After having studied with JanVeth and David Hollestelle, the Rotterdam-born bass-baritone Robert Holl won the first prize at the international singing contest in ’s-Hertogenbosch in 1971.Then he studied with Hans Hotter in München and in 1972 he won the ARD contest.
From 1973 to 1975 he was a member of the Bavarian State Opera in München.After a period of intensive concert activities the artist regained his interest in opera productions and he was a guest at the Viennese State Opera, the Brussels Opera and the Zürich Opera House, where he sang parts like Speaker and Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Gremin (Eugen Onegin), Basilio (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), La Roche (Capriccio), Assur (Semiramide), Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Amfortas (Parsifal) and Robert (Schubert’s Des Teufels Lustschloß).
In the summer of 1996 Robert Holl made his debut at the Bayreuther Festspielen, as Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. He has worked with famous conductors, like Abbado, Barenboim, Bernstein, Chailly, Frühbeck de Burgos, Giulini, Haitink, Harnoncourt, Jochum, Karajan, Leinsdorf, Prêtre and Stein, as well as with almost all the great orchestras of Europe and the US. He was also active as a singer of lieder (the emphasis on German and Russian repertoire), with partners like Rudolf Jansen, Oleg Maisenberg and András Schiff.
Lieder nights often lead the musician to the great music centres of Europe, as well as Israel and the United States. Robert Holl is a regular guest at great international festivals in Europe. On the invitation of Svatoslav Richter he took part in the ‘Moskovian Winters’ and the festival of Tours several times.
He leads various masterclasses and has made numerous television and gramaphone recor- dings with famous conductors. Some of his own compositions (lieder and works for piano) have been recorded on CD. Robert Holl is the artistic leader of the Schubertiaden in the Netherlands and Austria, as well as of the ‘Week of Romantic Music’, which has been held at Grafenegg Castle every two years since 1986.
Because of great merit for the Austrian music life Robert Holl was awarded by the Austrian Gouvernment in October 1990 the honorary title of ‘Wiener Kammersänger’. In 1997 he became honorary member of the Company of Music Friends in Vienna.