Sean Panikkar is perfectly cast as an Oedipus whose vocal command from the outset – even over the spine-tingling volume of the chorus – is absolute. His crystalline voice betrayed no cast of self-doubt until the details of the infamous prophesy began to assert themselves when lux facta est, all is made clear
Bachtrack, Eleanor Knight
Among the huge cast the singing was universally excellent, and Sean Panikkar was the finest Loge I have ever heard. His vocal and physical stage presence was hugely engaging.
The Article, Mark Ronan
I’d go again simply for the interplay of the two finest singer-actors on the stage, Christopher Purves as gold-grabber, love-denier Alberich and Sean Pannikar reinventing, at Kosky’s behest, the slippery fire demigod Loge, improvising a trick to steal the filthy lucre for the supposed immortals…Panikkar’s clarion tenor, matched to handsome presence, suggests just the possibility of a future in Wagner heroes (and why not? Windgassen and Jerusalem also sang Loge).
The Arts Desk, David Nice
Sean Panikkar, making his house debut in the role of Loge, dominated the stage with his impassioned acting and superbly phrased singing; what a rare talent is here, and one which we can only hope will be snapped up by the Royal Opera House for many more roles.
Music OMH, Melanie Eskezani
American tenor Sean Panikkar is sensational as demi-god Loge, Wotan’s wingman and enabler. He has the slippery litheness of a young Gene Kelly; with a voice that insinuates and charms, he retains a sardonic distance from all around him.
London Unattached, Adrian York
The Australian director’s concept puts Loge at the centre of the action. Sean Panikkar, making his RO debut here, is, like Kosky, something of a showman. He plays the gods’ master of ceremonies quite brilliantly...
Operalogue, Hugh Canning
Sean Panikkar is the one unqualified success as an excitable, voluble Loge with vocal avidity to match, precisely bringing his skills to bear on this role that is made by Kosky to be almost as dramaturgically important as Erda.
Classical Source, Curtis Rogers
Standing at the centre of the plot and hardly ever leaving the stage, the role of the Migrant requires solid acting skills and a ductile voice. American tenor Sean Panikkar proved he has both, which allowed him to portray a tormented yet uncompromising main character. Panikkar exhibited impressive vocal agility by constantly jumping between registers, ranging from the low to falsetto.
Bachtrack, Elena Luporini
Im Zentrum aber steht der Einzelne, der ganz auf sich gestellt einen Weg zu und aus den „Unhaltbarkeiten“ dieser Welt finden muss und will. Sean Panikkar, der das Berliner Publikum schon in Barrie Koskys Inszenierung von Hans Werner Henzes The Bassarides als erotisch-urgewaltiger Dionysos begeisterte, verkörpert die Rolle des Gastarbeiters als inneren Kampf mit sich und den Verhältnissen.
Berliner Umschau, Katharina Zawadsky
Without sacrificing any of the score’s grandiose clarity, Sellars made it an into a spectacle at once intimate and shocking. Oedipus (tenor Sean Panikkar, in a performance marked by burnished tone and heartfelt immediacy) emerged as a figure torn between his own self-conception — the great and renowned solver of the Sphinx’s riddle, the savior of his city — and the darker truth of his own unwitting crimes.
San Francisco Chronicle, Joshua Kosman
First among equals was former San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow Sean Panikkar’s forcefully sung and acted Oedipus. Panikkar hasn’t appeared in San Francisco in many years, and likely he’s remembered as having a lovely light tenor. That has changed: He now has a burnished, hall-filling sound, but he hasn’t lost the ability to sing with great delicacy. You could see Oedipus’s collapse from hubris-afflicted king to pitiable beggar etched in his every gesture.
San Francisco Classical Voice, Lisa Hirsch
Sean Panikkar’s toxically masculine Tamjourmajor… stood out.
