Richard Zeller

One of America's foremost baritones, Richard Zeller is internationally acclaimed for both his concert and opera roles. He is known for his sonorous dramatic voice, a compelling stage presence and outstanding musicianship. Highlights of the current season include the B minor Masswith Charlotte Symphony, a Carmina Burana wih Richmond Symphony, Mendelssohn’s Elijah at Winter Park Festival, the Brahms Requiem with Portland Symphonic Choir and an Opera Gala in Lodz, Poland.

During season 2008/09, Mr. Zeller returned to Scottish Opera to sing Germont in David McVicar’s new production of La Traviata, a role he reprised with Portland Opera in the US. He also performed the title role of Verdi’s Falstaff in Portland at PSU Opera directed by Tito Capobianco and appeared at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall with American Symphony Orchestra as the lead role of Signor Rivière in Dallapiccola’s opera Volo di notte and at Lincoln Center Jazz with Deborah Voigt and the Collegiate Chorale as Grand-Pretre/Hercule in Gluck’s Alceste. Mr. Zeller’s concert engagements during that season included Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Seattle Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, and Spokane Symphony, andCarmina Burana with the Buffalo Philharmonic at Artpark. Mr. Zeller’s opera engagements have included 12 seasons at the Metropolitan Opera; in 2002/03 Mr. Zeller appeared at the Met in three new productions; as Ernesto in Bellini’s Il Pirata with Renée Fleming; in the lead role of Eddie in William Bolcom's opera, A View from the Bridge, based on Arthur Miller's play; and as Chorebe in Berlioz's Les Troyens, conducted by Maestro James Levine.

His other performances and assignments at the Met have included the title role in Verdi’s Macbeth, the title role in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin , Marcello in Puccini’s La Bohème, Barak in R. Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten,Enricoin Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Carlo in Verdi’sErnani, Rangoni and Schelkalov in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov in two different productions, Thoas in Gluck’sIphigenie en Tauride, Kothner in Wagners’s Die Meistersinger, Sprecher in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, as well as performances of smaller roles in other operas including Giordano’s Andrea Chénier, Gounod’s Faust, and Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Mr. Zeller was featured in Scottish Opera's widely heralded, award-winning production of Macbeth directed by Luc Bondy at its Edinburgh Festival premiere in 1999/00 and revival at the Vienna Festival. Other highlights of past seasons include performances in Chicago Lyric Opera’sBoris Godunov and Andrea Chénier, Gluck’s Alceste at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin and Gluck’s Iphigenie en Tauride in Madrid. He has also sung the title role ofRigoletto in many venues including New York City Opera. Mr. Zeller also appeared as Athanaël in Massenet's Thaïswith the English National Opera at the Barbican in London and in the title role in Verdi's Macbeth with Opera de Bordeaux, Opera de Vichy and Portland Opera.

Mr. Zeller’s has sung the role of Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata with Hamburgische Staatsoper, San Diego Opera, Scottish Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Portland Opera, and in many other opera and concert venues with orchestras in Europe and the US. His frequently performed Verdi baritone roles include Falstaff, Rigoletto, Macbeth, Conte Di Luna, Amonasro, Rodrigo, Don Carlo, Renato, and Simon Boccanegra. He has appeared with many regional opera companies in the US including the Chicago Lyric Opera, New York City Opera, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Cincinnati, San Diego, Portland, New Orleans, and New Jersey Opera companies.
Mr. Zeller is highly regarded in the concert field and has sung with virtually all the major orchestras in the US, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, National Symphony, and the symphonies of San Francisco, Dallas, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Minnesota, Baltimore, Seattle, Oregon, San Diego, to name a few.

International orchestra credits include Toronto Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Vancouver Radio Orchestra, Winnipeg, Ottowa, the Nord Deutscher Rundfunk (Hanover), MDR Symphony Orchester (Leipzig), Dresden Staatskapelle, Czech Philharmonic (Prague Autumn Festival), Tokyo Philharmonic, Cesky Krumlov Festival (Czech Republic), Korea Philharmonic, Rotterdam, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (Norway), Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo (in a command performance for Prince Rainier and Prince Albert of Monaco), as well as a performance for the Spanish Royal Family in Madrid with conductor Helmut Rilling. He is celebrated for his interpretation of the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah which he has sung with the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, and many others throughout the US, Europe, and Asia, and he has given over 100 performances each of Orff’s Carmina Burana,Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and Handel’s Messiah.

Highlights of past seasons include appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of James Levine in Berlioz’s Les Troyens, and the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with both the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia and in a nationwide radio broadcast with the Cleveland Orchestra as well as Handel’s Messiah with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Mr. Zeller was also featured in 2001 in a nationwide TV Broadcast of Live from Lincoln Centersinging the Mozart Requiem with the Mostly Mozart Festival, conducted by Gerard Schwarz. His performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall include Orff’s Carmina Burana,Handel’s Messiah, Verdi’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem,Bloch’s Sacred Service, Catalani’s La Wally, and many others.Richard Zeller’s recordings include the critically acclaimedMerry Mount by Howard Hanson for Naxos, Deems Taylor’sPeter Ibbettson with Naxos, and the world premiere of Henri Lazarof's Fifth Symphony on Centaur Records – all recorded with Gerard Schwartz and the Seattle Symphony.He has recorded Dvorak's Te Deum with Zdenec Macal and the New Jersey Symphony for Delos, and David Schiff’sGimpel the Fool for Naxos, as well as Beethoven'sSymphony No. 9 for Centaur Records, and Virgil Thompson's Lord Byron and Aaron Copland's The Tender Land for Koch International.