Lauded for his portrayal of Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier that he “dealt in revelations,” the Financial Times further praises Icelandic bass Kristinn Sigmundsson, “His tone dark and his dynamic range broad, he exuded raw power, crusty lust and comic bravado, all reinforced by a trace of gravitas.” In the 2023/24 season, Mr. Sigmundsson returns to San Francisco Opera as Heinrich der Vogler in Lohengrin, as well as for the Priest in the US premiere of Saariaho’s Innocence. He also returns to LA Opera for the Chamberlain in Der Zwerg. Last season her joined LA Opera for Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro, sang Fasolt in Das Rheingold with the Atlanta Opera, and made his Utah Opera debut as Daland in Der fliegende Holländer. He recently joined the Enescu Festival as The Chamberlain in Der Zwerg, the Royal Opera House Muscat as Monterone in Rigoletto, New National Theatre Tokyo for Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier, and returned to Bayerische Staatsoper for La Roche in Capriccio. He also recently returned to Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie as Ghost in Dusapin’s Macbeth Underworld, joined Indiana University Opera for Gurnemanz in Parsifal, Houston Grand Opera for Commendatore in Don Giovanni and Daland in Der fliegende Holländer, San Francisco Opera for Vodnik in Rusalka, Den Norske Opera for Dansker in Billy Budd, the Edinburgh International Festival for Commendatore in Don Giovanni, and Atlanta Opera for Daland in Der fliegende Holländer.
He has sung leading roles regularly with the Staatsoper Wien, Bayerische Staatsoper, and Semperoper Dresden, where his most recent performances include Méphistophélès in La damnation de Faust. Other recent engagements include Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni in Munich, Berlin and New York; Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier, König Heinrich in Lohengrin and Pogner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in Berlin; Rocco in Fidelio in New York and Houston; Daland in Der fliegende Holländer in San Francisco and Strasbourg; Fasolt in Das Rheingold in Houston; Creonte in Medea in Salzburg; Gurnemanz in Parisifal in Cologne and Florence; Zaccaria in Nabucco in Copenhagen, and Beijing King Heinrich in Lohengin in Madrid San Fancisco, Los Angeles, and with the Bayerische Staatsoper both in Munich and on tour to Japan; King Marke in Tristan und Isolde in Santiago, Dallas, and Berlin; Hunding in Die Walküre in Naples, Venice and Köln; Landgraf in Tannhäuser in Geneva, Amsterdam, and Tokyo; Méphistophélès in La damnation de Faust; La Cuisinière in L’amour des trois oranges in Florence; König Marke in Tristan und Isolde, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni, and Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier in San Francisco; König Heinrich in Lohengrin and Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor in Munich; Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail in Naples; Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni and Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro and Walter in Luisa Miller at the Cincinnati May Festival; and Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte in Houston, San Francisco, Toulouse, and Santiago.
His concert performances include collaborations with many of the world’s leading conductors including James Levine, Riccardo Muti, James Conlon, Colin Davis, Bernard Haitink, Charles Mackerras, Christoph von Dohnányi, Jeffrey Tate, Christoph Eschenbach, Ivor Bolton, and Marc Minkowski. He recently joined the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Cincinnati May Festival, and the Budapest Festival Orchestra on tour at Avery Fisher Hall for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and sang Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius with the Hamburger Symphoniker, and Dvořák’s Requiem with the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale. Also with the Cincinnati May Festival, he sang Tchaikovsky’s Ode to Joy and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8. Among his discography are commercial recordings of Don Giovanni and Die Zauberflöte with Arnold Östman (Decca) and Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten (Deutsche Grammophon). With Frans Brueggen he has recorded both Bach’s St. John Passion and the St. Matthew Passion (Phillips). He has recorded Schumann’s Faustszenen with Philippe Herreweghe (Harmonia Mundi) and Fidelio with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis.
In the early part of his career he performed principally in his native Iceland before joining the Hessische Staatstheater in Wiesbaden. His initial training was as a biologist and he taught for a few years before becoming a singer, studying first at the Reykjavik Academy of Singing and then at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria.
Management Territory: North & South America and Sundry Territories