Franz Mayer joined the Ensemble at Oper Frankfurt in 1977, since when roles have included Mozart’s Figaro, Leporello, Masetto, Papageno and Don Alfonso, Wagner’s Fritz Kothner / Night Watchman (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) and Reinmar in Tannhäuser, Puccini’s Mesner (Tosca), Schaunard (La Bohème) and Onkel Bonzo (Madame Butterfly), Verdi’s Monterone (Rigoletto), Barone Douphol (La Traviata) and Montano (Otello, in concert), the Music Teacher (Ariadne auf Naxos), Father in Hänsel und Gretel, Trombonok (Die Reise nach Reims/Il viaggio a Reims), the Archbishop of Prague in Pfitzner’s Palestrina and Don Fernando (Fidelio). In 2010/11 he extended his repertoire with the role of Unto in a new production of Sallinen’s Kullervo. During the 2011/12 season he will sing Angelo (role debut) in Wagner’s early opera Das Liebesverbot/The Ban on Love (in concert), Montano in a new production of Otello and take part in revivals of La Traviata and Die Zauberflöte.
Franz Mayer is also a wonderful concert singer, his repertoire includes works by Bach, Handel, Mahler, Mozart and Mendelssohn, and has made appearances in Vienna, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Munich, South America (twice) and Japan. Guest engagements have included Fra Melitone (La forza del destino), Paolo (Simon Boccanegra) and the King’s Herald (Lohengrin). In 1993 he was made a Kammersänger of Oper Frankfurt.