Biography
- About Derek Welton
The Australian-born bass-baritone Derek Welton has established himself as a respected and versatile artist both on the concert platform and the opera stage, with a repertoire ranging from Bach and Handel to the present day.
Derek’s engagements for the 2023/2024 season include a return to the Opéra de Lyon in the title role of a staged version of Mendelssohn’s Elijah and his role début as Wotan in Die Walküre at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and with Concerto Köln, as well as Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Stravinsky’s Œdipus Rex with the Munich Philharmonic and Act 3 of Parsifal at the Grafenegg Festival.
Following his return to the Bayreuth Festival in 2024 as Amfortas, highlights of Welton’s 2024/2025 season will include Mahler’s Symphony No 8 with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Pizarro in Fidelio at Washington National Opera, King Marke in Tristan und Isolde and the title role of The Flying Dutchman at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Wanderer in Siegfried with Concerto Köln.
Calendar
Upcoming performances
- 9 16 24
- March 2024
- 1
- May 2024
- Concerto Köln | Dresdner Musikfestspiele
Die Walküre
- Richard Wagner
Conductor · Kent Nagano
Wotan · Derek Welton
Siegmund · Maximilian Schmitt, Ric Furman
Sieglinde · Sarah Wegener
Brünnhilde · Åsa Jäger, Christiane Libor
Hunding · Patrick Zielke
Fricka · Claude Eichenberger
Locations
Prague State Opera, Prague, Czechia
Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Kölner Philharmonie, Cologne, Germany
Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany
- 12 22 29
- May 2024
- Deutsche Oper Berlin
Die Walküre
- Richard Wagner
Conductor · Nicholas Carter (12 May), Sir Donald Runnicles (22, 29 May)
Director · Stefan Herheim
Siegmund · Daniel Frank
Hunding · Tobias Kehrer
Wotan · Derek Welton
Sieglinde · Elisabeth Teige
Fricka · Annika Schlicht
Brünnhilde · Ricarda Merbeth
News
Press and updates
Critical acclaim for Derek Welton’s début as Wotan in Die Walküre
Derek Welton s recent début in the role of Wotan in Wagner s Die Walküre has been met with critical acclaim Reviews of the performances include nbsp Derek Welton is unsurpassable as Wotan Kölner Stadtanzeiger nbsp Derek Welton is at home in the Wagner world and is a welcome guest in the great bass baritone roles at hellip
Rehearsals begin for Die Walküre in Dresden
Following his house début at the Teatro Real Madrid in January Derek worked for the first time with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Gustavo Gimeno performing and recording Stravinsky s nbsp Pulcinella which will be released on the Harmonia Mundi label Yesterday he began rehearsals in Dresden of Wagner s nbsp Die Walküre nbsp with the Dresden Festival Orchestra and
Reviews of Elijah
Derek Welton s performances in the title role of Elijah have been critically acclaimed by the press nbsp The splendid hero turns out to be Derek Welton The Australian baritone dominates the overwhelming title role and infuses it with all the colours of the Lieder singer that he also is Classique News nbsp The baritone Derek hellip
Photos of Elijah
Some impressions of Calixto Bieito s visually spectacular production of Mendelssohn s Elijah which opened last night 17 December at the Opéra de Lyon photos © Bertrand Stofleth | Opéra de Lyon nbsp
Audio and video
Featured recording
© Charlie Kinross
‘Derek Welton is at home in the Wagner world and is a welcome guest in the great bass-baritone roles at all major houses. Hearing him live as Wotan for the first time today is absolutely thrilling. His voice sounds intoxicatingly beautiful in all registers. It seems to know no boundaries.
In his stage play, Wotan’s inner conflicts become apparent: His excessive anger seems deceptively real. What is even more impressive, however, is to hear how his heart softens through Brünnhilde’s speech, to feel how much he punishes himself by punishing Brünnhilde. Sung by Welton, the final aria is the most touching of Lied-singing in the greatest of opera.’
- Klassik begeistert
‘Derek Welton stands out among the top-class cast as Wotan with his voluminous and attractive bass-baritone. His facial expressions and body language emphasise his feelings.’
- Das Opernmagazin
‘Derek Welton is a Wotan dazzling with power and presence.’
- Forum Opéra
‘Derek Welton is unsurpassable as Wotan.’
- Kölner Stadtanzeiger
‘Frustration, authority, love, ego: there is no side of Wotan that bass-baritone Derek Welton does not portray wonderfully.’
- De Volkskrant
‘Derek Welton was a pleasantly human Wotan, whose fury was even able to strike fear into the heart of his fearlessly free favourite daughter, Brünnhilde, along with all the other Valkyries. His powerful timbre impressed with its utmost sophistication and never became brittle, even in the angriest finale.’
