Studies

Studied singing with Willy Frey at the Berne Conservatory (1979-81) and with Juliette Bise at the Lausanne Conservatory (1981-84, teaching diploma in 1984).

1985-86 further studies in bel canto with Maria Vittoria Romano in the opera class of the Pescara Conservatory (taking his ‘diploma di canto’ of the Italian state in 1986).

1986-1990 private singing studies with Fernando Bandera in Milan.

In the 1987/88 season: member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House.

Since 1998: vocal work with Margherita Rinaldi (Florence) and Valentino Barcellesi (former director of studies at La Scala Milan). Close collaboration with Nello Santi.

Highlights: Opera

1986 – 1989 First operatic experience
Operatic debut in Bizet’s Don Procopio in the Festival of Montepulciano
Engaged by the Opera di Genova for Britten’s Prodigal Son
Study performance of Don Giovanni (in the title role) at Ortona Castle, near Pescara.
Various smaller roles (e.g. Cappadocian in Salome etc.) at the Zurich Opera House
World première of the Rumansh opera Il President da Valdei (title role) by Robert Grossmann, at the ‘Scuntrada 88’ in Scuol in the Engadine
Samuel in Verdi’s Ballo in maschera in the Winterthur Theatre
Escamillo (Carmen, concert performance) at the Festival Riva del Garda
Officer in Dialogues des Carmélites at the Opéra de Nantes, with a concert tour through Switzerland organized by the Klubhaus-Konzerte

1990-1996 Member of the opera ensemble of the Bienne City Theatre
Roles: Monterone (Verdi: Rigoletto); Don Quichotte (Massenet), Cécile (Donizetti: Maria Stuarda), Homonay (Strauss: Der Zigeunerbaron), Ford (Verdi: Falstaff), Lindorf/Coppelius/Miracle/Dappertutto (Offenbach: Tales of Hoffmann); world première of Le cachet rouge by Aubert Lemeland.

Guest performances
Julia by Rudolf Kelterborn (world première), Opera Factory Zurich with a subsequent tour through Eastern Europe and to England, supported by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia (1991)
Alpengala Gstaad: Masetto in Don Giovanni (conducted by Yehudi Menuhin)

1996/97 season
World première of the Rumansh opera Il semiader (title role) by Gion Antoni Derungs at the Coire City Theatre (with a CD recording)
Nabucco (title role) at the Bad Hersfeld Opera Festival in Germany
Ligeti: Aventures/Nouvelles Aventures at the Zurich Opera House (choreography/production by Heinz Spoerli)

1997-2001 member of the opera ensemble of the Berne City Theatre
Roles: Baron Douphol (Verdi: La Traviata); Montano (Verdi: Otello), Angelotti (Puccini: Tosca), Albert (Massenet: Werther), Dr. Falke (Strauss: Die Fledermaus), Sergeant (Hans Gefors: Clara); Melot (Wagner: Tristan und Isolde) Priest/Man in armour (Mozart: Die Zauberflöte)

From 2001 onwards: freelance
Moralez in Fernando Cortez (Spontini) in the church of Les Invalides in Paris (2001)
Général in Le Triomphe de la République (Gossec), Lugano 2002 (CD with Chandos, Paris)
Opera concerts under the baton of Nello Santi (Zurich Tonhalle, Concertgebouw Amsterdam etc., 2003)
Festival Avenches 2002/03: Melchtal in William Tell (direction: Nello Santi), Zauberflöte
World première of the jazz opera William Turner in Uri by Mike Westbrook (Alpentöne Festival and the ‘Theaterspektakel’ in Zurich, 2003)
Opera St. Moritz: Gubetta/Astolfo in Lucrezia Borgia (2005)
Sursee Operetta Theatre: Danilo in Die Lustige Witwe (2009)
Liechtenstein Opera Association, Vaduz: Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana (2009), Coppelius/Miracle/Dappertutto in Tales of Hoffmann (2010)
Les Musiciens de Brême (world première) by Deqing Wen (2011, Théâtre Bleu, La Chaux-de-Fonds)

Highlights: Oratorio/Lied

Bach: B minor Mass in Lille, France (direction: Yehudi Menuhin) (1994)
Brahms: German Requiem (St Petersburg Symphony) in Auch/Toulouse (1996)
Kurtàg, György: Pilinsky-Liederzyklus (London, Barbican 1989)
Martin: In terra pax (Neuchâtel 1990), Jedermann Monologues (Bari, 1994)
Mendelssohn: Elijah (Berne, 2010)
Mozart: Requiem (Paris, Notre-Dame 2002, Pretoria 2003)
Regamey, Constantin: Visions (Oratorio), Cracow (2007)
Rota, Nino: Mysterium (Oratorio), Berne, Zurich (2011)
Verdi: Requiem, Frauenfeld, St Gall (2002)

Swiss song recital

A special feature of Claudio Danuser’s repertoire – and one of its focal points – is a programme with works by Swiss composers from all four of the country’s linguistic regions. Danuser has performed it throughout the world as a cultural ambassador of his country, usually combined with a small lecture on Swiss music. He has performed either the whole programme or parts of it (at times in special arrangements for alphorn accompaniment or even a cappella) in the following places:
2000 in Honolulu (Hawai’i)
2001 tour in Berlin/Brandenburg, supported by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia under the auspices of the Swiss Embassy in Berlin (Thomas Borer)
2002 at the Swiss Festival in Pretoria, South Africa
2004 at the Swiss Institute in Rome
2003 in Mongolia, at the invitation of the Mongolian Musicians’ Association
2005 at the Swiss Pavilion at the World Expo in Aichi/Japan
2010 at the Swiss Pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai/China

This programme includes works by Othmar Schoeck, Hans Georg Nägeli, Fanny Hünerwadel, Wilhelm Baumgartner, Hermann Suter, Hans Huber, Rudolf Kelterborn, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, Pierre Maurice, Gustave Doret, Frank Martin, Arthur Honegger, Carlo Evasio Soliva, Carlo Florindo Semini, Remigio Nussio, Gion Antoni Derungs, Anny Roth-Dalbert and folk songs.