Opera News, A.J. Goldmann
Mais la soirée est un véritable succès grâce à Sean Panikkar qui par sa performance éclipse tout simplement ses prédécesseurs dans le rôle. S’il avait fait ses débuts dans Satyagraha en 2018 au Los Angeles Opera, le ténor confirme qu’il fait partie des interprètes actuels incontournables de Gandhi. D’abord, la voix est curieusement puissante : qu’importe si la partition est écrite pour un ténor léger, que Sean Panikkar n’est pas, il instille une force épique qui convient parfaitement au personnage. Le combat pour la justice est aussi un combat pour la maîtrise de soi et le ténor restitue brillamment la bataille intérieure du Mahatma par son jeu d’acteur subtil et son sens de la nuance : le morceau final (« Conclusion ») commence ainsi à peine murmuré, et c’est bouleversant.
(But the evening was a real success thanks to Sean Panikkar who by his performance quite simply eclipsed his predecessors in the role. Having made his Satyagraha debut in 2018 at the Los Angeles Opera, the tenor confirms that he is one of Gandhi’s current must-have performers. First, the voice is oddly powerful: No matter if the score is written for a light tenor, Sean Panikkar isn’t, he instills an epic force that suits the character perfectly. The fight for justice is also a fight for self-control and the tenor brilliantly reproduces the Mahatma’s inner battle with his subtle acting and his sense of nuance: the final piece (“Conclusion”) thus barely begins whispered, and it’s overwhelming.)
Forum Opera, Tancrède Lahary
There isn’t a weak link, but the outstanding performance is Sean Panikkar as Gandhi, an incarnation of noble intensity.
Evening Standard, Nick Kimberley
Sean Panikkar zeigt nach seinen charismatischen Leitungen als Dionysos in Henzes „Bassariden“ in Salzburg und an der Komischen Oper Berlin, dass man Neue Musik schön und zugleich ausdrucksstark singen und gestalten kann.
Concerti, Roland H. Dippel
Amid so much hysteria, it is difficult to appreciate the committed ferocity of the Vienna Philharmonic or the degree to which Ingo Metzmacher has his musical forces under control. The cast is superb, from Sean Panikkar’s eloquent, impassioned immigrant… Projected titles at the beginning of the opera remind us that 78,000 migrants attempt to cross the Mediterranean each year; 1,100 die. Members of this cast include real-life refugees, we are told.
Financial Times, Shirley Apthorp
Sean Panikkar is absolutely superb as the besotted young lover. He convinces totally as he moves from naïve young Romeo to enraged jealous Othello. His acting is strong and compelling. His singing is even better. Every word is clearly articulated and emotionally charged. He is every bit as trapped and doomed as Carmen.
London Theatre1, John O’Brien
Wenn Dionysos und Pentheus aufeinandertreffen, beweist Kosky wieder einmal, welch ein Meister der Personenführung er ist. Zumal bei diesen Sängerdarstellern: Sean Panikkar, der den Dionysos schon im Jahr 2018 bei den Salzburger Festspielen sang, besitzt einen betörend weichen Tenor, der jederzeit an Kraft zulegen kann. Dazu sieht er auch noch aus wie ein Jüngling, spaziert barfüßig über die Bühne und provoziert so seinen Gegenspieler Pentheus, der nicht erkennen will, mit wem er es zu tun hat.
Berliner Morgenpost, Georg Kasch
Und so glasklar-lieblich, wie Gastsolist Sean Pannikar die Terzen und Quarten, die melodischen Linien singt, die Henze dem Dionysos zugedacht hat, so sehr kann man auch nachvollziehen, warum viele Getreue ihm im Rausch folgen.
Der Tagesspiegel, Udo Badelt
As we listened to Sean Panikkar’s golden voice rise up through the same modal phrase over and over again this was not repetition but replenishment…And yet, shining out, as he was meant to do, Sean Panikkar (whose experience extends even to appearances on “America’s Got Talent”) was incredibly convincing as Gandhi. We could bask in the fullness and rich core of his tone while his mere stage presence conveyed power and humility – and the power of humility.
Operawire.com, Gordon Williams
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Sean Panikkar continues “to position himself as one of the stars of his generation… His voice is unassailable—firm, sturdy and clear, and he employs it with maximum dramatic versatility” [Opera News]. The tenor is lauded by the public and press alike for his impressive vocal agility, impeccable musicianship, and a keen dramatic sense throughout a broad range of principal roles on leading international operatic stages.