- Neue Musikzeitung
‘The sought-after Wagnerian bass-baritone Derek Welton gave a stirring performance. He supported his amazing singing lines with a charismatic acting performance in expression and gesticulation, for which he received a proper ovation. One could almost say that he created the prototype of an angry, but also a remorseful ruler. He almost overshadowed everyone on stage.’
- Aktuálně
‘Derek Welton became Lord and King of Valhalla yesterday. His impressive performance contained everything we could have wished for: he portrayed Wotan as a ruler, father and man both strong and failing. His vocal confidence as well as his perfect portrayal of the role were a great experience for the audience, who saw an operatic character created in astonishing vocal and interpretational flexibility.’
- Opera Plus
‘The splendid hero turns out to be Derek Welton. The Australian baritone dominates the overwhelming title role and infuses it with all the colours of the Lieder singer that he also is.’
- Classique News
‘The baritone Derek Welton was the great star in this staged version of Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah. His presence, his projection, the intensity of his acting, allowed him to embody an ideal prophet, an angry man, permanently questioning: fulminant in this shadowy oratorio.’
- Classica
‘Derek Welton, a head taller than the rest of the cast, is imposing in the title role. Beyond his stature, his voice of bronze and his energy naturally place him in the footsteps of this “charismatic leader” with inspired phrasing. His timbre has the breadth and darkness of ancient oak, while his concentrated projection has the vitality of youth.’
- Ôlyrix
‘It takes an exceptional artist to portray Elijah. At the Opéra de Lyon, it is the Australian baritone Derek Welton who plays the Prophet brilliantly. Here he confirms a very impressive talent as a singer-actor, portraying a charismatic character: a very tall figure with a powerful voice, a timbre which is simultaneously sonorous and creamy, a superlative technique allowing him to dare flamboyant top notes as well as sustained low notes, nuances and colours, and to be authoritarian and angry in “Rufet lauter” as well as desperate and pleading in “Es ist genug”. He dominates the stage in accordance with his role, always in counterpoint to the rest of the soloists and the choir.’
- cult.news
‘Derek Welton remarkably portrays a varied Elijah, trusting in God but sometimes agitated by doubts (his long monologue “Es ist genug” is a marvel of variety and emotion).’
- Díapason
‘THE voice of the evening is Derek Welton. The Australian bass-baritone gives a heart-rending portrayal of Amfortas. The incredible presence of his timbre, carrying right up to the side of the listener, so to speak, invests a compassion, indeed a participation, that refers directly to Parsifal’s sudden calling. The splendour of his colour and his inexhaustible legato make the King the main character, met with a natural nobility even in his moments of rebellion and despair’.
- Anaclase
‘Derek Welton demonstrates great class as Amfortas: a deathly ill king with a wonderfully healthy voice.’
- BR Klassik
‘The beautiful bass-baritone of Derek Welton (Orest) was a calling card to every Australian opera company and orchestra to invite him home again, and often.’
- Limelight Magazine
‘This prodigiously gifted young singer clearly is on the way to becoming a major international star.’
- MusicOMH
‘Towering performances came from … Derek Welton who, as Wotan, dominated the drama not only vocally but also physically’
- Opera
‘Above all the magnificent Wotan of Derek Welton’
- Die Zeit
‘The best of the bunch was Derek Welton’s Wotan. The Australian bass-baritone sang the young god with fresh vigor and vitality. His gently powerful and darkly lacquered voice tempered nobility with arrogance.’
- Opera News
‘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
‘The vocal sensation of this performance was Derek Welton as Orest with his powerful, distinctive bass-baritone.’
- News
‘Orest was outstandingly cast with the magnificent bass-baritone voice of Derek Welton’
- Das Opernglas
‘The youthful Derek Welton, whose full bass-baritone flowed effortlessly, is sure to become a prominent Wotan’
- Die Welt
‘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.’
- Opera
‘Derek Welton showed he is the possessor of a major voice—a bass-baritone of easy power and robust, pleasing timbre’
- Opera
‘Derek Welton’s Christ was particularly outstanding, as was his singing of the two final bass arias in Part Two: time stood still for Komm, süßes Kreuz.’
- Seen & Heard International
‘The undoubted high points were Derek Welton’s glorious baritone, culminating in a powerful yet seemingly effortless “The trumpet shall sound”…’
- BachTrack
‘When Welton thundered ‘I will shake the heavens and the earth’, he did pretty much that: every aria he sang had an easy, unforced majesty.’
- The Independent
‘One of those performers you can’t take your eyes off when he is onstage.’
- Spectator
‘A true Handelian bass, a singer with everything needed for this music’
- Classical Source