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Bayreuth Artist Talk: Mika Kares

Fotograf / Autor: Mika Kares © Mika Kares

Join us in 2026 for the Bayreuth Artists Talks Series, an engaging opportunity to connect with the exceptional performers of the Bayreuth Festival. This event presents Mika Kares, singing Fasolt in Das Rheingold, Hunding in Die Walküre, and Hagen in Götterdämmerung, as well as Daland in Der fliegende Holländer. In 2025 Mr. Kares also sang Heinrich der Vogler in Lohengrin. These intimate sessions offer audiences a rare glimpse behind the scenes as artists reflect on their careers, share insights into their roles and creative processes, and discuss the unique experience of performing at Bayreuth. With a relaxed and informal setting, these conversations provide a deeper understanding of the works the artists bring to life on stage, making each event a memorable encounter with the people behind the music. Mika Kares has established himself as one of today’s internationally most sought-after basses. His vast repertoire covers all the great Italian and German composers such as Verdi, Wagner and Mozart, in addition to the most important roles of the slavic and Finnish tradition. Distinguished by his colourful bass voice, Kares regularly guests at the most renowned houses and festivals worldwide and has worked with conductors including Christian Thielemann, Simone Young, 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, Thomas Guggeis and Tarmo Peltokoski. Recent seasons’ opera highlights include i.a. Hagen/Götterdämmerung at the Bayreuth Festival, the Vienna State Opera and Berlin State Opera (where he also sang Fasolt and Hunding, as well as Vodník/Rusalka, Ivan/Khovanshchina and Zaccaria/Nabucco in new productions), Bluebeard/Bluebeard’s Castle at the Salzburg Festival, Sarastro/Die Zauberflöte at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, Il Commendatore/Don Giovanni at The Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Salzburg and Savonlinna Festivals, Daland/The Flying Dutchman at the Lyric Opera, Fafner/Das Rheingold and Jacopo Fiesco/Simon Boccanegra at the Opéra National de Paris, King Heinrich/Lohengrin, King Marke/Tristan und Isolde, Padre Guardiano/La forza del destino and Balthazar/La Favorite at the Bavarian State Opera, Gremin/Eugene Onegin at the Vienna State Opera, Landgraf Hermann/Tannhäuser at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the Zurich Opera, Zaccaria/Nabucco at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Inquisitor/The Fiery Angel at Teatro Real de Madrid, Great Inquisitor/Don Carlo at Teatro alla Scala, and Ramfis/Aida at Théâtre Royale de La Monnaie in Brussels, as well as the monumental Finnish roles of Antti/The Horseman (A. Sallinen) at the Finnish National Opera and Paavo/The Last Temptations (J. Kokkonen) at Opera Tampere and the Savonlinna Opera Festival, where he recently also made his debut as Boris Godunow. In addition, Mika Kares is very sought after as a concert singer, his broad repertoire including key works such as Mozart’s Requiem, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 and Missa Solemnis, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, Mahler’s Symphony No 8, as well as Shostakovich’s Symphonies No. 13 and 14. In the upcoming 2026-27 season Kares will be back in Paris for the fourth and final instalment of Bieito’s RING, Götterdämmerung, performing his signature role Hagen, followed by two complete cycles. Subsequently, he will return to the Royal Opera House as Hagen for the final part of Barrie Kosky’s RING. In addition, he will be going on a RING concert tour with Opernhaus Zürich as Fasolt/Hunding/Hagen with performances at the Paris Philharmonie and the New York's Carnegie Hall.