A bass-baritone in a great tradition.

Hungarian bass-baritone Károly Szemerédy completed his vocal studies in Madrid at the Escuela Superior de Canto under the guidance of Manuel Cid.

His international career began at Madrid’s Teatro Real, where he made his debut in 2007 in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. He subsequently appeared in several productions at the renowned opera house, establishing himself as one of the most promising bass-baritones of his generation.

The year 2008 marked a decisive breakthrough in his career. He was awarded First Prize at the Maestro Guerrero International Singing Competition in Madrid, became a finalist at the Hans Gabor Belvedere International Singing Competition in Vienna, and won Third Prize at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition in Québec, achieving the highest placement among baritones in that edition of the competition.

Since then, he has performed on major opera stages across Europe, Asia and Latin America. His repertoire encompasses a broad spectrum of Italian, German and Slavic works, with a particular affinity for the dramatic baritone repertoire. Among his signature roles are Don Giovanni, Escamillo, Sharpless, Scarpia, Orest, Jochanaan, Klingsor, Gunther, and Tell in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell.

One of the highlights of his international career was performing the title role in Guillaume Tell at the International Opera Festival of Peru alongside Juan Diego Flórez. Throughout his career, he has appeared in leading cultural centres including Madrid, Warsaw, Paris, Lyon, Geneva, Munich, Turin, Venice, Brussels, Antwerp, Buenos Aires, Taipei and Budapest.

Károly Szemerédy has collaborated with some of the most distinguished conductors of our time, including Jesús López Cobos, Susanna Mälkki, Hartmut Haenchen, Kent Nagano, Semyon Bychkov, Zubin Mehta and Ádám Fischer.

Recent seasons have seen him appear prominently with the Hungarian State Opera and at Müpa Budapest’s internationally acclaimed Wagner Days Festival. His recent engagements include Richard Nixon in John Adams’s Nixon in China, Gunther in Götterdämmerung, Klingsor in Parsifal, Renato in Un ballo in maschera, Telramund in Lohengrin, Scarpia in Tosca, as well as Don Giovanni and Count Almaviva in Mozart’s operas.

In 2023, he was awarded the Hungarian Gold Cross of Merit in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Hungarian musical life.