Cornel Frey

With the ensemble since 2012/13
Voice type: Tenor

Cornel Frey, born in Lucerne in 1977, trained with the Lucerne Singknaben and Prof. Jakob Stämpfli at the Bern University of the Arts. After completing his studies, he became a member of the International opera studio in Zurich. Before joining the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich in 2012, Cornel Frey was a member of the Wuppertaler Bühnen ensemble from 2003 to 2009, where he sang important roles in the dramatic tenor repertoire. During his engagement at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the tenor has already performed in a wide variety of roles. Guest engagements have taken him to the Bavarian State Opera, Zurich Opera, the State Theater Wiesbaden, the Vienna Festival, the Styriarte Graz, and the Ludwigsburg Castle Festival, among others. He also appeared at the festivals in Lucerne and Schwetzingen, as well as several times as Mime and, in 2023, as David (Wagner's “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg”) at the Müpa during the Budapest Wagner Days under Adam Fischer. He also appeared as Piet vom Fass (Ligeti's “Le Grand Macabre”) at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden, where he also performed Schubert's “Die schöne Müllerin” as part of the 2025 International Maifestspiele. In the summer of 2024, he sang the role of Mime at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna.

His roles for the 2025/26 season include Aegisth (R. Strauss's “Elektra”), Hauptmann (Berg's “Wozzeck”), and once again the Witch in Humperdinck's “Hänsel und Gretel”, Gabriel von Eisenstein (J. Strauss (son)'s “Die Fledermaus”) and Ari in “Comedian Harmonists – Best of”.

(as of 07/2025)