Project Category: Singer

Born in 1961, the bass Alastair Miles has performed regularly in concert with the world’s most prestigious conductors and orchestras, at all the major British opera houses as well as the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris, La Scala, Deutsche Oper, San Francisco, Netherlands Opera and the Vienna State Opera. In 1999 he made his debut UK recital with Roger Vignoles and recorded his first solo CD. Miles has contributed to 40 discs – many for Opera Rara including: Orazi e Curiazi, Medea in Corinto, Ricciardo e Zoraide, Rosmonda d’Inghilterra, and Maria Regina d’Inghilterra, Dom Sébastien roi de Portugal, La Cour de Célimène and Zaira.

The first British winner of the Luciano Pavarotti Competition in 1985, the baritone has made regular appearances since 1987 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where he has sung Stankar in Stiffelio, the title role in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra and Scarpia opposite Nelly Miricioiu’s Tosca. In Europe, he has appeared at La Scala, the Vienna State Opera, Toulouse Opera, Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona, Beyerische Staatsoper in Munich, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and in America at the Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera. He sings the role of Orazio in Opera Rara’s recording of Mercadante’s Orazi e Curiazi.

Chris Merritt grew up in Oklahoma and is a graduate of the Oklahoma City University, from which he has also received an honorary Doctorate of Music. Aside from his notable work in Rossini roles, Merritt has a repertoire that includes the major operas of Puccini, Verdi, Meyerbeer and Offenbach. Since his operatic debut in 1975 with the Santa Fe Opera, Merritt’s tenor voice has taken him to the world’s major operatic stages in the US and Europe, including La Scala, Covent Garden and Salzburg. His recordings with Opera Rara include Colonel Villars in Donizetti’s Emilia Di Liverpool and A Hundred Years of Italian Opera – 1810 to 1820.

Born in Bologna in 1957, William Matteuzzi won the Enrico Caruso singing competition in 1980, which led him to La Scala. He has sung a wide repertoire ranging from Vivaldi to Mozart, Bellini, Donizetti and Pacini (L’ultimo giorno di Pompei). A highly respected Rossini specialist, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1988 as Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia. He can be heard on a number of Opera Rara recordings: Otello, Ricciardo e Zoraide, Rossini – Three Tenors, and Mercadante’s Les Soirées Italiennes.

Annick Massis has appeared in celebrated productions in the most prestigious opera houses in Europe, including Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, Madrid’s Teatro Real, Switzerland’s Grand Théâtre de Genève and Opernhaus Zürich, Berlin’s Deutsche Oper and Philarmonie. In the United States, Miss Massis has sung at the Metropolian Opera, at the Pittsburgh Opera, and in Washington, D.C. In her native France, she has taken part in performances in all of the most important houses, including the Opéra Bastille, the Palais Garnier, and the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris; the Capitole de Toulouse the Opéras of Marseille, Montpellier, and Nice. She has worked with many of the world’s most respected conductors including Alberto Zedda, Richard Bonynge, William Christie, Georges Prêtre, Zubin Mehta and Simon Rattle. Her operatic roles have included Händel’s Semele and Almirena (Rinaldo); Mozart’s Konstanze (Die Entführung aus den Serail), Contessa d’Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), and Giunia (Lucio Silla), Thomas’ Philine (Mignon) and Ophélie (Hamlet); Meyerbeer’s Marguerite de Valois (Les Huguenots) and Margherita d’Anjou; and Lucia di Lammermoor, which Miss Massis has sung in more than ten productions throughout the world.

Riccardo Massi is rapidly earning international recognition as an exciting Italian spinto tenor, and has been heard in theaters including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Bavarian State Opera, Munich, Teatro Regio in Turin, Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste, Berlin State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, Oslo Opera, and with the Australian Opera. Riccardo Massi began his 2014/2015 season with his debut at the Norwegian Opera in Oslo as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. He then made his debut with the Opera de Marseille as Enzo in La Gioconda, and returned to the Australian Opera as Cavaradossi in Tosca. Later on in the season Massi will debut at the Grand theatre de Geneve in performances of the Verdi Requiem, at the Theatre Royale de la Monnaie as Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera and makes his debut at the Bregenz Festival as Calaf in Turandot.

Baritone Garry Magee is a graduate of London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and winner of the 1996 International Belvedere Competition in Vienna. His operatic work has included roles with Opera North, The Royal Opera, English National Opera, Scottish Opera and the Teatro Municipal in Santiago. As a concert artist, he has appeared in recital at the Wigmore Hall, Théâtre du Châtelet, at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, and the BBC Proms. He can be heard on Opera Rara’s Donizetti – Scenes & Overtures, Nelly Miricioiu – Rossini Gala, Mercadante – Les soirées Italiennes; and La potenza d’amore.

Born in South Africa, Colin Lee moved to London in 1994 where he has continued his studies with the tenor Jeffrey Talbot. Colin has been involved in a number of recordings, his recording debut was in 2001 for Chandos Records when he participated in a recital recording by John Tomlinson. Recordings for Opera Rara include the role of Guglielmo in Rossini’s Elisabetta, Regina d’Inghilterra, Corasmino in the world premiere recording of highlights from Mercadante’s Zaira, Bellapunta in Meyerbeer’s Margherita d’Anjou, Patrizio in Federico Ricci’s La Prigione d’Edimburgo, Aladino in Mercadante’s Emma d’Antiochia and Oreste in Rossini’s Ermione.

Mark Le Brocq held a choral scholarship at St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge where he read English. He also studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Kenneth Bowen and later continued at the National Opera Studio. He was formerly a Company principal with English National Opera, where roles included Tamino The Magic Flute, Paris King Priam, Count Almaviva The Barber of Seville, Narraboth Salome, Cassio Otello, Don Ottavio, Monostatos, Tonik in Smetana’s The Two Widows, Rodriguez in Massenet’s Don Quixote, Odoardo Ariodante, Nathaniel The Tales of Hoffmann and Doctor Maxwell The Silver Tassie. Mark has performed as a recital and oratorio soloist in the USA, France, Germany, Spain and the Middle East, as well as all the major London venues. Opera Rara recordings include Mercadante’s Virginia, Offenbach’s Vert-Vert and Bellini’s Il pirata.

Jennifer Larmore made her operatic debut in 1986 as Sesto in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito – the start of an international career in which the operas of Rossini, Bellini, Mozart and Handel have figured prominently. She has appeared in her signature role Rosina from Il barbiere di Siviglia all around the world, making her Metropolitan Opera début in the role in 1995. As a champion of Handel, she has sung the title role in Giulio Cesare in opera houses across Europe; her recording of the work for Harmonia Mundi won a Gramophone Award. Jennifer Larmore has made four dozen recordings, including, for Opera Rara – Rossini’s Bianca e Falliero and Elisabetta regina d’Inghilterra and Pacini’s Carlo di Borgogna and Alessandro nell’Indie, Donziett’s Elvida and Francesca di Foix and Offenbach’s Vert-Vert, to name but a few.