Markus Schwartz
With his colorful voice and great artistic integrity, Markus Schwartz is an often welcome guest at our Nordic opera houses and a recurring artist at both the Gothenburg Opera and the Royal Opera in Stockholm.
The Swedish bass-baritone Markus Schwartz was a guest at the Savonlinna Opera Festival 2023 in Finland where he appeared as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte. He has continued this season with the role of Leporello in Don Giovanni at the Göteborg Opera. The previous season included the title role in Don Pasquale at the Göteborg Opera and A Sacristan in Tosca at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm.
The season of 2021/22 included Doctor Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia in Gothenburg, Monterone in Rigoletto at the Norwegian National Opera and Happy in La Fanciulla del West at the Royal Swedish Opera. Markus also participated in the production Idomeneos by Kamraterna and Rebaroque at Folkoperan in Stockholm.
Markus Schwartz studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and the University College of Opera in Stockholm. He was previously engaged in the ensemble of the Göteborg Opera, where his roles included Masetto and Leporello in Don Giovanni, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola, Colline and Schaunard in La bohème, Capellio in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Ping in Turandot, Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Varlaam in Boris Godunov and Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro in a new production directed by Stephen Langridge.
Markus Schwartz has been a regular guest at the Royal Swedish Opera where he has appeared in roles such as Leporello in Don Giovanni, Masetto in Don Giovanni, Schaunard in La bohème, Alidoro in La Cenerentola, Barone Douphol in La Traviata and Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro.
Markus Schwartz has been engaged at the Drottningholm Court Theatre sung Narbanor in Rameau’s Zoroastre under the baton of Christophe Rousset and Publio in La clemenza di Tito. He has also sung the role of Vincenzo Gonzaga, the Duke in their production of The Siblings of Mantua a new opera with a merge of music by Baroque composers and newly composed material.
Markus Schwartz has previously been a guest at the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki he has sung Rambaldo in La Rondine. He has sung Don Pippo in Mozart’s L’oca del Cairo and Papageno in Björneborg, Finland. He has also appeared in the role of Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro in Jyväskyle in Finland, with the Classical Opera Company in Ascoli Picena in Italy, at the Marlow Theatre in Canterbury, Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London and at the Buxton Festival. Markus Schwartz has been a guest at the summer festival at the Läckö Castle; Läckö Slottsopera, where he has sung Mustafa in Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeria and Geronio in Il turco in Italia. At Folkoperan in Stockholm he has appeared as Mefistofeles in Faust and Timur in Turandot.
In concert Markus Schwartz has appeared in works like Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and B Minor Mass, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Haydn’s Stabat Mater and Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem. He has sung Mozart’s C Minor Mass with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel as well as Verdi’s Messa da Requiem in Gothenburg and Shostakovich’s Symphony No 14 in Falun, Sweden.
Fenruary 2024
"The real highlight is baritone Markus Schwartz as the sultan Mustafà (Rossini’s role name and Italian text remain unchanged). Schwartz has performed the role at Läckö’s summer opera, and he masters all the coloratura and physical embellishments. With him, it’s a real hit on stage." - L'Italiana in Algeri/NorrlandsOperan
"Don Pasquale is played by Markus Schwartz, who has a powerful voice and great charisma on stage. He is phenomenal, to put it simply. With fine balance, he portrays both Don Pasquale's aggressive and slightly ridiculous sides." - Don Pasquale/The Göteborg Opera
“Markus Schwartz’s Figaro had superb comic timing and brought out his cheekiness to his boss. Mr Schwartz’s baritone is both mellow and nimble and gelled perfectly with his fellow soloists in the ensembles. He could also be very expressive, especially in the bitterness of betrayal in his aria in Act 4.” Le nozze di Figaro - The Göteborg Opera
“Markus Schwartz is a fantastic character actor (with many previous successes as Figaro, Papageno and Don Magnifico to give a few examples) and he proved this again as Geronio. His superb comic timing and gift of facial expression was matched with a sympathetic portrayal of his character’s personality, meaning that Geronio was not merely the butt of all the jokes. His rich bass-baritone was not only beautiful, but impressively agile in the fast patter duet.” – A Turk in Italy/Läckö Opera
The Göteborg Opera presents a new Don Giovanni!
Christina Nilsson and Malin Byström in the title role and Daniel Johansson and Joachim Bäckström as Cavaradossi when Tosca returns...
Malin Byström, David Risberg, Markus Schwartz, Jonas Degerfeldt and John Erik Eleby in La Fanciulla del West in Stockholm
Markus Schwartz in Rigoletto at the Norwegian National Opera
Markus Schwartz sings Doctor Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Seviglia in Gothenburg.
Puccini's Tosca in a semi-staged concert version recorded at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm