Described by Germany’s leading opera magazine Das Opernglas as “a strong, rich and warm-colored voice with assured style,” Mark Schnaible continues to impress audiences both in the United States and abroad with his bass-baritone voice and dramatic intensity. In the 2009-10 season, he sings his first performances of Jochanaan in Salome in a return to his home state of Iowa with Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre and sings Orest in Elektra with Polish National Opera in addition to making returns to to Opera Tampa for Rambaldo in La rondine and New Orleans Opera for Capulet in Roméo et Juliette. He returns to Utah Symphony for Haydn’s Creation and in the summer, he also returns to Glimmerglass Opera for the Count in Le nozze di Figaro following his critically acclaimed portrayal of Friedrich in the North American stage premiere of Wagner’s Das Liebesverbot in past seasons. In the 2008-09 season, he sang Escamillo in Carmen with New Orleans Opera and the title role in Gianni Schicchi for Opera Tampa. He also returned to Boston Baroque for Ariodate in Xerxes and Shreveport Opera for Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte and reprised Bizet’s Clovis et Clotilde with the Orchestre National de Lille again with Jean-Claude Casadesus conducting for performances that will later be released on the Naxos label.
He recently received outstanding recognition for his interpretation of Biterolf in the new Robert Carsen production of Tannhäuser conducted by Seiji Ozawa at the Tokyo Opera Nomori Festival. Other recent appearances include Leporello in Don Giovanni with Boston Baroque and Utah Opera; the title role in Sweeney Todd with Shreveport Opera; and numerous leading roles with Theater Lübeck including the Four Villains in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Dr Schön in Lulu, the title role in Der fliegende Holländer, Seven Antagonists in Death in Venice, Orest in Elektra, Pizarro in Fidelio, Capulet in Roméo et Juliette, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Lorenzo in I capuleti e I Montecchi. He has sung performances of Escamillo in Carmen including a broadcast performance with the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra under Michael Stern; Colline in La bohème with Kiel Opera; the title role in Giulio Cesare with Utah Opera; Mephistofeles in Faust with Shreveport Opera and El Paso Opera, as well as the Huntsman in Rusalka with Christoph Eschenbach at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and with Franz Welser-Möst at the Opernhaus Zurich.
A native of Iowa, Mark Schnaible lived for nearly ten years in Europe. He is a past winner of the prestigious Marseille International Opera Competition and has subsequently appeared often in France. He joined the Choregies d’Orange Festival under Bertrand de Billy for Baron Douphol in La traviata and for Carmen under Michel Plasson. He has also sung Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera d’Avignon, Metz Opera, and the Grand Theatre de Tours and toured throughout France with the Poitou-Charentes Orchestre for performances of Haydn’s The Seasons.
He is equally at home with the concert repertoire having most recently sung Bizet’s Clovis et Clotilde with Les Flaneries Musicales de Reims and Jean-Claude Casadesus, Bluebeard’s Castle with Utah Symphony and Keith Lockhart, and Haydn’s The Creation with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and David Stern. Also in his repertoire are Mendelssohn’s Elijah and St. Paul; settings of the Requiem by Durufle, Faure, Mozart, Brahms, and Verdi; Handel’s Messiah, Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder, Bach’s Mass in B minor, St. Matthew Passion, and St. John Passion; Beethoven’s Symphony No 9; as well as Haydn’s The Seasons.