"Der Clou erscheint aber der Desportes des Daniel Brenna" Der Neue Merker
	home   biography   photo   calendar   contact
Daniel Brenna is one of the most sought-after SIEGFRIED interpreters worldwide. He sang this very role in the RING at the San Francisco Opera, the Washington National Opera, the Theater an der Wien, at the Budapest Wagner Days, the Helsinki National Opera, the Gothenburg Opera, the Kassel State Theatre, the Ravello Festival and the Opéra Dijon. He was SIEGFRIED in ‘Siegfried’ at the Staatsoper Stuttgart State Opera, the Karlsruhe State Theatre and with the Odense Symphony Orchestra and SIEGFRIED in ‘Götterdämmerung ‘ with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2018 a CD recording with these concerts was released at the label Naxos. Lately, he was SIEGMUND at the Budapest Wagner Days and in 2025 at the Beijing Opera. He succeeded as PARSFAL in concertant performances at the Norske Opera and with his debut as TRISTAN in ‘Tristan und Isolde’ in 2024 at the Opéra de Lille. In 2025/27 he makes his debuts as BROUCEK in “The excursions of Mr. Broucek” at the Bregenz Festival and as CHRISTIAN in “Festen” (Coproduction with the ROH Covent Garden London) and in the title part of PETER GRIMES at the Helsinki National Opera. He also sings Rachmaninow’s BELLS with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Moreover, in 2024/25 he enchanted as ALEXEJ in Prokofieff’s ‘The Player’ at the Stuttgart State Opera and he will portray this very role here also in the revival 2026. In 2024/24 he succeeded as HERODES t in “Salome” at the Helsinki National Opera and sang JIM MAHONY in Well’s “Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny’ at the Teatro Petruzelli Bari. Daniel’s international career began in 2011 when he portrayed ARON in ‘Moses and Aron’ at the Zürich Opera House . Before, he had already enjoyed huge success in this very role with the Budapest Philharmonics at the Miskolc Festival in Hungary. In 2020 he returned to the Zürich Opera House as the DRUM MAJOR in ‘Wozzeck’. In 2012 Daniel Brenna made his widely noticed debut as DESPORTES in Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s ‘Die Soldaten’ at the Salzburg Festival. Later, he also sang this role at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and at the Scala di Milano. In 2015 he debuted at the Metropolitan Opera New York as ALWA in ‘Lulu’. This production was selected by the New York Times in category THE BEST CULTURE 2015: ” Here was an ingenious staging…., with a superb cast….”,. Besides, a recording of this performance was nominated best opera recording for the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. In 2016 he returned to the MET as LACA in ‘Jenufa’. Daniel studied musicology at the Boston University and completed his studies with a Master of Music and his opera diploma. First engagements brought him to the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra under the musical direction of Seiji Ozawa and Daniel Harding. Today, the American tenor performs with such renowned conductors and directors as Christoph von Dohnányi, Kirill Petrenko, Ingo Metzmacher, Donald Runnicles, Stefan Soltesz, Michael Schonwandt, Alexander Vedernikov, Jaap van Zweden,Cornelius Meister, Lothar Zagrosek, Achim Freyer, Jossi Wieler, Alvis Hermanis, Andreas Baesler, William Kentridge, Peter Konwitschny, Francesca Zambello,… Guest engagements brought the artist to the Opera House Bilbao, the Dutch Opera Amsterdam, the Edmonton Opera, the Comic Opera Berlin, the Opera House Leipzig, the Aalto-Theatre Essen, the Festival St. Margarethen and the Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra. His repertoire also includes such roles as THE FALSE DMITRY in ‘Boris Godunov’, BORIS in ‘Katja Kabanowa’,, AEGISTH in ‘Elektra’ or PRINCE RADJAMI in ‘Die Bajadere’. Daniel enjoyed huge success as JIM MAHONEYin Well’s ‘Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny’ on the occasion of the May Festival at the Wiesbaden State Theatre. In the seasonal review of the German newspapers “WAZ” and “NRZ” and “Welt am Sonntag” he was elected as best singer for his first interpretation of TANNHÄUSER at the Dortmund Theatre. Lately, he made proof of his affinity to contemporary music in the world premieres of PUSHKIN in Moscow and as ALOIS OBRIST at the St. Gallen Theatre in Philipp Hefti’s ‘Anna’s Mask’ . Lately, he portrayed LACA in ‘Jenufa’ at the GRand Opéra de Genève, in Dijon, Caen and at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden, the DRUM MAJOR in “Wozzdeck”at the Opér ade Monte Carlo, the Helsinki National Opera, EISENSTEIN in “Die Fledermaus” in gala concerts at the BASF Feierabendhaus and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. With the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra he performed Mahler’s LIED VON DER ERDE and at the Bard Summerscape Festival he was the STRANGER in “Das Wunder der Heliane”. Besides, he sang the title part in Zemlinsky’s TRAUMGÖRGE at the Opéra de Nancy and at the Opéra de Dijon. In 2023, he made his debut as MEFISTOFELE in Busini’s opera “Faust” at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino.