Lauri Vasar

Estonian baritone Lauri Vasar makes his Royal Opera debut in the 2013/14 Season as Schaunard (La bohème). He has previously sung Schaunard for La Monnaie, Brussels.

Born in Tallinn, Vasar studied there and at the Salzburg Mozarteum. He was a member of the ensemble of Landestheater Linz and Hanover State Opera 2002–7. In the 2009–10 season he joined Hamburg State Opera, where he has sung major roles including Don Giovanni, Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Eugene Onegin, Wolfram von Eschinbach (Tannhäuser), Lescaut (Manon Lescaut), Marcello (La bohème) and Sharpless (Madama Butterfly). He has also performed leading roles for opera companies including Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Liceu, Barcelona, and Opéra de Lyon.

Vasar is much noted for his performances of 20th-century and contemporary repertory. He sang Minotauros in the world premiere of Henze’s Phaedra at Berlin State Opera, subsequently performing the role for Theater an der Wien, Frankfurt Opera, Holland Festival and La Monnaie. He has also sung Kovalyov (The Nose), the title role in Il prigioniero, Gloster (Reimann’s Lear) and Mefistófeles (Balada’s Faust-Bal) to great acclaim.