The young Austrian bass-baritone Alexander Grassauer studied voice with Prof. Karlheinz Hanser and Lied interpretation with Prof. Florian Boesch at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He received further artistic guidance in masterclasses with KS Elīna Garanča, Ramon Vargas and Robert Holl.
Following early operatic appearances as Masetto (Don Giovanni), the Marquis (La Traviata) and Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Grassauer was a member of the ensemble at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich from 2019 to 2024. His roles there included Leporello, Don Basilio, Alidoro, Count Walter and Frank. Guest engagements have taken him to the Semperoper Dresden, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the Wiener Kammeroper, and on tour to Shanghai with Teatro alla Scala. At the 2024 Bayreuth Festival, he made his debut as Hermann Ortel in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and as Melot in Tristan und Isolde.
In the 2025/26 season, Grassauer returns to the Gärtnerplatztheater in Munich for productions of L’elisir d’amore and Hänsel und Gretel. He appears as Don Fernando in Fidelio at both the Bavarian State Opera and the Beethoven Easter Festival in Warsaw. At the Semperoper Dresden, he performs the role of the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte as well as in a new production of Luigi Nono’s Il cappello di paglia di Firenze. A highlight of the season is his return to the Bayreuth Festival, where he sings Donner in Das Rheingold under the baton of Christian Thielemann.
In addition to his operatic work, Grassauer is also in high demand as a concert soloist. He has performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Salzburg, Bangkok and Lisbon, and has appeared with Bach’s St John Passion, Handel’s Messiah, and Mendelssohn’s St Paul at Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus. During the 2025/26 season, he sings Haydn’s Missa in tempore belli, Franz Schmidt’s The Book with Seven Seals under Fabio Luisi, and Mozart’s Requiem in Porto, Monte Carlo and Vienna. Alexander Grassauer will make his debut with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig performing Mendelssohn’s Walpurgisnacht under the baton of Andris Nelsons. He will also perform Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem in Milan.
Deeply committed to Lied, Grassauer will give recitals in Stuttgart and Nuremberg during the season. He is the recipient of numerous international awards, including prizes at the Hugo Wolf Lied Competition in Stuttgart, the Emmerich Smola Prize of SWR, the International Brahms Competition, and the Otto Edelmann Competition in Vienna.