The current season kicked off with an unexpected jump-in at the Bayreuther Festspiele. I participated in the Open Air Festival concert performing i.a. anexcerpt from Parsifal. The conductor was Markus Poschner and my fellow soloists were the amazing Daniela Köhler and Olafur Sigurdarson. The rest of the season will deliver several house debuts, role debuts, and even a world premier recording. In the autumn I will be in Bern, Switzerland performing the title role in Joachim Raff’s Samson in a recording and also a concert performance, which will be the Swiss premier of this huge and challenging piece. This will be followed in October by my first trip to Japan. Together with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jonathan Nott I will be singing the tenor part in Leoš Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass. Later in 2023 I will have my house debut at Deutsche Oper Berlin as Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. A role I sang with great success in Leipzig in 21/22 with conductor Ulf Schirmer, who will also be conducting in Berlin. In the huge role of Hans Sachs the audience will hear the famous Danish baritone Johan Reuter.
In January 2024 I have an exciting role debut as Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos at the State Opera, Prague. I will finally share the stage again with Swedish soprano Cornelia Beskow, who will have her debut as Ariadne. Cornelia was Sieglinde in my first production of Die Walküre in Esbjerg, Denmark. The 7 performances will run until June, and the conductor is the successful Czech, Robert Jindra. In the spring of 2024 I will have the honour to perform in Concertgebouw in Amsterdam for the first time. On March 23. 2024 I will be singing the role of Albert Gregor in Janáček’s masterpiece Věc Makropulos (The Makropulos Affair). With me on stage will be the British soprano Sally Matthews, and Danish baritone, Bo Skovhus, and the concert is a part of star conductor Karina Callenakis’ concert-cycle of Janáček’s operas. Finally in June I will start rehearsals in Brussels at the esteemed opera-house Théâtre de laMonnaie. They have asked me to sing one of my favourite Wagner-roles, Siegfried, in the opera of the same name. It will be the 3. part of director Romeo Castellucci’s Ring-cycle, conducted by Alain Altinoglu. This is going to be my second production of Siegfried after Den Ny Opera’s highly praised production in 2022, for which I was nominated for a Reumert Prize as Singer of the Year. Siegfried at La Monnaie will open in September 2024.
Am heutigen Abend jedoch beeindruckte Magnus Vigilius als Lohengrin. Der hochgewachsene, schlanke Tenor präsentierte sein lyrisches, feinstimmiges, schön timbriertes Material bestens differenziert, kombiniert mit kerniger, maskuliner Singweise. Versiert, schier ohne konditionelle Einbussen, sang Vigilius die Partie technisch bestens disponiert, widmete der Gralserzählung eindrucksvolle Legatokultur und silbern hell strahlende Leuchtkraft.
The most impressive singer of the evening however, was Magnus Vigilius as Lohengrin. Perfectly differentiated, the tall, slender tenor presented his lyrical, refined, beautifully timbred voice, combining it with a robust, masculine way of singing. Well-versed, nearly without any conventional outbursts, Vigilius’ singing was technically perfectly disposed. He performed the Story of the Gral with impressive legato culture and silvery bright shining brilliance.