Highlights of the 2023-24 season include a debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in a new production of Das Rheingold directed by Barrie Kosky and led by Music Director Sir Antonio Pappano, a new production of Die Fledermaus directed by Barrie Kosky at the Bayerische Staatsoper under the baton of Music Director Vladimir Jurowski, a new production by Peter Sellars of The Gambler at the Salzburger Festspiele, a new production of Œdipus Rex staged by Mart van Berckel at Dutch National Opera, and a revival at the Metropolitan Opera of Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Kevin Puts’ hit new opera, The Hours.
Last season, Sean Panikkar bowed in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of The Hours in a new production by Phelim McDermott led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, made his Bayerische Staatsoper debut as Laertes in Brett Dean’s Hamlet in the company’s new production by Neil Armfield conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, and joined the Komische Oper Berlin for a new production by Marco Štorman of Luigi Nono’s Intolleranza 1960 conducted by Gabriel Feltz. Additionally, he returned to both the Wiener Staatsoper for a revival of the Simon Stone production of Wozzeck led by Philippe Jordan and to English National Opera for a revival of Calixto Bieito’s production of Carmen conducted by Kerem Hasan. Symphonic performances included Stravinsky’s Œdipus Rex with Juraj Valčuha leading the Houston Symphony and Bruckner’s Te Deum with both Xian Zhang and the New Jersey Symphony as well as with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Highly prized as an interpreter of contemporary music on leading international stages, the American tenor of Sri Lankan heritage achieved a break-out success in his 2018 Salzburger Festspiele debut as Dionysus in a new production of Henze’s The Bassarids directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski under the baton of Kent Nagano. He was no less critically acclaimed for the role of Gandhi in Philip Glass’ Satyagraha directed by Phelim McDermott at Los Angeles Opera and English National Opera.
Sean Panikkar created the role of Adam in the world premiere of Giorgio Battistelli’s CO2 for a debut at Teatro alla Scala conducted by Cornelius Meister and directed by Robert Carsen, bowed at the Komische Oper Berlin in a new production of Henze’s The Bassarids directed by Barrie Kosky under the baton of Vladimir Jurowski, and returned to the Salzburger Festspiele for a new production by Jan Lauwers of Intolleranza 1960 conducted by Ingo Metzmacher.
Additional highlights include the title role of Œdipus Rex at the San Francisco Symphony in a production by Peter Sellars conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen; the title role of Jack Perla’s Shalimar the Clown for a world premiere at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; and the role creations of Wendell Smith in Daniel Sonenberg’s The Summer King in a co-production of Pittsburgh Opera and Michigan Opera Theatre and Agent Henry Rathbone in a co-production of David T. Little’s JFK at Fort Worth Opera and Opéra de Montréal.
He has bowed at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in Weill’s Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny directed by Ivo van Hove and conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and additionally appeared in Jake Heggie’s Moby Dick at Pittsburgh Opera, Kevin Puts’ Silent Night at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, in a new production of Menotti’s rarely produced The Last Savage at the Santa Fe Opera, and, in what has become one of his signature roles, Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles, for Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Fort Worth Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, and Opera Colorado.
Symphonic performances include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Juraj Valčuha and the Minnesota Orchestra and with Christopher Warren-Green and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette with Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony, The Tristan Project with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Michael Christie and the Phoenix Symphony, and Handel’s Messiah with Ragnar Bohlin and the San Francisco Symphony.
Sean Panikkar is a member of Forte, the operatic tenor group combining voices from different cultures into one incredible sound. The trio was created and debuted on America’s Got Talent having never met until only days before their first audition. During the 2013 season of the popular variety show, Forte was seen and heard by tens of millions of television viewers in national broadcasts on NBC. Their self-titled debut recording on Columbia Records was released in November 2013 and a follow-up recording, The Future Classics, was released in 2015.
An alumnus of San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellowship, Sean Panikkar holds his Bachelor and Master degrees in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan.
Œdipus Rex, Dutch National Opera
Intolleranza 1960, Komische Oper Berlin
Fidelio, Austin Opera
Intolleranza 1960, Salzburg Festival
The Bassarids, Komische Oper Berlin
The Bassarids, Salzburg Festival
Satyagraha, Los Angeles Opera
Shalimar the Clown, Opera Theatre of St. Louis
Game of Thrones, Forte
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