Barihunk trio in Royal Academy of Music's Marriage of Figaro

Bozidar Smiljanic and Richard Walshe

The Royal Academy of Music will present Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro under the baton of noted conductor Jane Glover on October 31 and November 1 and 2. Barihunks Bozidar Smiljanic and Richard Walshe will rotate the role of Figaro, while Henry Neill takes on the Count. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.

UPDATED POST: We have just learned that the Count is also double-cast with Haobin Wang performing on Saturday and Monday and Henry Neill on Friday and Sunday.

We introduced London born bass-barihunk Smiljanić back in March. He is currently studying opera at the Royal Academy of Music after gaining his degree in Law at the University of Nottingham.  In 2014, he made his debut at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera as A Captain in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. At the Academy, Smiljanić has worked on a variety of operatic roles including Leporello and Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Figaro in La nozze di Figaro, Monterone in Verdi's Rigoletto, Bartolo in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, Le Roi  in Massenet's Cendrillon and Superintendent Budd in Britten's Albert Herring.

Walshe was educated at the King’s School in Gloucester and graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 2014 with first class honours. He is currently studying on a post-graduate Master of Arts degree at the Royal Academy.  During his time at the Royal academy, Walshe has performed Schumann’s Dichterliebe, Finzi’s Let us Garlands bring and Vaughan Williams’ Songs of Travel, as well as Antonio in Le Nozze di Figaro and Amantio di Nicolai in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi.  He recently performed Bach’s Cantata BWV 203 at the Royal Academy of Music, Mozart’s Mass in C at Chichester Cathedral, Bach’s St.Johns Passion with the Waverley Singers and Mendelssohn’s Elijah with St Neots Choral Society.

Henry Neill

Neill currently studies on the Royal Academy of Music Opera and previously held a choral scholarship at St John’s College, Cambridge.  He was recently awarded the Sir Thomas Armstrong Prize for English Song at the Royal Academy of Music, the Audience prize at the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards, the Sacred Aria Prize at the Mozart Singing Competition and is generously supported by the Carr-Gregory Scholarship. With Royal Academy Opera he has performed as Marco in Gianni Schicchi and most recently the role of Smirnov in Walton’s The Bear. Last year he played the role of Friquet in Garsington Opera’s production of Offenbach’s Vert Vert.