Hailed as one of the most exciting singers on the opera stage today, Erwin Schrott has been acclaimed across Europe and America as one of the most thrilling and charismatic artists of his generation. In particular, his compelling portrayals of Don Giovanni and Leporello in Don Giovanni and in the title role of Le nozze di Figaro, together with his dark, chocolaty, sensuous bass-baritone voice, have created a frenzy amongst critics and audience alike. He has now appeared at the world's most prestigious opera houses including the Teatro alla Scala, Milan; Metropolitan Opera; Vienna State Opera; Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Opera National de Paris; Washington Opera; Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires; Theatre Royale de la Monnaie; Teatro Comunale, Firenze; Los Angeles and many others.

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1972, Erwin Schrott made his professional debut in Montivideo at the age 22 as Roucher in Andrea Chenier. This led to an invitation to the Teatro Municipal in Santiago where he made his first appearances in several leading roles, including Timur in Turandot, Colline in La bohème, Sparafucile in Rigoletto and Ramfis in Aida.

In 1996, Schrott received a scholarship to study in Italy, making his Italian stage debut shortly afterwards at the Teatro Regio de Torino in Boris Godunov. He was catapulted to international attention in 1998 when he won the first prize of both the public and jury in the OPERALIA international competition sponsored and organzied by Placido Domingo. Significant debuts followed in rapid succession, and by 2000 he had performed at major international opera houses – Arena di Verona, the Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan, Washington, Opera National de Paris and Teatro Comunale, Nice and Hamburg – singing a diverse range of repertoire from operas including Macbeth, Rigoletto, Don Giovanni, La Boheme, L’elisir d’amore and Turandot.

Over the next few years, Erwin Schrott developed further the roles he had already performed as well as adding greater variety to his repertoire as he made several more important debuts; two Bellini roles, Rodolfo in La sonnambula in Rio de Janeiro and Giorgio in I puritani for his debut at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa; Theatre Royale de La Monnaie in Brussels in 2001 in a new production of Macbeth under Antonio Pappano; Chicago Lyric Opera in 2002 as Colline; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Banquo; Maggio Musicale Fiorentino as Narbal in the new production of Hector Berlioz's Les Troyens under Zubin Mehta; Mephistopheles in Faust, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin; Escamillo in Carmen and the Four Villains in Les contes d'Hoffmann. Schrott had, by now, also added key repertoire to his concert platform appearances – Verdi’s Requiem at the Teatro Real in Madrid and Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Israel Philharmonic. In September 2003 Schrott appeared at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden as Leporello in Don Giovanni under Antonio Pappano where he was greeted with unanimous acclaim. His first appearance at Teatro alla Scala, Milan followed where he sang the Pharaon in the new production of Rossini's Moïse et Pharaon under Riccardo Muti. In the spring of 2003 he sang his first performances of the title role of Don Giovanni with the Washington Opera and in 2004 his role debut as Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro.

Erwin Schrott has continued to be a regular visitor to the Vienna State Opera, Los Angeles, the Metropolitan Opera and Covent Garden. He began the 2007/2008 season singing the title character in Le nozze di Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera, where he again received praise from both critics and audiences for his witty and mischievous portrayal. He will sing the same role in Seville, and perform the role of Pagano in I lombardi in Naples. This summer he makes his Salzburg Festival debut as Leporello in Don Giovanni. Engagements for future seasons include the title role in Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan, Le Nozze di Figaro in Vienna and the role of Escamillo in Carmen at Teatro alla Scala under Daniel Barenboim.