Biography
Finnish bass-baritone, Tuomas Pursio, studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki before continuing his studies at the International Opera Studio in Zurich. His teachers include Jukka Rasilainen, Laszlo Polgar, Tom Krause, and Elisabeth Werres.Following permanent engagements in Düsseldorf and Erfurt, Pursio remains a member of ensemble at the Opera Leipzig since 2002/03. At this house he already performed as, among others, Wotan/Das Rheingold, Alberich/Siegfried and Gunther/Götterdämmerung, Amfortas/Parsifal, Scarpia/Tosca, Jochanaan/Salome, Orest/Elektra, Kaspar/Der Freischütz, Mephisto/Faust, and Vodník/Rusalka. Furthermore, he made his role debut in the title role of Bluebeard’s Castle.
Tuomas Pursio worked with conductors such as Christian Thielemann, Riccardo Chailly, Philippe Jordan, Marek Janowski, Juraj Valčuha, Riccardo Frizza, John Fiore, Nello Santi, Adam Fischer, Ralf Weikert, Ulf Schirmer, Axel Kober, Osmo Vänskä, Sebastian Weigle and Marcello Viotti.
Guest performances led him, among others, to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, State Operas in Stuttgart and Hannover, Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Zurich Opera, Hungarian State Opera Budapest, Teatro Communale di Bologna, Antwerp’s Opera, Finnish National Opera Helsinki, Opéra de Lausanne, Opéra de Nice as well as to the Savonlinna Opera Festival and the Festival Auvers-sur-Oise. There he took on the roles of Escamillo/Carmen, Musiklehrer/Ariadne auf Naxos, Don Giovanni/Don Giovanni, Kaspar/Der Freischütz, Orest/Elektra, Amfortas/Parsifal, Förster/Das schlaue Füchslein, Don Alfonso/Cosi fan tutte, Nick Shadow/The Rake’s Progress, Scarpia/Tosca, Wotan/Das Rheingold as well as the Villains in Les Contes d‘Hoffmann.
Recent highlights include Donner/Das Rheingold under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen, Scarpia/Tosca and the title role of Don Giovanni at the Finnish National Opera Helsinki, Mephisto/Faust on the occasion of the Savonlinna Opera Festival, Jochanaan/Salome at Landestheater Linz and at Teatro Communale di Bologna, as well as Friedrich/Das Liebesverbot and Raimondo/Rienzi as part of the guest performances of the Oper Leipzig in Bayreuth.
His concert repertoire ranges from Haydn and Beethoven over Verdi and Mahler up to contemporary Finnish composers. Furthermore, he sang Verdi’s Requiem in Leipzig and a highly acclaimed concert series together with Marek Janowski and the Rundfunksinfonieorchester Berlin.
Engagements in the current season include, among others, the world premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s opera Innocence at the Opera Festival Aix-en-Provence, further performances at Amsterdam’s Dutch National Opera and the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki having been postponed to a future season due to COVID-19. Engagements at Opera Leipzig include Wagner’s Ring and Das Liebesverbot.
In season 2021/22, in addition to prominent roles at his parent house in Leipzig, Tuomas Pursio will return to the Finnish National Opera in Götterdämmerung/Gunther and Tosca/Scarpia.
His CD-recordings include Schumann’s Manfred with Mario Venzago, Un Ballo in Maschera with Riccardo Chailly, and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with Marek Janowski.
