Barihunk switcheroo at Boston Symphony Orchestra

Günther Groissböck (photo:Monika Rittershaus) & Wilhelm Schwinghammer (photo: Enrico Nawrath)

Bass-barihunk Wilhelm Schwinghammer will replace fellow bass-barihunk Günther Groissböck for the Sunday, August 28th performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 under the baton of Andris Nelsons. The other singers are soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen, mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose and tenor Joseph Kaiser. Tickets are available online.

Groissböck had a bicycling accident and was unable to travel for the concert. Groissböck's upcoming performances include Heinrich der Vogler in Wagner's Lohengrin at the Vienna State Opera, Rocco in Beethoven's Fidelio at the Bavarian State Opera and Sarastro in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden.

This will be Schwinghammer's  Tanglewood and Boston Symphony debuts. Schwinghammer will return to  Germany to sing Sarastro in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Hamburg State Opera before returning in October for his debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Fasolt in Wagner's Das Rheingold.

Wilhelm Schwinghammer in sexy Daphne in Hamburg

Wilhelm Schwinghammer, Hanna Schwarz and the Daphne ensemble

Bass-barihunk Wilhelm Schwinghammer is singing Peneios in director Christof Loy's sexy production of Richard Strauss' Daphne at the Staatsoper Hamburg. The production includes Agneta Eichenholz in the title role, Eric Cutler as Apollo, Peter Lodahl as Leukippos and the amazing Hanna Schwarz as Gaea. Performances are running tonight through June 23 and tickets are available online.

Schwinghammer recently made his first U.S. appearance since his 2013 King Mark in Tristan und Isolde at Washington National Opera, when he appeared as Sarastro with the Los Angeles Opera as Sarastro in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte in February and March 2016. He returns to the U.S. to make his debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Fasolt in Wagner's Das Rheingold from October 1-22, in a cast that includes Eric Owens as Wotan.

Later this season, he returns to his home base at the Staatsoper Hamburg to sing Sarastro, Heinrich in Lohengrin, the title role in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro and Osmin in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail. In 2017, he will perform the Nachtwächter in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Teatro La Scala Milano.