Esa Ruuttunen made his début in 1985 at the Finnish National Opera as Alberich. He has appeared there for some years and at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in a number of rôles. He has appeared in several contemporary operas written for him, such as Kari Tikka’s Martin Luther, and in Kokkonen’s Die letzten Versuchungen, Tippett’s The Midsummer Marriage, Aulis Salinnen’s Kullervo and Martinů’s The Greek Passion. His first engagements in 1996 at the Berlin Deutsche Oper were followed by guest appearances and international performances in Munich, Covent Garden, Bregenz, Edinburgh, Stockholm, Los Angeles and at the Vienna and Berlin State Operas in rôles such as those of Wozzeck, Wotan, Telramund, the Dutchman, Kurwenal and Jochanaan. Of particular note was his appearance as Enescu’s Oedipe, latterly in Barcelona, Berlin and Vienna. Concert tours have taken him to Stockholm, Moscow, Paris, Valencia, Madrid, Minneapolis, Toronto, Tokyo and Korea.