First UK performance of Rameau's Dardanus features barihunk trio

Timothy Nelson, Grant Doyle and Frederick Long

The English Touring Opera will present the first U.K. performance of the 1744 version of Rameau's Dardanus. Considered one of the composer's best operas, the story surrounds Jupiter’s son Dardanus who is in love with Iphise, the daughter of his enemy Teucer – a love that, though reciprocated, is forbidden.

The production will feature the bass-barihunk trio of Grant Doyle as Teucer, Timothy Nelson as Anténor and Frederick Long as Isménor. The cast also includes Galina Averina as Iphise and Anthony Gregory in the title role. The opera runs from October 6-November 7 at various locations.

Rameau and his librettist Charles-Antoine Leclerc de La Bruère revised the opera after an unsuccessful premiere at the Paris Opéra in 1739. Much of the operas unfavorable reception can be traced to the so-called lullistes - conservatives who accused him of destroying the French operatic tradition established by rival composer Jean-Baptiste Lully under King Louis XIV in the late 17th century. The revised version has a simpler plot, fewer supernatural features and a greater focus on the emotional conflicts of the main characters.

Mathias Vidal sings "Lieux funestes" the most famous piece from Dardanus:

Timothy Nelson earned a degree in Physiology from Cardiff University before studying with voice at the Royal College of Music International Opera School, where he was awarded the McCulloch Prize for Opera and was a Jerwood Young Artist at the Glyndebourne Festival. He has sung numerous roles at the London Handel Festival, as well as the title role in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Ramiro in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole and Don Pomponio in Rossini’s La Gazzetta at the Royal College of Music International Opera School.

Frederick Long received his degree in music from the University of Bristol, a Recital Diploma from the Royal Academy of Music, before continuing his training at the National Opera Studio.
He has recently performed Zebul in Handel's Jephtha ​and Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème ​for Iford Arts, as well as Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute for Mid-Wales Opera.

Grant Doyle has performed numerous roles with the English Touring Opera, including the title role in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Orestes in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride, Marcello La bohème, Hector in Tippett's King Priam, Eduardo in Rossini's L'assedio di Calais, Paolo in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, Emireno Ottone and Nello in Donizetti's Pia de' Tolomei.

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Barihunk Bradley Travis singing Masetto opposite two fellow barihunks

Bradley Travis

We introduced Bradley Travis back in October when he won the Leonard Ingrams award. This Spring he'll be singing Masetto opposite fellow barihunk George von Bergen in the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni. The company will begin this year's tour at the Hackney Empire on March 5th and perform through June 10th, when they wrap up at the Sands Centre in Carlisle. They will also be performing Gluck's Iphigenie en Tauride and Donizetti's Pia de'Tolomei. The entire tour schedule is available online.

Shortly after the tour, Travis will join another barihunk, Jacques Imbrailo, for Don Giovanni with the Classical Opera Company at Cadogan Hall in London's Chelsea district. The June 17th performance will be the company's first production of Don Giovanni in their history.

Travis was born in Cheshire and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music. He recently graduated from the Royal College of Music International Opera School (RCMIOS) where he won the Eric Joseph Shilling Award for Opera.

Bradley Travis sings Masetto's "Ho capito...":

Operatic roles performed include Figaro in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Don Iñigo Gomez in Ravel's L’heure espagnole, Lord Ellington in Offenbach's La Vie Parisienne, Ottone in Monteverdi's L’incoronazione di Poppea all for the RCMIOS. He has also appeared as Count Robinson in The Secret Marriage for British Youth Opera who presented him with the Basil A. Turner Award, Minos Arianna in Handel's Creta, Argenio Imeneo under Laurence Cummings for the London Handel Festival, Alidoro in Rossini's La Cenerentola for Mananan Festival Opera and Lesbus in Handel's Agrippina for Iford Opera. 

He recently made his Opera North début singing Figaro in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro and sang the Fireman in Šimon Voseček's Biedermann and the Arsonists at Independent Opera.

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Vittorio Prato, Malte Roesner & Cyril Rovery

 

Introducing British Bass-Barihunk Bradley Travis

Bradley Travis

British bass-barihunk Bradley Travis was introduced to us via Twitter. He's just wrapped up a run performing the roles of the German Father, a youth and the Priest in St. Mark's in Britten's Death in Venice at Garsington Opera.

