Franz Mayer
baritone
© Barbara Aumüller
Franz Mayer, who was given the title of Kammersänger in 1993, was a member of the the ensemble at Oper Frankfurt from 1977 until the end of the 2015/16 season, during which he sang Antonio in Die Hochzeit des Figaro/Le nozze di Figaro, Ein Notar in Der Rosenkavalier and Betto di Signa in Il trittico, returning in subsequent seasons for the Judge in a new production of Flotow's Martha, the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte, Benoît in La Bohème and Pritschitsch in a new Die lustige Witwe/The Merry Widow. During the 2022/23 season he sings the Night Watchman and Oreste's Minder in new productions of Die Zauberflöte and Elektra, and repeats his portrayals of the Sacristan in Tosca and Le Bailli in Werther. Other roles sung in Frankfurt by this Austrian born bass-baritone in recent seasons have included The One Eyed man (Die Frau ohne Schatten - available on CD - OehmsClassics), Montano (Otello), Ein Lakai / A Lackey (Ariadne auf Naxos), Fürst Leopold Maria (Die Csárdásfürstin) and the Village Elder / Ratsälteste (Königskinder available on CD - OehmsClassics). His many roles for the company over the years have included Mozart's Figaro, Leporello / Masetto (Don Giovanni), Papageno and Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Fritz Kothner (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Angelo (Wagner's Das Liebesverbot/The Ban on Love available on CD - OehmsClassics), Uncle Bonzo (Madame Butterfly), the Broom Maker (Father) (Hänsel und Gretel), the Archbishop of Prague (Pfitzner's Palestrina, conducted by Kirill Petrenko, available on CD - OehmsClassics) and Unto (Sallinen's Kullervo). Franz Mayer is passionate about concert work and has sung works by Bach, Handel, Mahler, Mozart and Mendelssohn in Vienna, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Munich, twice in South America and in Japan.