Biography

Bass-Baritone Samuel Youn received his first vocal training in his hometown Seoul, and then completed his studies at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan and at the Conservatory of Cologne.

In 1999, he started his career at the Cologne Opera where he has established himself quickly as a leading dramatic bass baritone of his generation in roles like Amonasro/Aida, Tonio/Pagliacci, Kurwenal/Tristan und Isolde, Gunter/Götterdämmerung, Kaspar/Der Freischütz, Pizzaro/Fidelio, and the title role in Wagner`s Der fliegende Holländer. Besides his commitment at the Cologne Opera, he has also been invited on many international stages, including Opéra national de Paris, Opéra de Marseille, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Hamburg, Teatro alla Scala, Theater an der Wien, Teatro Real de Madrid, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Teatro di San Carlo Naples, Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Teatro Sao Carlo Lisbon, as well as the Bayreuth Festival and Edinburgh International Festival.

Samuel Youn collaborated with conductors, such as Philippe Jordan, Christian Thielemann, Andrew Davis, Marc Elder, Andris Nelsons, Juraj Valčuha, Semyon Bychkov, Marc Minkowski, Markus Stenz, Peter Ruzicka, Donald Runnicles, John Fiore, Will Humburg, Pinchas Steinberg, Zubin Mehta, and Pierre Boulez.

In 2012, Youn had his international breakthrough singing the title role in Der fliegende Holländer under the baton of Christian Thielemann at the Bayreuth Festival, followed by re-invitations (2013-15). 2015 had him return to the Bayreuth Festival and the Deutsche Oper Berlin for various productions, as well as debuting at the Theater an der Wien in the title role of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman and with the Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Highlights of the recent past include i.a. Scarpia/Tosca, Créon in Enescu‘s Oedipe and Raimondo Bidebent/Lucia di Lammermoor at Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Alberich in Das Rheingold and Siegfried at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Wanderer/Siegfried, Holländer/Der fliegende Holländer, Kurwenal/Tristan und Isolde, Jochanaan/Salome, Scarpia/Tosca and Méphisto/Damnation de Faust at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Jago/Otello at Semperoper Dresden, Holländer/Der fliegende Holländer and Hagen/Ring cycle at Theater an der Wien, Gunther/Götterdämmerung at Gran Theatre de Liceu Barcelona, Alberich/Das Rheingold and Holländer/Der fliegende Holländer at Teatro Real de Madrid, König Heinrich/Lohengrin at Opéra de Marseille, as well as Orest/Elektra, Wotan//Wanderer/Der Ring an 1 Abend and Scarpia/Tosca at Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden. Furthermore, Samuel Youn performed the roles Wanderer/Siegfried, Don Pizarro/Fidelio, Vodník/Rusalka, Scarpia/Tosca, Leporello/Don Giovanni and the title role in Bartók‘s Bluebeard’s Castle.

Engagements in the past 2019/20 season included Kurwenal/Tristan und Isolde and Escamillo/Carmen at the Cologne Opera and Tomsky/The Queen of Spades and Alberich/Götterdämmerung* at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, each conducted by Andrew Davis. In the 20/21 season, Samuel Youn sang at the Opéra de Marseille as Scarpia/ Tosca before returning to his regular company at the Oper Köln with the roles of Méphistophélés/ Faust and Escamillo/ Carmen. In the past season Youn sang Alberich/ Das Rheingold in Baden-Baden, as well as at the Konzerthaus Dortmund under Yannick Nezet-Seguin and in the Théatre des Champs-Elysées.

Engagements in the coming 2022/23 season include Jochanaan/ Salome at the Teatro Petruzelli in Bari and the title role in The Flying Dutchman at the Teatro La Fenice. 
 
* Canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic

Artist Website

www.samuelyoun.net 

Management

General Management

Artist Manager
 
 
 
 
Boris Orlob
Managing Director
boris@orlob.net 
Mobil: +49-172-8 51 55 14

Repertoire

Repertoire Concert

Beethoven Symphony no. 9
Mahler Symphony no. 8
Rossini Stabat Mater
Schubert Mass No. 5 in A flat major
Szymanowski Stabat Mater op. 53
Verdi Requiem
 

Repertoire Opera

Bartók Bluebeard's Castle Bluebeard
Beethoven Fidelio Don Fernando
    Don Pizarro
Bellini Norma Oroveso
Berg Lulu Dr. Schön
Berlioz La damnation de Faust Méphisophélès
Bizet Carmen Escamillo
Britten Billy Budd John Claggart
    Mr. Redburn
d'Albert Tiefland Sebastiano
Donizetti Lucia di Lammermoor Raimondo Bidebent
Dvorak Rusalka Wassermann
Enescu Oedipe Créon
Gounod Faust Méphisophélès
Humperdinck Hansel and Gretel Peter
Janacek The Cunning Little Vixen Háraschta
Leoncavallo Pagliacci Tonio
Mascagni Cavalleria rusticana Alfio
Mozart Die Zauberflöte Sprecher
Offenbach Les contes d’Hoffmann                Villains
Puccini Tosca Scarpia
Saint-Saëns Samson et Dalila Le grand prêtre
Strauss, R. Die Frau ohne Schatten               Barak
    Geisterbote
  Elektra Orest
  Salome Jochanaan
Verdi Aida Amonasro
  Attila Attila
  La forza del destino Don Carlos di Vagas
  Otello Jago
    Montano
  Simon Boccanegra Paolo Albiani
Wagner Das Rheingold Alberich
    Donner
    Wotan
  Der fliegende Holländer Holländer
  Die Meistersinger v. Nürnberg Hans Sachs
  Götterdämmerung Gunther
    Hagen
  Lohengrin Heerrufer des Königs
    Herald
  Parsifal Amfortas
    Klingsor
  Siegfried Wanderer
  Tannhäuser Biterolf
    Reinmar von Zweter
  Tristan und Isolde Kurwenal
    Melot
Weber Der Freischütz Kaspar

