Raphael Wittmer

Swiss tenor Raphael Wittmer is a member of the ensemble at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. During the 2026/27 season, he can be heard there, among other roles, as Tamino in Mozart’s „Die Zauberflöte“, Michel Ardan in the world premiere of „Die Reise zum Mond“, and Ali in André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry’s „Zemira e Azor“. His repertoire at the Nationaltheater also includes Pedrillo in „Die Entführung aus dem Serail“, Don Ottavio in „Don Giovanni“, Truffaldino in „Die Liebe zu drei Orangen“, Camille de Rosillon in „Die lustige Witwe“, and the Merchant in „Jakob Lenz“.

 

Recent guest engagements have taken him to Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Staatsoper Hamburg, Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg, and Staatsoper Stuttgart. He has worked with conductors including Alessandro De Marchi, Fabio Biondi, Dan Ettinger, and Alexander Soddy, as well as with directors such as Luk Perceval, Calixto Bieito, Lorenzo Fioroni, and Barbora Horáková.

 

Raphael Wittmer is also a regular performer on the concert stage. On Good Friday 2027, he will perform as Evangelist and tenor soloist in J. S. Bach’s „Johannes-Passion“ at the Christuskirche in Mannheim. He has sung the tenor arias from Bach’s „Johannes-Passion“ with the Gewandhausorchester and the Thomanerchor at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche; the performance was broadcast on ARTE Concert. In Mannheim, he performed the tenor part in Mendelssohn’s „Elias“ with the choir and orchestra of the Nationaltheater Mannheim. He has also appeared at Cologne Cathedral in Rossini’s „Stabat Mater“. Together with his duo partner, accordionist Goran Stevanovich, he developed a version of Schubert’s song cycle „Die schöne Müllerin“ for tenor and accordion.

 

Raphael Wittmer began his musical training with the Luzerner Sängerknaben and as a cellist at the Musikschule Luzern. At the age of nine, he made his operatic debut at the Luzerner Theater as the First Boy in Mozart’s „Die Zauberflöte“, conducted by Marcello Viotti. He studied voice at the conservatories of music in Basel and Cologne and received scholarships from the Friedl-Wald-Stiftung and the Marianne-und-Curt-Dienemann-Stiftung. After completing his studies, he was a member of the International Opera Studio of Oper Köln before joining Theater Plauen-Zwickau for his first permanent engagement, where he made his debut as Ferrando in Mozart’s „Così fan tutte“.