John Lundgren is a dramatic baritone with an expressive stage appearance. He combines his powerful voice with an exquisite, theatrical understanding of the dramatic operatic repertoire. Amongst his signature roles you find some notorious Wagner roles such as Der fliegende Holländer, Wotan and Telramund, as well as some of the evil characters of the operatic literature such as Scarpia in Tosca, Pizarro in Fidelio and the title role in Duke Bluebeard's Castle.
John Lundgren is born and raised in Sweden. While still attending The Opera Academy in Copenhagen he joined the soloist-ensemble at The Royal Theatre, Copenhagen. His debut was as Schaunard in La Bohème, conducted by Dietfried Bernet. John has since portrayed several of the most important dramatic baritone characters at his former ‘home stage’ in Copenhagen such as Paolo Albioni in Simone Boccanegra, the title role in Wozzeck, Conte di Luna in Trovatore, Enrico Ashton in Lucia di Lammermoor, Giorgio Germont in La Traviata, Posa in Don Carlo, and Amonasro singing together with Roberto Alagna at the prestigious opening production of Aida at the new opera house in Copenhagen.
Guest engagements have taken him to the opera houses of London, Berlin, Munich, Stockholm, Zurich, Geneva, Dresden, Hamburg, Leipzig, Amsterdam, Gothenburg, Oslo, Beijing and Tokyo, as well as to the Bregenz and Bayreuth Festivals. His repertoire includes roles such as Jochanaan Salome, Baron Scarpia Tosca, Don Pizarro Fidelio, Tomsky Queen of Spades, Alberich and Wotan Der Ring des Nibelungen, Kurwenal Tristan und Isolde, Telramund Lohengrin, Amfortas Parsifal, Barak Die Frau ohne Schatten and the title roles in Der fliegende Holländer, Duke Bluebeard's Castle and Nabucco.
John Lundgren has cooperated with conductors such as Thielemann, Soustrot, Morandi, Adam Fischer, Petrenko and Boder, and have had the privilege to work together with directors such as Warner, Loy, Dresen, Radok and Castorf.
In 2006 John Lundgren received the prestigious Birgit Nilsson Prize for being one of the few Scandinavian-born dramatic baritones of his generation. In 2010, he was honoured ‘Ridder af Dannebrogordenen’ (‘Knight of Dannebrog’) by H.M. The Queen of Denmark, and in 2021 John Lundgren was appointed Court Singer by H.M. the Swedish King.
June 2023
