Mäkelä with the Oslo Philharmonic, Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Hannu Lintu, and a concert performance of Duke Bluebeard's Castle with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and Susanna Mälkki, released on CD by BIS Records and nominated for a Grammy in 2021.
In the 2022/23 season, Mika Kares took on, among other roles, the title role in Duke Bluebeard's Castle at the Salzburg Festival and appeared in three roles (Fasolt, Hunding, Hagen) in the new Ring at the Berlin State Opera, conducted by Christian Thielemann / Thomas Guggeis and staged by Dmitri Tcherniakov.
He also returned to the Royal Opera House in London as Landgrave Hermann in Tannhäuser and took the stage as Heinrich der Vogler in a new Lohengrin production at the Bavarian State Opera.
Engagements for the 2023/24 season include his return to Chicago's Lyric Opera as Daland/Der fliegende Holländer, the Opéra national de Paris as Timur/Turandot and Fiesco/Simon Boccanegra, and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin for two new productions: Dvorák's Rusalka/Vodník (Mundruczó/Ticciati) and Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina/Ivan (Guth/Young).
He also returns to the Savonlinna Opera Festival, where he will take on the roles of Zaccaria/Nabucco and Commendatore/Don Giovanni.
Engagements in Bayreuth
| Year | Opera | Part |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Götterdämmerung | Hagen |
| 2023 | Götterdämmerung | Hagen |