Artist Website
www.tuomaspursio.comManagement
General ManagementArtist Manager

Ingunn Sighvatsdóttir
Artist Manager
ingunn@orlob.net
Mobil: +49-173-2 067 821
Repertoire
Repertoire Concert
Bach, J.S. | B minor mass |
Christmas Oratorio | |
St. John Passion | |
St. Matthew Passion | |
Beethoven | Missa Solemnis |
Symphony no. 9 | |
Buckner | Te Deum |
Haydn | The Creation |
The Seasons | |
Mahler | Symphony no. 8 |
Mozart | Missa in C minor |
Requiem | |
Puccini | Messa di Gloria |
Rasch | Mein Herz brennt |
Rossini | Petite Messe Solennelle |
Stabat Mater | |
Tippett | A Child of Our Time |
Verdi | Requiem |
Repertoire Opera
Bártok | Bluebeard's Castle (Concert) | Bluebeard |
Bellini | I Capuleti e i Montecchi | Lorenzo |
La sonnambula | Rodolfo | |
Berg | Wozzeck | Der Doktor |
Bernstein | Trouble in Tahiti | Sam |
Bizet | Carmen | Escamillo |
Blacher | Die Nachtschwalbe | Kommissar Schmoerl |
Donizetti | Lucia di Lammermoor | Raimondo Bidebent |
Flotow | Martha | Plumkett |
Gounod | Faust | Méphistophélès |
Händel | Alcina | Melisso |
Hersant | Le moine noir | Andrej Korvine |
Janacek | The Cunning Little Vixen | Forester |
Meyerbeer | Margherita d'Anjou | Carlo Belmonte |
Mozart | Così fan tutte | Don Alfonso |
Die Zauberflöte | Sprecher | |
Don Giovanni | Don Giovanni | |
Leporello | ||
La clemenza di Tito | Publio | |
Le nozze di Figaro | Figaro | |
Offenbach | Les contes d'Hoffmann | Villains |
Puccini | La Bohème | Colline |
La Rondine | Rombaldo | |
Tosca | Scarpia | |
Turandot | Mandarino | |
Timur | ||
Schreker | Der Schatzgräber | König |
Strauss, R. | Arabella | Mandryka |
Ariadne auf Naxos | Musiklehrer | |
Die Frau ohne Schatten | Geisterbote | |
Elektra | Orest | |
Salome | 1st Nazarene | |
1st Soldier | ||
Stravinsky | The Nightingale | Chamberlain |
The Rake’s Progress | Nick Shadow | |
Tchaikovsky | Eugene Onegin | Gremin |
Verdi | Aida | King |
Don Carlos | Filippo II | |
Luisa Miller | Wurm | |
Nabucco | Zaccaria | |
Otello | Lodovico | |
Rigoletto | Monterone | |
Un ballo in maschera | Samuel | |
Wagner | Das Liebesverbot | Friedrich |
Das Rheingold | Wotan | |
Die Meistersinger v. Nürnberg | Fritz Kothner | |
Götterdämmerung | Gunther | |
Parsifal | 2nd Gralsritter | |
Amfortas | ||
Rienzi | Kardinal Orvieto | |
Raimondo | ||
Siegfried | Alberich | |
Tannhäuser | Biterolf | |
Weber | Der Freischütz | Kaspar |
News

Success wedding goes to Helsinki!
The Finnish opera audience may start to look forward to October and November, because the celebrated production of Kaija Saariaho's opera "Innocence", which had its world premiere at Festival d'Aix-en-Provence in the summer of 2021, will now come to the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki. Tuomas Pursio, who was also a part of the world premiere, will reprise his role of Father-in-law Henrik in Simon Stone's much acclaimed staging of the Finnish wedding story.Performance dates: 21/26/28 October 2022
& 2/4/8/10/12/19/22/24 November 2022
More information about the opera:
www.oopperabaletti.fi/...
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Press
Der Freischütz / Oper Leipzig / 17.04.2023 / Das Opernmagazin
"Pursios Darstellung unterstützt durch seine schwarze Bassstimme, erweckte den Eindruck, dass Kaspar bereit war, zu sterben und von seinem Elend erlöst zu werden."
Don Giovanni (Stream) / Finnish National Opera Helsinki / 10.06.20 / forumopera
"Tuomas Pursio réussit l’exploit de le chanter avec aisance, avec la fébrilité attendue, impatiente."
Das Rheingold / Finnish National Opera Helsinki / 17.09.19 / onlinemerker.com
"ein stimmlich und spielerisch auftrumpfender Donner"
Tosca / Finnish National Opera Helsinki / 23.09.18 / bachtrack.com
"Pursio's powerful voice expressed very appropriately the different psychological aspects of the villainous Scarpia"
Rusalka / Oper Leipzig / 04.12.17 / Leipziger Volkszeitung
"Tuomas Pursios kraftvoller Bass scheint wie geschaffen für die verletzte Autorität und den Zorn des Wassermanns"
Götterdämmerung / Oper Leipzig / 03.07.17 / bachtrack.com
"als stimmlich starker und neurotischer Gunther"