Christoph Pohl

German baritone Christoph Pohl is one of the most sought-after singers in his field. He studied opera singing at the University of Music and Drama in Hanover under Prof. Carol Richardson-Smith and was a student in Justus Zeyen’s art song class.
From 2003 to 2005, Christoph Pohl was a member of the opera studio at the Hamburg State Opera, where he made his debut as Papageno in “The Magic Flute”, among other roles. From 2005 to 2018, Christoph Pohl was a member of the ensemble at the Semperoper Dresden, where he performed the major roles in his repertoire, including Wolfram (“Tannhäuser”), Marcello (“La Bohème”), Dandini (“La Cenerentola”), Papageno (“The Magic Flute”), Count Almaviva (“Le Nozze di Figaro”), Guglielmo (“Così fan tutte”), Olivier (“Capriccio”), Danilo (“The Merry Widow”), Eisenstein (“Die Fledermaus”), and Valentin (“Faust”). In the 2011–12 season, he also made his successful role debuts here as Figaro (“Il barbiere di Siviglia”), Belcore (“L’elisir d’amore”), and the Count (“Capriccio”), and received great acclaim for his interpretation of the title role in Weinberger’s rarely performed opera “Švanda dudák” (“Schwanda, the Bagpiper”). This was followed by the Herald (“Lohengrin”) and Lescaut (“Manon Lescaut”)—both under the musical direction of Christian Thielemann—Germont (“La traviata”), Posa (“Don Carlo”), the Minstrel (“Königskinder”), the Count (“Le Nozze di Figaro”), and, above all, Eugene Onegin and Storch (“Intermezzo”)—all of which were major personal successes.
Guest appearances have taken Christoph Pohl to the Deutsche Oper Berlin (including the role of Albert in “Oceane,” a world premiere conducted by Donald Runnicles), the Stuttgart State Opera, the Leipzig Opera, as well as on several occasions to the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Frankfurt Opera, and the Hamburg State Opera, which also awarded the baritone the title of Kammersänger in October 2024. In the summer of 2013, he sang Wolfram (“Tannhäuser”) at the Royal Albert Hall in London as part of the BBC Proms, and in 2019 he performed there in Haydn’s “The Creation.” He made his debut as Amfortas (“Parsifal”) at the Vlaamse Opera and as Count Francesco Cenci (“Beatrice Cenci”) at the Bregenz Festival. At the Theater an der Wien, he appeared as Thoas in “Iphigenia” and in the title roles of Salieri’s “Falstaff” and Rossini’s “Guillaume Tell.” In November 2015, he sang for the first time at the Royal Opera Covent Garden in “Morgen und Abend,” a composition by the Austrian composer G. F. Haas created especially for him—a production that was also staged at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2016.
Despite the pandemic, he was able to sing in the world premiere of “Impressario.com” at the Bregenz Festival in the summer of 2020 and appeared via livestream in the new productions of “Lucia di Lammermoor” at the Hamburg State Opera and “Capriccio” at the Semperoper Dresden. In February 2024, he created the role of King Alfonso in the multi-award-winning world premiere of “Die Jüdin von Toledo” by Detlev Glanert at the Dresden State Opera.
His recital and concert activities have taken him not only throughout Europe but also to Japan and the United States, among other places. In October 2011, his first CD featuring songs by Mahler, Liszt, Pizetti, and Rihm was released. In 2017, he gave his first recital at the renowned Wigmore Hall in London.
Future plans include a performance at the Salzburg Festival in “Ariadne auf Naxos.”
The baritone is a prize winner at several national and international competitions and received the Christel Goltz Prize from the Dresden Semperoper Foundation.

www.pohl-christoph.de