DANIEL SUMEGI
BASS-BARITONE
BIOGRAPHY
Daniel Sumegi has sung more than one hundred ten operatic roles on many of the world’s major stages, including The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, and Seattle Opera, as well as Opera Australia in his home country. He has also appeared in the opera houses of Bonn, Cologne, Frankfurt, and Hamburg, as well as Paris, Barcelona, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, and Houston, among many others. Last season, Mr. Sumegi returned to the Met to cover the First Soldier in Salome, and he returned to Carnegie Hall to perform in Mozart’s Requiem. This season, Mr. Sumegi will make his Artpark début as Daland in Der fliegende Holländer.
In recent seasons, Mr. Sumegi made his highly anticipated début as Wotan/The Wanderer in Opera Australia’s new production of Der Ring des Nibelungen, returned to The Metropolitan Opera to cover Padre Guardiano in their new production of La forza del destino, and joined Pacific Symphony as Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd and Opera Maine to sing Ramfis in Aida. In addition, Mr. Sumegi returned to The Metropolitan Opera to sing Porter in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and cover König Heinrich in Lohengrin. He also appeared as Escamillo in Opera Australia’s Carmen on Cockatoo Island, sang the Old Hebrew in Samson et Dalila at Seattle Opera, and returned to The Atlanta Opera as Fafner in Das Rheingold. He was featured as Heinrich in Lohengrin with Opera Australia, Ramfis in Aïdaat Los Angeles Opera, and he had company and role débuts as Rocco in Fideliofor Irish National Opera and Sergeant of Police in The Pirates of Penzance at The Atlanta Opera. Other recent engagements include Die Walküre (Singapore), Salome (Victorian Opera), Bluebeard’s Castle (Opera Australia), Hunding in Act 1 of Die Walküre (Atlanta, Stuttgart, and Melbourne Symphonies), Pogner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Opera Australia), Jochanaan in Salome (New Israeli Opera), the title role in Der fliegende Holländer (Malmö Opera), and Zuniga in Carmen (Seattle Opera). He also undertook his musical theatre début as Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd (TEG/Lifelike Touring).
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Regarded equally for his dynamic acting as much as his singing, his broad repertoire encompasses all periods of music: from Monteverdi, Mozart, and Beethoven to Britten, Maxwell-Davies, Michael Tippett, and Kevin Puts, with a special focus on the Germanic and Slavic composers. Some favorite repertoire includes all bass-baritone roles, especially Wotan and Hagen in Wagner’s Ring Cycle. He has participated in performances of The Ring in New York, Los Angeles, Strasbourg, San Francisco, Cologne, Tokyo, Buenos Aires, Seattle, Melbourne, and Adelaide, most notably as Hagen. He has performed Hunding in concert for the Hong Kong, Atlanta, Stuttgart, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras. Additionally, he has bowed as Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier with Welsh National, Scottish and Melbourne Operas, San Francisco, and The Metropolitan Opera; Scarpia in Tosca in Washington, Wales, Adelaide, and Knoxville; Jochanaan in Salome in Washington, Hamburg, Tel Aviv, Hong Kong, Leeds, and Sydney; Boris in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk in Nantes and Sydney; and Klingsor in Parsifal in Hamburg, Barcelona, and Adelaide.
Other past highlights include the title role in Bloch’s Macbeth (Frankfurt), Luisa Miller (San Francisco and Sydney), Billy Budd and Rigoletto (Los Angeles), Der fliegende Holländer, Aïda, Beatrice and Benedict and Il barbiere di Siviglia (Seattle), and The Manchurian Candidate (Minnesota and Austin).
Mr. Sumegi has collaborated with noted conductors such as James Conlon, Sir Andrew Davis, Charles Dutoit, Dan Ettinger, Asher Fisch, Valery Gergiev, Nicola Luisotti, Sir Charles Mackerras, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Renato Palumbo, Sir Simon Rattle, Carlo Rizzi, Donald Runnicles, Nello Santi, Sir Jeffrey Tate, Edo de Waart, Sebastian Weigle, and Simone Young.
The winner of numerous prestigious competitions across Australia, Sumegi made his professional début in 1988. He participated in San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program before taking up additional studies at the Konservatorium der Stadt Wien. A San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow, Sumegi was also a Pavarotti Contest finalist, a winner of both the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and Operalia, as well as being a Sullivan Foundation Grantee. Mr. Sumegi appears on recordings of Beatrice di Tenda and Seattle Opera’s acclaimed Ring Cycle, and in filmed productions of San Francisco Opera’s Capriccio, Opera Australia’s Don Giovanni, and the historic condensed Ring Cycle from Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires.
Current as of September 1, 2025
REPRESENTATIVES
General
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"... vocal mastery..." – J-Wire
Bluebeard’s Castle– "the Premiere at the Opera House last night was met with a rapturous response by a thrilled audience. Why? Very simply the chance to hear Australia’s own great bass-baritone, Daniel Sumegi in a role that truly displays his vocal mastery. It is worth the admission price on its own. There is such pleasure in listening to a voice such as his, that’s somewhat under-represented in the main works in this field. I look forward to hearing this magnificent voice again soon."
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"... he delivered the famous Toreador Song with gusto..." – BachTrack
Carmen – "Escamillo was taken on by bass-baritone Daniel Sumegi, who appeared in garb suggesting a cross between Tom Jones and an ageing Elvis. Playing the character as a rockstar with fawning groupies, he delivered the famous Toreador Song with gusto.”
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"... authoritative bass Daniel Sumegi..." – Australian Arts Review
Lohengrin – " Supporting roles are filled equally as outstandingly, with large, authoritative bass Daniel Sumegi in a balancing act of diplomacy and command as King Heinrich.”
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"... thrilling vocal turns as Jochanaan..." – Sidney Morning Herald
Salome – “With its cavernous auditorium, The Palais is the closest thing Victoria has to a grand European opera house. The acoustic is no challenge for Australian bass-baritone Daniel Sumegi. . . who give thrilling vocal turns as Jochanaan.”
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"... excellently played by Daniel Sumegi..." – Arts Hub
Sweeney Todd – “Arrogant, evil Judge Turpin, who is hiding dark secrets, was excellently played by Daniel Sumegi. Turpin and Todd’s duet ‘Pretty Women’ is another highlight of the show.”
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"... mighty voice and his deft acting..." – Seattle Times
Der fliegenda Holländer – “As Senta’s father, the sea captain Daland, Daniel Sumegi creates a memorable portrayal with his mighty voice and his deft acting.”