Upcoming performances include Lesbus in Handel's Agrippina at Iford Opera from July 29-August 5, the Fireman in Voseček's Biedermann and the Arsonists at the Lilian Baylis Studio at Sadler's Wells and Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni with English Touring Opera next Spring. 

He studied at the Royal Northern College of Music where he was the Drapers’ de Turckheim Scholar, winner of the Alexander Young Award and a finalist in the Frederic Cox Award.  He recently graduated from the Royal College of Music International Opera School where he won the Eric Joseph Shilling Award for Opera. He also received a Sir Gordon Palmer Scholarship supported by the South Square Trust Award.

He has performed Figaro in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro with Opera North, as well as a number of roles at the Royal College of Music International Opera School, including Don Iñigo Gomez in Ravel's L’heure espagnole, Lord Ellington Offenbach's La Vie Parisienne and Ottone in Monteverdi's L’incoronazione di Poppea.  He recently completed a recording with Simon Lepper of Ancel Newton’s song cycle Doomed Youth.

 
Most recently he received the Garsington Opera's Helen Clarke Award in recognition of his contribution and musical skill during their 2014 season.

Peter Brathwaite discusses career on BBC

 

Peter Brathwaite (Photo: Maria Scard)

The English Touring Opera wraps up their Spring season today, which included barihunks Nicholas Lester, Grant Doyle, Jan Capiński and Peter Brathwaite. The company performed Donizetti's
The Wild Man of the West Indies (Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo) and his The Siege of Calais, as well as Puccini's La bohème.

Peter Brathwaite, who has been a regular on this site and appeared in two of our charity calendars, was a guest on Chris Mann's BBC show to discuss the English Touring Opera shows, as well as his career. You can listen to the interview HERE, which begins at the 1:48:30 mark. 

Simon Wallfisch

The English Touring Opera's Fall season opens on October 1st and will feature Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, Massenet's Werther and Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann. A number of barihunks will be featured in the new season, including Jonathan McGovern as Pelleas and Simon Wallfisch (aka The Singing Cellist) as Albert in Werther. Additional information about the upcoming season is available online.
 

Barihunks hit the road with English Touring Opera

Nicholas Lester (left) & Peter Brathwaite (photos from English Touring Opera)

The English Touring Opera is kicking off their new Spring season with some barihunks in key roles.

Peter Brathwaite, who has been a regular on this site and appeared in two of our charity calendars, will take on roles in two Donizetti rarities, Kaidamà in The Wild Man of the West Indies (Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo) and Incognito in The Siege of Calais. This will be the first staging of The Wild Man of the West Indies in Britain in the modern era.

The Siege of Calais tells the story of the sacrifices under siege of the citizens of Calais – and of the sacrifices of citizens everywhere, forced in extreme situations to decide what to give up for their country and their families.

Jan Capiński

Jan Capiński, who is new to this site will appear as Armando in The Siege of Calais. He recently completed his M.A. in Opera Performance at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, graduating with distinction. He is currently training on English National Opera's Opera Works professional development program. Capiński was spotted by Scottish Opera while still a student and asked to cover the role of Pluto in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, before going on to perform the role twice with the main cast, marking his professional debut.

Click HERE to hear Jan Capiński sing Smirnov's aria from Walton's The Bear. You can also follow him on his blog or on Twitter @JanCapinski.

Nicholas Lester, who is also new to this site, will alternate the role of Marcello in Puccini's La bohème with Grant Doyle, who has appeared on this site numerous times.  He studied at the Adelaide Conservatorium of Music and at the National Opera Studio, London where his studies were sponsored by Glyndebourne Festival Opera as the recipient of the Anne Woods/Johanna Peters Award. He has also appeared with the Welsh National Opera, English National Opera, Scottish Opera, Nationale Reisopera and Opera Holland Park.

The tour opens in London at the Hackney Empire in March and travels through May to Truro, Norwich, Cheltenham, Suffolk, Leicester, Coventry, Exeter and Buxton. Visit their website for additional cast information and performance dates.