Czech baritone Tomáš Král has been one of the leading figures on the European early music scene for more than two decades. Critics have praised his “voice that flowed effortlessly and boasted a beautiful upper register” (bachtrack) , as well as his exceptional sensitivity to the stylistic interpretation of 17th- and 18th-century music. He is a regular guest at prestigious festivals and concert halls and collaborates with leading conductors and ensembles specializing in historically informed performance.
Highlights of the 2026/27 season includes his debut with Freiburger Barockorchester (FBO) in Bach’s Matthäus-Passion under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle in a tour celebrating 300 years of this masterpiece across European places like Le Philharmonie (Paris, Luxembourg), Theatro alla Scala (Milano), Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), Palau de la Música (Barcelona), Thomaskirche (Bachfest Leipzig) and others. Tomáš collaborates for first time with Jordi Savall and his Le Concert des Nations during Salzburger Festspiele in the new program “Invocation”. He joins for first time Wiener Symphoniker in Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium under the baton of Alessandro De Marchi.
He returns to the highly appreciated program “Welt, gute Nacht”, recently recorded for Harmonia Mundi, with ensemble Pygmalion and Raphaël Pichon, which will be presented on a tour across Mexico. Tomáš reunites with an ensemble a nocte temporis and Reinoud Van Mechelen in different programs (Rameau’s Les Boréades; Bach’s Johannes-Passion and Cantatas). He rejoins Wrocław Baroque Ensemble and Andrzej Kosendiak in several projects, including CD recording (Alpha Classics) of Bach’s Cantatas with recorders (Giovanni Antonini).
Last season’s highlights included European tour presenting Adamas and Apollon in concert version of Les Boréades with ensemble a nocte temporis; Bach’s Matthäus-Passion with Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Leonardo García Alarcón; as well with Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century and Daniel Reuss. Tomáš rejoined ensemble Pygmalion with Raphaël Pichon on a tour in Europe and Australia (Adelaide) in three different concert programs: Welt, gute Nacht, Monteverdi’s Vespers and as Endimione and Caronte in L.Rossi’s Orfeo. He appeared as Aeneas during concert version of Dido & Aeneas with L’Arpeggiata and Christina Pluhar in Müpa (Budapest). Tomáš joined Concerto Copenhagen and Lars Ulrik Mortensen in a tour across Denmark with Bach’ Christmas Cantatas program. He took part in the revival of Händel’s Alcina as Melisso on the stage of Brno National Theater under baton of Václav Luks and his Collegium 1704.
Tomáš’s past notable stage engagements include his performance as Orfeo in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (Theater Winterthur) and the role of Nero in Keiser’s Octavia (Händel Festspiele Halle), both with lautten compagney BERLIN conducted by Wolfgang Katschner. Tomáš notably portrayed a role of Polyphemus in Händel’s Acis and Galatea during several occasions. He took part in staged Mozart’s Requiem at the Kunstfestspiele Herrenhausen and Theater Giessen, where he also took the title-role in a rare production of Telemann’s version of Handel’s Riccardo Primo under the baton of Michael Hofstetter.
Tomáš appeared in several concert versions of various operas, as Teucer and Ismenor of Rameau’s Dardanus with Capella Cracoviensis under the baton of Marcin Swiatkiewicz (Krakow); as Apollo in the concert version of Handel’s Apollo e Dafne with {oh!} Orkiestra and Martyna Pastuszka (Dortmund, Halle). He performed Purcell’s King Arthur at the Aldeburgh Festival with Vox Luminis, portrayed Clistene in Vivaldi’s L’Olimpiade with Rinaldo Alessandrini in Wrocław, took on the role of Gismondo in Caldara’s Il Venceslao in Warsaw with {oh!} Orkiestra (Martyna Pastuszka); as well the role of Rambaldo in Vivaldi’s Griselda with Wrocław Baroque Orchestra (Benjamin Bayl) in Theater an der Wien.
Tomáš’s concert presence is significantly oriented around the music of J.S.Bach. He took part in the extraordinary staging of Bach’s Johannes-Passion directed by Pierre Audi for Dutch National Opera. He sang Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium at the Vienna Musikverein, h-Moll-Messe with Collegium 1704 and Václav Luks at the Maison Symphonique in Montréal, he pursued a vast concert tour with Dunedin Consort celebrating the work of Bach including the Matthäus-Passion conducted by Trevor Pinnock and other cantatas conducted by John Butt. He worked with the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra conducted by Philippe Pierlot for Bach’s Matthäus-Passion presented in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa. With Raphaël Pichon and his ensemble Pygmalion Tomáš performed several of Bach’s cantatas and the role of Jesus in Johannes-Passion in concerts throughout Europe. For the Netherlands tour with Weihnachtsoratorium Tomáš joined the Nederlandse Bachvereniging lead by Lars Ulrik Mortensen. For the 300 years anniversary of Johannes-Passion Tomáš joined Gewandhausorchester alongside the Thomanerchor under the baton of Andreas Reize.
Tomáš is part of extensive and plentiful discography, including such rarities as the Missa Votiva and the Lamentationes Jeremiae Profetae by the great Bohemian master Jan Dismas Zelenka, a CD of rarities by the early baroque Polish composer Marcin Mielczewski, Bach’s h-Moll-Messe with Collegium 1704, Leoš Janáček’s Moravian Folk Songs, Purcell’s Hail Bright Cecilia with Le Poème Harmonique and Vincent Dumestre. In 2022, Tomáš released Kings in the North, his first solo album (Aparté), together with Wrocław Baroque Orchestra and Jaroslaw Thiel.
