Tenor Daniel Jenz has been a member of the ensemble of the Vienna State Opera since 2020. Recent highlights here included his Steuermann (»Der fliegende Holländer«) conducted by Bertrand de Billy, as well as his role debuts as Kavalier (»Cardillac«) under Cornelius Meister and as Leukippos (»Daphne«) under Sebastian Weigle. Furthermore, he appeared at the house on the Ring in new productions of »Salome« (Narraboth/Director: Cyril Teste), »Tristan und Isolde« (Ein Hirt/Director: Calixto Bieito), and »Parsifal« (3. Knappe/Director: Kirill Serebrennikow). He interpreted Froh (»Das Rheingold«) conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, Jaquino (»Fidelio«) under Axel Kober, and Andres (»Wozzeck«) under Philippe Jordan. He set particular vocal-dramatic accents as Nutrice/Primo Famigliare in »L’incoronazione di Poppea« and in the 2023/24 season as the White Minister in György Ligeti’s »Le Grand Macabre« – both premieres at the Vienna State Opera under Pablo Heras-Casado. In 2024, he debuted at the Bayreuth Festival in the new production of »Tristan und Isolde« and will also participate in 2025, among others, in the new production of »Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg«.
Daniel Jenz, born in Esslingen a.N., studied at the universities of Mainz and Graz and was a member of the Young Ensemble of the Staatstheater Mainz. He is, among others, a prize winner at the Federal Singing Competition 2006, was a Bayreuth scholarship holder in 2008, and was awarded the Franz Völker Prize for young tenors in 2009.
Daniel Jenz was an ensemble member at the Stadttheater Hildesheim, the Theater Lübeck, and most recently at the Staatstheater Kassel. At these houses, he performed a broad repertoire of specialist roles, including Baron Kronthal (»Der Wildschütz«), Tom Rakewell (»The Rake’s Progress«, also sung at the Staatstheater Mainz), Fenton (»Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor«), Walther von der Vogelweide (»Tannhäuser«), Tanzmeister (»Ariadne auf Naxos«), and Tamino (»Die Zauberflöte«). His interpretation of seven roles in the rarely performed »Christophe Colomb« by Darius Milhaud at the Theater Lübeck in 2019 received widespread acclaim.
Guest engagements have taken him to the Staatsoper Berlin, the Teatro Massimo di Palermo, the Operas of Frankfurt and Bonn, the Hamburg State Opera, the Nationaltheater Mannheim, the Landestheater Linz, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, among others. He has worked with Philippe Jordan, Bertrand de Billy, Semyon Bychkov, Marco Armiliato, Omer Meir Wellber, René Jacobs, Sylvain Cambreling, Dennis Russell Davies, Alexander Soddy, and Thomas Guggeis.
At the Lehár Festival Bad Ischl 2019, he interpreted Maxime de la Vallé in Franz Lehár’s operetta »Clo-Clo«. This rediscovery was awarded the »Frosch des Monats« by BR-Klassik’s Operetten-Boulevard and released as a world premiere CD recording for Franz Lehár’s 150th birthday. In 2024, the recording of the Vienna State Opera’s »Parsifal« was released by Sony Classical.
Further debuts at the house on the Ring in the 2024/25 season include Tybalt in Gounod’s »Roméo et Juliette«, Brighella in Strauss’ »Ariadne auf Naxos«, and Walther von der Vogelweide (»Tannhäuser«) by Richard Wagner. Furthermore, he will celebrate his Italy debut with Ligeti’s »Le Grand Macabre« at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo.
PORTRAIT published in the issue of the monthly magazine OPERNRING ZWEI.