News

"Veni creator spiritus" - Mahler 8 in Duomo di Milano
On November 8th, 2023 Gustav Mahler's monumental Symphony No. 8, the "Symphony of a Thousand", will be performed in Milan! Together with the Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro Sinfonico di Milano and three further choirs, Flurina Stucki (Magna Peccatrix), Bettina Ranch (Mulier Samaritana), Tuomas Katajala (Doctor Marianus) and Samuel Youn (Pater Profundus) will perform this exceptional work under the direction of Claus Peter Flor in the Duomo di Milano.

The Symphony No. 8 is performed as part of the "Festival Mahler", which for three whole weeks (from 22 October to 13 November 2023) has been dedicated to the repertoire of Gustav Mahler.
Bettina Ranch already performed Mahler's Symphony No. 2 under the direction of Andrey Boreyko on 25 October.

More information about the concert:
www.sinfonicadimilano.org/... 

More information about the Mahler Festival:
www.sinfonicadimilano.org/...

Media

Images
Portrait
Photo: Jino Park

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Portrait
Photo: Jino Park

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Portrait
Photo: Jino Park

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Portrait
Photo: Christoph Seelbach

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Portrait
Photo: Agency

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Portrait
Photo: Christoph Seelbach

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Portrait
Photo: Christoph Seelbach

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Tosca Royal Opera House
Photo: Catherine Ashmore

Video
Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Orquesta y Coro RTVE in Madrid
(Solo at 01'20'14):
www.rtve.es/...
Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 under Myung-Whun Chung at Chorégie d'Orange
(Solo at 00'49'50):
youtube.com/... 
Siegfried/Alberich at the Lyric Opera of Chicago:
youtube.com/... 
Der fliegende Holländer/Holländer  "Die Frist ist um". Concert in Seoul:
youtube.com/...  

Press

 

Rheingold / Rotterdam / 24.04.2022 / operamagazine.nl


"stimmlich und schauspielerisch unnachahmlich" 

Rheingold / Rotterdam / 24.04.2022 / volkskrant.nl


"stimmlich liefert er eine grandiose Leistung ab" 

Tosca / Opéra Municipal / 28.02.2021 / gbopera.it 


"voix superbe et bien placée" 

Pique Dame / Lyric Opera of Chicago / 25.02.20 / patch.com


"Youn found the best way to portray this role both vocally and artistically" 

Tristan und Isolde / Oper Köln / 22.09.19 / concerti.de


"Auf Bayreuthsänger Samuel Youn ist Köln besonders stolz" 

Götterdämmerung / Edinburgh International Festival / 26.08.19 / seenandheard-international.com


"Youn's superstar Alberich acted and sang with vigorous malice" 

Rusalka / Oper Köln / 13.03.19 / omm.de


"mit donnerndem, alles beherschendem Bariton" 

Das Rheingold / Teatro Real de Madrid / 22.01.19 / operawire.com


"arguably the highlight of the evening" 

Das Rheingold / Teatro Real de Madrid / 19.01.19 / seenandheard-international.com


"flawless both vocally and dramatically" 

Siegfried / Lyric Opera of Chicago / 28.11.18 / ncphoofbeat.org


"displaying masterful control and volume" 

Siegfried / Lyric Opera of Chicago / 05.11.18 / chicagoclassicalreview.com


"brought huge bass tone and scary intensity to the begetter of the Ring" 

Hagen (Ringtrilogie) / Theater an der Wien / 07.12.17 / faz.net


"Großartig gerät Hagens Wacht in der Gibichungenhalle" 

Hagen (Ringtrilogie) / Theater an der Wien / 04.12.17 / kurier.at


"Samuel Youn als starker Hagen" 

Hagen (Ringtrilogie) / Theater an der Wien / 02.12.17 / diepresse.com


"der einzige echte Kerl mit Hirn" 

Das Rheingold / Civic Opera House Chicago / 03.10.16 / chicagotribune.com


"powerful American and role debuts" 

Tosca / Oper Köln / 26.06.16 / deropernfreund.de


 "Er zieht stimmlich alle Register" 

Oedipe / Royal Opera House Covent Garden / 26.05.16 / thecuspmagazine.com


 "Samuel Youn is splendid" 

Tosca / Royal Opera House Covent Garden / 09.01.16 / operabritanniauk.wordpress.com 
 

"Youn's Scarpia dominated the stage" 

La damnation de Faust / Oper Köln / 07.12.14 / opernnetz.de


 "so liebt das Publikum den Teufel" 
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