For more than 15 years, the countertenor Valer Sabadus, who comes from a German-Romanian family of musicians, has captivated audiences at Europe’s leading opera houses and most renowned music festivals. His expressive voice and stylistic versatility underpin a career ranging from Baroque opera to contemporary music and cross-genre projects.
In 2009, aged 23, he made his debut under Riccardo Muti at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival in Jommelli’s Demofoonte. A defining success followed in 2011 with Hasse’s Didone abbandonata at Munich’s Prinzregententheater under Michael Hofstetter. He subsequently recorded his first solo album, Hasse Reloaded, with the Hofkapelle München, receiving the German Record Critics’ Award.
He gained international recognition in 2012 as Semira in Leonardo Vinci’s Artaserse, staged by Silviu Purcãrete with Concerto Köln under Diego Fasolis. Alongside Philippe Jaroussky, Max Emanuel Cencic and Franco Fagioli, he was part of an exceptional countertenor cast acclaimed on major European stages.
Further operatic highlights include the title role in Handel’s Xerxes in Stefan Herheim’s production at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, first in Claus Guth’s acclaimed production at the Theater an der Wien and later with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer. Other engagements have taken him to the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and opera houses in Paris, Geneva and Amsterdam.
In 2022, he portrayed Orpheus in Pina Bausch’s legendary staging of Gluck’s Orpheus und Eurydike in Wuppertal. In 2025/26, he took the title role in the world premiere of Malina. Voice over Bachmann at the Schwetzingen SWR Festival and in Aachen, further expanding his work in contemporary music theatre.
In the 2026/27 season, he returns in the title role of Handel’s Faramondo to the International Handel Festival in Karlsruhe, with which he has maintained an artistic association for more than 15 years.
A sought-after concert soloist, Valer Sabadus collaborates with ensembles including Concerto Köln, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the Hofkapelle München, L’Arpeggiata, Cappella Mediterranea and Il Pomo d’Oro. His musical partners include William Christie, Christina Pluhar, Michael Hofstetter, Leonardo García Alarcón, Christophe Rousset and Dorothee Oberlinger, as well as countertenors Andreas Scholl and Philippe Jaroussky and soprano Julia Lezhneva. With Romanian conductor Gabriel Bebe.elea, he is increasingly exploring repertoire beyond early music.
His concert engagements take him to the Salzburg Festival, the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music, the Handel festivals in Halle, Göttingen and Karlsruhe, the Lucerne Festival and the Dresden Music Festival. He has performed at the Berlin and Cologne Philharmonie concert halls, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and the Wiener Konzerthaus.
His openness to musical exploration is reflected in collaborations with the Pera Ensemble and rapper Samy Deluxe, as well as Händel goes wild with L’Arpeggiata and Closer to Paradise with SPARK – the classical band.
His discography comprises more than 25 recordings on leading international labels, including Artaserse, Hasse Reloaded, Caro Gemello, Obbligati – Caldara, Händel goes wild and Closer to Paradise. From 2013 to 2020, he was an exclusive recording artist with Sony Classical.
His awards include the ECHO Klassik, the German Record Critics’ Award, the International Classical Music Award (ICMA) in 2013, the Handel Prize of the City of Halle in 2020 and the Bavarian Culture Prize in 2022.
Valer Sabadus studied with Professor Gabriele Fuchs at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and graduated with distinction from the music theatre masterclass at the Bavarian Theatre Academy August Everding in 2013.
Please use this authorized biography of Weigold & Böhm only, Season 2026/2027.
