During Oper Frankfurt’s 2012/13 Hans-Jürgen Lazar will sing Mime in Das Rheingold and Dr. Blind in Die Fledermaus – roles with which he enjoyed great success in previous runs of these new productions. This tenor joined the ensemble for the first time in 1991, returning in 1996 after being a member of the companies in Hagen and Essen. Roles here in recent seasons have included Red Whiskers (Billy Budd), Count of Lerma / A Herald (Don Carlo), Theophilus (Palestrina), the Gouverneur (Hartmann’s Simplicius Simplicissimus), Bomelius (Die Zarenbraut/The Tsar’s Bride), Ägisth (Elektra), Mucius (world premiere of Glanert’s Caligula) and Torquemada (Die spanische Stunde/L’Heure espagnole) – not to mention his Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte - a great favourite with audiences here. Guest engagements have included appearances in Hamburg, at the Bayreuth Festival (debut as Eisslinger in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), in Salzburg, Vienna, Bologna, Barcelona (Père Lilaque in Boulevard Solitude), Catania, Triest and Paris.