Stephen Milling

Danish bass Stephen Milling ranks among the world’s foremost interpreters of Wagner’s repertoire.  Strongly associated with the role of Hagen since his critically acclaimed 2015 role debut at the Bayreuth Festival under Kirill Petrenko, his portrayal at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden’s Ring Cycle, conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano, was hailed by audience and critics alike, the Financial Times writing “Stephen Milling is outstanding as Hagen, singing with huge power, but also scrupulous in his care for the text and phrasing.” During the 2021/22 season Milling returns to the role in Robert Carsen’s timeless production at Teatro Real, conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado.

Other Wagner highlights include Hunding (Die Walküre) at The Metropolitan Opera under Valery Gergiev and in concert with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski, Daland (Der fliegende Holländer) at Bayerische Staatsoper and König Marke (Tristan und Isolde) at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden under the baton of Daniel Barenboim.  He has performed the role of Gurnemanz (Parsifal) at both Wiener Staatsoper under Sir Simon Rattle and at Osterfestspiele Salzburg under Christian Thielemann, as well as being immortalised in the role on DVD for Deutsche Grammophon.  As a regular guest on the stage of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, other appearance in collaboration with Pappano include Landgraf Hermann (Tannhäuser) and Pogner (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg).

Trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Stephen Milling joined the Royal Danish Opera in 1994 where he debuted a number of roles now central to his repertoire and recent guest appearances in Copenhagen include as Daland, Sarastro and Rocco.  Other highlights of the 2021/22 season include apperances as Sarastro at the Gran Teatre del Liceu and Gurnemanz at Deutsche Oper Berlin.