“A recital is a very human experience. People have come literally to spend time with you. I want to share the highs and lows and deliver something that’s precious to me.” Who better to describe the recital experience than the great Canadian baritone himself? He reduces his audiences to spellbound silence.
“Mr. Finley has long been recognized as a recitalist of rare versatility, a concert artist of the first rank, and an opera singer of distinction.” – The New York Times
Program
Schubert’s Winterreise
This program will be performed without intermission. Please note that there will be no late seating.
Links
Learn more about Gerald Finley.
Biography
Grammy-award wining Canadian baritone Gerald Finley has become one of the leading singers and dramatic interpreters of his generation, with award-winning performances and recordings on CD and DVD and performing at the world’s major opera and concert venues in a wide variety of repertoire.
In opera, Mr Finley has sung all the major baritone roles of Mozart. His Don Giovanni has been seen in New York, London, Paris, Salzburg, Munich, Rome, Vienna, Prague, Tel Aviv, Budapest and Glyndebourne, recently released on DVD. As the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro, his appearances include the Royal Opera Covent Garden (Opus Arte DVD), Salzburg Festival (2007, 2009), Paris, Vienna and Amsterdam. At the New York Met his roles have included Don Giovanni, Golaud and Marcello.
Critical successes also include Eugene Onegin and Golaud at Covent Garden, Iago in Otello with Sir Colin Davis and the LSO (LSO Live), the title role in Guillaume Tell with Accademia di Santa Cecilia and Antonio Pappano (EMI) and his debut performances as Hans Sachs at the Glyndebourne Festival (Opus Arte DVD). In contemporary opera, Mr Finley has excelled in creating leading roles, most notably Howard K. Stern in Turnage’s Anna Nicole at Covent Garden (Opus Arte) and J. Robert Oppenheimer in John Adam’s Doctor Atomic (New York Met, ENO London, San Francisco, Chicago and Amsterdam) (DVD available on Opus Arte and Sony), as Harry Heegan in Mark Anthony Turnage’s The Silver Tassie
at ENO, and Jaufré Rudel in Kaija Saariaho’s L’amour de loin for the much-acclaimed premieres in Santa Fe, Paris and Helsinki (DVD).
Most recent concert appearances included works by Sibelius and Walton with the BBC Symphony, Janacek with the Berlin Philharmonic, Harbison’s 5th Symphony with the Boston Symphony, Mozart Requiem and Missa Solemnis with the Concertgebouw Orchestra and Elgar’s Coronation Ode at the First Night of the 2012 BBC Proms. He concluded the 2011/12 season with appearances at the Festivals of Toronto, Tanglewood, Ottawa Chamber, Ravinia and Grafenegg.
As a recitalist, he works regularly with Julius Drake. They recently performed at the Wigmore Hall, the Schwarzenberg Schubertiade, New York’s Alice Tully Hall, and Madrid’s Teatro della Zarzuela. Mr Finley’s CD releases are devoted to songs of Barber and Ives, “Dichterliebe” by Schumann, “Songs by Ravel”, and Britten’s “Songs and Proverbs” all in partnership with Julius Drake on the Hyperion label, and have been critically acclaimed, including the 2008. 2009 and 2011 Gramophone Award in the ‘Solo Vocal’ category. In 2012 the DVD release of John Adam’s Doctor Atomic in which Gerald Finley appeared as J. Robert Oppenheimer was awarded the Grammy for ‘Best Opera Recording’. His latest CD “Liederkreis” was released in October 2012.
2012/13 started with a return to the BBC Proms as Chou en Lai in Nixon in China with the BBC Symphony, followed by Brahms’ Requiem with the Concertgebouw, which he will also perform with the Toronto and London Symphony Orchestras later in the season. Further highlights include recitals across Europe, Le nozze di Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera New York, Haydn’s Nelson Mass and Schönberg’s A survivor from Warsaw with Andris Nelsons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich, Frankfurt and Luxembourg, concerts in Australia, Mahler’s Wunderhorn Lieder with the Czech Philharmonic, Alexander’s Feast by Handel under the baton of Nikolaus Harnoncourt at Vienna’s Musikverein, Les espaces du sommeil with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, Don Giovanni at the Bavarian State Opera and Il Prigioniero with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr Finley concludes the season with Cosi fan tutte at the Salzburg Festival.
Gerald Finley, born in Montreal, began singing as a chorister in Ottawa, Canada, and completed his musical studies in the UK at the Royal College of Music, King’s College, Cambridge, and the National Opera Studio.
The performance is sponsored by Robert Lemon in memory of Robert Ledingham.
Peak Performances at the Playhouse Series is sponsored by
