Last season Kunde made role debuts as Dick Johnson in Puccini's La fanciulla del West at Hamburg State Opera and Captain Vere in Britten's Billy Budd for the Wiener Staatsoper. Other recent operatic highlights include the title role in Giordano's Andrea Chénier at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper and Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro Regio di Parma and Teatro Regio di Torino, Canino in I Pagliacci at Teatro Comunale di Bologna and Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. Further highlights include the title role of Britten's Peter Grimes at Hamburg State Opera, Calaf in Turandot at the Opéra National de Paris, Hamburg State Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu and Teatro Real, Madrid, Eléazar in Halévy's La Juive for the Teatro Regio di Torino, his role debut as Florestan in Beethoven's Fidelio at the Opéra Nice Côte d'Azur, Don Alvaro in Verdi's La forza del destino for the Verdi Festival, Teatro Regio di Parma and the Semperoper Dresden, Canio in I Pagliacci for the Teatro Regio di Parma, Radames in Verdi's Aida and Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca for the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Manrico in Verdi's Il trovatore for LA Opera, Énée in Berlioz's Les Troyens for the Bayerische Staatsoper, Jean de Leyden in Meyerbeer Le prophète at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the title role in Verdi's Don Carlos for Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, Samson in Saint-Saëns's Samson et Dalila at the Metropolitan Opera, Radames in Aida at the Wiener Staatsoper and Teatro Real, Madrid, and a return to the podium to conduct Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Teatro La Fenice.
Acclaimed throughout his earlier career for his performances in French and Italian bel canto roles, Kunde has now established himself as a leading exponent of many of the Verdi roles and other such dramatic repertoire. Since his critically acclaimed debut as Verdi's Otello at La Fenice in 2012, he has performed this signature role globally at the Wiener Staatsoper, Semperoper Dresden, Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Municipale di Piacenza, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Teatro Comunale di Modena, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opéra national de Paris, Gran Teatre del Liceu and Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Kunde has earned the unique distinction of being the only tenor in recorded history to perform both Rossini's Otello and Verdi's Otello in the same season (2014/15 and 2015/16).
Last season’s concert highlights include performances of his new Jazz project entitled Then and Now, in a series of concerts in London and Japan, solo opera galas in Malta and Gran Canaria, Verdi's Requiem with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin cond. Eva Ollikainen and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Sofia Opera & Ballet cond. Daniel Oren. Other recent concert plans include the Verdi's Requiem and Calaf in Turandot with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta, Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde at the BBC Proms, Faust in Berlioz's La damnation de Faust at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam with Charles Dutoit. and Verdi's Requiem in Bilbao and with the National Symphony Orchestra of the Dominican Republic. His opera in concert includes the title role in Verdi's Ernani for the Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos, Renato des Grieux in Puccini's Manon Lescaut for Dallas Opera, the title role in Otello at the Cincinnati May Festival and the title role in Peter Grimes with Sir Antonio Pappano at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.
Recently appointed as Patron and Mentor of the International Opera Studio at Hamburg State Opera from September 2025, Kunde works regularly with students and young artists, most recently at Accademia alla Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, Casa Verdi, Milan & Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Kunde’s discography includes his solo album Vincerò! (Universal Music Group) and his most recent jazz project Then and Now (Delos). The recipient of numerous awards, Kunde was named ‘Male Singer of the Year’ at the 2016 International Opera Awards and is the subject of a biography ‘A Life Worth Singing’ by José Luis Jiménez, published by Pygmalion.
2025/26 / 826 words. Not to be altered without permission