Born in Rotterdam, Robert Holl studied with Jan Veth and David Hollestells. After winning in 1971 the First Prize at the International Singing Competition in Hertogenbosch, he continued his studies with Hans Hotter in Munich, where he won the First Prize at the prestigious ARD Competition. He later became a stable member at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich.

In his extended concertistic and operatic career he has performed in the most important concert halls and opera houses around the world, such as the Wiener Staatsoper, the Opera Houses at Zurich, Brussels and Colonia, the Deutsche Staatsoper in Berlin, the Bayreuth Festival, or the Musikverein from Viena. She has also performed under the most notorious international batons like Claudio Abbado, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Daniel Barenboim, or Christian Thielemann, for example.

His operatic repertoire covers works by the most important composers of the genre: Mozart, Rossini, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and specially, Wagner. Robert Holl is one of the most renowned German Lied singers, being Schumann his prime example. For this reason he has performed frequently in recitals around Europe, Israel, United States, Russia, and Japan, and has been greatly applauded for it.

Not only is he a great performer, but a profuse pedagogue, imparting master classes around the globe. He has recorded many lieder with pianists such as András Schiff or Oleg Maisenberg. Even his own compositions have been published by Doblinger and are available on CD.

Robert Holl has been awarded with prestigious prizes and distinctions, such as the Austrian Kammersänger, being Honorific Member of the Gesselschaft der Musikfreunde in Viena, or the Austrian Golden Cross, amongst others.

He is Artistic Director of the Schubertiadas in Austria and Netherlands, and is Artistic Adviser at the “Poetry and Music” series at the Brahms hall at Wiener Musikverein. Since 1998 he is also Singing and Oratorio Professor at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna.