Swedish tenor Lars Cleveman is regarded as one of the leading Scandinavian Wagner tenors of his generation, internationally acclaimed for his portrayals of Tristan, Siegfried and Siegmund. In recent seasons he has entered a new artistic phase, appearing at Malmö Opera in 2025 as Herodes in Richard Strauss’ Salome – a role that reflects his current focus on the great dramatic character tenor roles of the repertoire. Building on decades of experience in the heroic Wagner roles, his artistry today combines vocal authority with textual precision and psychological depth, particularly in the music of Strauss and Wagner. His career has taken him to many of the world’s foremost opera houses, including Royal Opera House, Bayreuth Festival and Metropolitan Opera, where he appeared as Siegfried in both Siegfried and Götterdämmerung.
Alongside this development, Cleveman remains active in a wide range of major tenor roles from his established repertoire, including Tristan, Siegmund, Siegfried, Parsifal and Florestan in Fidelio, as well as Verdi’s Otello. His concert repertoire includes Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Berlioz’ Requiem, and he continues to expand his repertoire with roles such as Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos.
Born and raised in Stockholm, Lars Cleveman studied singing with Nils Köllerström and Björn Haugan. After postgraduate studies at the former University College of Opera in Stockholm, he made his stage debut in 1988 as Canio in Pagliacci with the Stockholm Music Dramatic Ensemble. One year later he appeared for the first time at Royal Swedish Opera as the First Jew in Salome.
After several years as a freelance singer in Sweden, he returned to the Royal Swedish Opera in 1996 as Dmitri in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. In 1998 he sang his first major Wagner role there, Erik in Der fliegende Holländer, conducted by Sixten Ehrling. Between 1999 and 2009 he became one of the company’s leading dramatic tenors, performing major roles from the Italian, French and German repertoire and increasingly specializing in Wagner.
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His international breakthrough began in 2001 with Gustavo in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera at the Royal Danish Theatre. In 2004 he made his German debut as Otello at the Opera Kiel, followed by Siegmund in Die Walküre in Stuttgart the following year.
From 2009 onwards, Cleveman pursued a full international career focused primarily on the Wagner repertoire. Career highlights include Tristan at Covent Garden, Tannhäuser at Bayreuth and Siegfried at the Metropolitan Opera. In 2017 he returned to the Royal Swedish Opera for the company’s new Ring cycle, revisiting the role of Siegfried more than a decade after first performing it there.
Recent engagements include Siegmund and Tristan at Teatro Petruzzelli, as well as his portrayal of Herodes in Malmö. Alongside opera, Lars Cleveman remains an active concert singer with a broad symphonic and sacred repertoire.
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