After his stage debut as Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte) and Dulcamara (L’elisir d’amore) in 2002, Austrian bass baritone Josef Wagner became a member of the Vienna Volksoper ensemble for several years, where he expanded his repertoire.

Since his debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2006 in Mozart’s La finta semplice he has been working as a freelance singer. He has recently developed an active collaboration with the opera houses in Marseille and Antwerp as well as with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he has worked on important Mozartian roles such as Don Alfonso, Papageno and Don Giovanni as well as roles in French repertoire.

Career highlights include Jochanaan (Salome) in Stockholm, the title roles in Eugene Onegin in Helsinki and Der fliegende Holländer at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and most recently Der Herrscher in Das Wunder der Heliane also at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.