When he swept the board of top prizes at the Seattle International Wagner Competition, a spotlight immediately shone on Issachah Savage. Since then, he has established himself as one of today’s most impressive young heldentenors, making recent acclaimed debuts as Siegmund in Die Walküre with Opéra National de Bordeaux conducted by Paul Daniel, as Froh in Das Rheingold with Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, as Tӓnnhauser at Los Angeles Opera, conducted by James Conlon, as Bacchus in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos at both Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse under Evan Rogister and Seattle Opera under Lawrence Renes, and most recently as Kaiser in Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten in a return to Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, under Frank Beermann.
After a debut as the Messenger in Verdi’s Aida with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Muti, Savage moved on to debut as Radames at Houston Grand Opera, reprising the role at Austin Lyric Opera under Antonino Fogliani, at Tanglewood Festival with Boston Symphony Orchestra under Jacques Lacombe and at Aspen Music Festival with Robert Spano. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Don Riccardo in Verdi’s Ernani under James Levine, returning in the 2022/23 season as Gran Sacerdote di Nettuno in Idomeneo under Manfred Honeck, a role he debuted in Peter Sellars’ acclaimed staging at the 2019 Salzburg Festival, conducted by Teodor Currentzis. Issachah Savage made his Los Angeles Opera debut as Narraboth in Salome, a role he reprised with Houston Symphony Orchestra under Juraj Valčuha, he sang Siegmund under Music Director Johannes Debus at Canadian Opera Company, performed the title role in Wagner’s lesser-known Rienzi with National Philharmonic at Strathmore and, alongside Elina Garanča, performed in Massenet’s La Navarraise with Opera Orchestra of New York. Marking his debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Savage created the role of Curtis Toler in Daniel Bernard Roumain’s The Walkers, as part of the world premiere tetralogy Proximity.
Formerly a member of San Francisco’s prestigious Merola Opera Program, Savage’s final act performance of Verdi’s Otello there inspired the San Francisco Chronicle to write,“from his opening notes — impeccably shaded and coiled with repressed fury — to the opera’s final explosion of grief and shame, Savage sang with a combination of power and finesse that is rare to observe”, going on to sing the full role in concert with Marco Parisotto conducting Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco and in production with Austin Lyric Opera.
