Richard Wiegold

Praised by Opera News for his 'cavernous bass and palpable acting' and by Bachtrack for his 'glorious, stentorian voice', Richard Wiegold made his international debut at the Canadian Opera in 2008, singing Arkel Pelléas et Mélisande, which has led to a career across North and Central America, Europe and the Middle and Far East. His debut at Covent Garden was in 2009, as Dr Grenvil La Traviata, a DVD of which performances was nominated for a Grammy. Richard is closely associated with the role of Il Commendatore Don Giovanni, which he has sung for Canadian Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Utah Opera, Teatru Manoel and the Znojmo Festival, amongst others ; he also voiced it for the 2017 film Interlude in Prague. Richard's repertoire also includes many Wagnerian roles, amongst them Gurnemanz Parsifal with Estonian National Opera, Hans Schwarz Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg at Covent Garden, Fasolt Rheingold for North Carolina Opera, Reinmar von Zweter Tannhäuser for the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Le Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, Koenig Marke Tristan und Isolde with the Prague State Opera and North Carolina Opera, Titurel Parsifal and Veit Pogner Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg with Saffron Opera Group, Daland Die Fliegende Hollaender with La Real Filharmonía de Galicia and other companies, and Stefano Colonna Rienzi, also in Toulouse, which was released on a critically-acclaimed DVD. Other roles include Arkel at Glyndebourne and with the Cincinnati Symphony, Fünfter Jude Salome at the Salzburg Festival under Sir Simon Rattle, Zweiter Soldat/Fünfter Jude/Erster Nazarener Salome at the Verbier Festival under Valery Gergiev, Banquo Macbeth for Palm Beach Opera, Oroe Semiramide in Bilbao, Theseus A Midsummer Night's Dream in Montpellier, Zweiter geharnischte Mann Die Zauberflöte in Valencia, Timur Turandot for Utah Opera, and Dr. Bartolo Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Basilio Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Welsh National Opera.

On the concert platform, Richard has appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Symphony,  La Real Filharmonía de Galicia, the Royal Philharmonic, the Netherlands Radio Symphony, the Hallé and other leading orchestras. 

Richard was born in Caerphilly, South Wales, and was a professional cellist for nearly a decade before returning to study as a singer at the Royal Northern College of Music. Since 2002, he has been a pupil of the distinguished Australian tenor Anthony Roden.

Richard is married to the soprano Abigail Iveson Wiegold, and lives with her, their young daughter and Persian cat in Berlin, Germany.