Liviu Holender

The Austrian baritone Liviu Holender received his musical education in his home city of Vienna, where he initially studied clarinet at the University of Music and Performing Arts and piano at the Conservatory. In 2013 he began his singing training with Karlheinz Hanser at the University of Music, and privately with Wicus Slabbert. In addition, he completed a law degree.

Since the 2019/20 season Liviu Holender has been an ensemble member of the Frankfurt Opera, where he appears in a wide-ranging repertory, with roles including Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Malatesta (Don Pasquale), Sharpless (Madama Butterfly), Ping (Turandot), Faninal (Der Rosenkavalier), Olivier (Capriccio), Peter (Hänsel und Gretel), Hans in Zemlinsky’s Der Traumgörge, Henrik in Nielsen‘s Maskarade und Choregos in Birtwistle’s Punch and Judy.

Guest engagements have taken him to La Scala, Milan, the Teatro del Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Bregenz Festival, the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, the Latvian National Opera in Riga and the Bucharest National Opera.

Recent highlights have included his role debut as Marcello (La bohème) at the Romanian National Opera in Cluj-Napoca, further appearances in this role at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb under Pier Giorgio Morandi, and his debut at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna as Donner (Das Rheingold). He has appeared at the Bregenz Festival as Ottokar (Der Freischütz) and Marullo (Rigoletto), and at the Tokyo Spring Festival as Schaunard (La bohème) and Herald (Lohengrin).

Liviu Holender’s past concert engagements include Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem under Daniele Gatti at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, under Hartmut Haenchen at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna and with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra under Michele Mariotti, Jesus in Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Vienna Philharmonic under Franz Welser-Möst and his debut at the Schubertiade in Hohenems with a song recital dedicated to works by Schubert and Mahler.

Following his Salzburg Festival debut as Moralès (Carmen), in the 2026/27 season Liviu Holender will sing Ping, Don Alfonso and Peter for the Frankfurt Opera, and will also make his role debut there as Leander in Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges.