The Austrian baritone Liviu Holender (born 1992) discovered his love for opera at an early age as a member of the Opera School for Children at the Vienna State Opera. He received vocal training at the University of Music in Vienna under Karlheinz Hanser. In addition, he completed his master’s degree in law.

 

Since the 2019/20 season, Liviu Holender has been a member of the ensemble at Frankfurt Opera. Highlights of his 2025/26 season will include new productions at his home theater as Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte) and Ping (Turandot), both under Thomas Guggeis, as well as Choreos/ Jeck Ketch in Harrison Britwistle’s Punch and Judy. At the Salzburg Festival he will sing Morales (Carmen) under Teodor Currentzis. With the George Enescu Philharmonic under Michele Mariotti, he will perform Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem.

 

In 2024/25, he stood on stage in Frankfurt as Henrik in Nielsen’s Maskerade, Herr von Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier and as Count von Lusignan in a new production of Reimann’s Melusine. At the end of the season, he returned to the Bregenz Festival as Ottokar (Der Freischütz). 2023/24, he gave role debuts in two new productions in Frankfurt: as Doctor Malatesta (Don Pasquale) and Hans (Der Traumgörge). Further highlights were his role debut as Marcello (La bohème) at the National Opera Cluj-Napoca in Romania and at the Croatian National Opera Zagreb under the direction of Piergiorgio Morandi. He also returned to the Spring Festival Tokyo, where he sang Schaunard in a concert performance of La bohème. He also appeared at the Bregenz Festival in the new production of Der Freischütz in the role of Ottokar and made his debut at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna as Donner in Das Rheingold under Oksana Lyniv. In the season 2022/23, the young baritone displayed his versatility at Frankfurt Opera with roles such as Olivier in Strauss’ Capriccio conducted by Sebastian Weigle, Peter Besenbinder (Hansel and Gretel), the Count in Schreker’s Der Ferne Klang, and Consul Sharpless (Madama Butterfly). In previous years, Holender has been seen at his home theater in roles such as Leone (Tamerlano), Moralès/Dancaïro (Carmen) and Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro). He made his debut as Henrik (Maskerade) and portrayed Marullo (Rigoletto) and Marco (Gianni Schicchi).

 

Guest engagements have taken him to the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, where he debuted as Silvano (Un ballo in maschera), and to the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, where he performed Dr. Falke (Die Fledermaus) under the musical direction of Zubin Mehta and the Harlequin in a new production of Ariadne auf Naxos conducted by Daniele Gatti. Two additional engagements as Dr. Falke led him to the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa under Fabio Luisi and to the Musikverein Graz. He gave his debut in the role of the king’s herald (Lohengrin) at the Tokyo Spring Festival under the baton of Marek Janowski. He also portrayed Count Almaviva at the Latvian National Opera in Riga and at Bucharest National Opera, where he also sang the role of Silvio (Pagliacci). In 2019, he appeared as Marullo at the Bregenz Festival.

 

From 2017 to 2019, he was an ensemble member at the Munich State Theater at the Gärtnerplatz, where he sang roles including Graf Eberbach (Der Wildschütz), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Schaunard (La Bohème), and Hans Scholl in Udo Zimmermann’s Die Weisse Rose.

 

In concert, he sang Brahms’ Deutsches Requiem at the Maggio Musicale in Florence under Daniele Gatti, at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna under Hartmut Haenchen. He performed Handel’s Messiah with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano under Christoph Koncz. Another highlight of the season was his debut at the Schubertiade in Hohenems, where he performed songs by Franz Schubert and Gustav Mahler. Highlights of his concert activity in 2023 include his debut as Jesus in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at the Vienna Konzerthaus with the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst, his interpretation of Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra conducted by Frederic Chaslin, and Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Basel Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Marek Janowski, as well as at the Tokyo Spring Festival with the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra under Finnegan Downie Dear.