Ralf Lukas

Hailing from Bayreuth, bass-baritone Ralf Lukas studied at the Berlin University of the Arts, working with with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Aribert Reimann and Hans Hotter. In 1991 he won first prize at the 's-Hertogenbosch International Singing Competition. Following first engagements at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, with roles such as Papageno ("Die Zauberflöte"), Leporello ("Don Giovanni") and Schaunard ("La Bohème"), he developed into a heroic baritone with roles such as Heerrufer ("Lohengrin"), Wolfram ("Tannhäuser") and Amfortas ("Parsifal"). Wotan and Wanderer (Wagners "Ring" cycle) soon followed, with performances in Münster, Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Cologne, Rome, Riga and Macau, amongst others. Between 20016 and 2012, he regularly appeared as Donner, Gunther and Melot at the Bayreuth Festival. In 2008 he made his celebrated debut as Hans Sachs ("Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) at Staatstheater Darmstadt. He sang Barak ("Die Frau ohne Schatten") at the New National Theatre in Tokyo, and made guest appearances as Donner ("Das Rheingold") at the Liceu in Barcelona. Further guest engagements have taken him to the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, the Hannover State Opera and the Royal Copenhagen Opera. Ralf Luka has worked with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Sir Colin Davis, Heinrich Hollreiser, Armin Jordan, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Sir Roger Norrington, Seiji Ozawa, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Giuseppe Sinopoli and Christian Thielemann.
During the 2022/23 season, he graces the Wiesbaden stage as Baron Mirka Zeta in the new production of "Die lustige Witwe".