Northern Irish baritone Ben McAteer’s current highlights include Pangloss Candide with Marin Alsop in a new production by Lydia Steier at Theater an der Wien, and with the Hamburger Symphoniker and Martin Yates. He previously performed the role in the work’s Chinese premiere with the Xi’an Symphony Orchestra and Dane Lam. He returns to Hamburg for Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri.
He also revives his acclaimed Mountararat Iolanthe for ENO in 2023. A natural performer of Gilbert & Sullivan, he recently also appeared as Grand Inquisitor The Gondoliers and King Paramount Utopia Limited for Scottish Opera and for the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival.
Ben made his Wexford Festival Opera debut in 2022 as Baskir Lalla Roukh for Wexford Festival Opera and returned to Irish National Opera as Malatesta in Don Pasquale and Officer Two & Blazes in Peter Maxwell-Davies’ The Lighthouse.
Recent concert work includes Haydn’s Creation with the Ulster Orchestra and Daniele Rustioni and Brahms’ German Requiem with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.
Versatile in character and with a remarkable vocal range, he has sung both Figaro (Scottish Opera) and Count Almaviva (Irish National Opera) Le nozze di Figaro, Falke (Welsh National Opera) and Eisenstein (Northern Ireland Opera) Die Fledermaus, Pish-Tush (Scottish Opera) and Pooh-Bah (Lyric Opera Ireland) The Mikado, as well as Frank-Fritz Die tote Stadt (RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra), Goryanchikov From the House of the Dead (WNO), Sharpless Madama Butterfly (Opera Holland Park), Father Hänsel und Gretel (INO), Papageno Magic Flute (NI Opera), and Guglielmo Così fan tutte (Scottish Opera).
He features on a disc of undiscovered songs by Irish composer Ina Boyle with Iain Burnside, released on Delphian Records in August 2021, and has recorded the role of Jesus in Arthur Sullivan’s oratorio The Light of the World and Rupert Vernon in his operetta Haddon Hall, both with the BBC Concert Orchestra.
Ben was an Emerging Artist at Scottish Opera (during which time he won Outstanding Performance in Opera at the My Theatre Awards in Toronto for his performance of James in the world première of The Devil Inside), and trained at the National Opera Studio in London and at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Before embarking on a musical career, he studied Chemistry at the University of St Andrews.
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Iolanthe (Lord Mountararat), English National Opera
London Coliseum (October 2023)
Comedy and vocal gold came once again from Ben McAteer as the Earl of Mountararat
David Nice, The Arts Desk****
Ben McAteer as a closeted Earl of Mountararat [is] in terrific voice.
Michael Billington, The Guardian****
Ben McAteer’s imposing, finely-enunciated Mountararat was in the old-school Donald Adams class.
Christopher Webber, Opera Magazine
Both Earls hit the spot – Ben McAteer (Mountararat) sang a lusty and jingoistic ‘When Britain ruled the waves’ and has all the makings of a future Lord Chancellor
John Rhodes, Seen and Heard International
'If there is an institution in Great Britain which is not susceptible of any improvement at all, it is the … stage manager!,' improvised baritone Ben McAteer, who wins this year’s Culture Whisper trophy for quick thinking. The show briefly came to a standstill while a technical problem was resolved, and then cranked back into action.
Claudia Pritchard, Culture Whisper
Northern Ireland baritone, Ben McAteer, revives his acclaimed role of Earl of Mountararat
Tony Cooper, The Opera Critic
Ruairi Bowen and Ben McAteer make for a brilliant combination as Earls Tolloller and Mountararat respectively, with McAteer also returning to his role.
Sam Smith, Opera Online
Dove Mansfield Park (Sir Thomas Bertram)
Byre Opera (June 2023)
The biggest impact in Byre’s updated production—everything from mobile phones to social media screenshots and lounge lizard costuming—came from characters with the most extrovert lines, notably Ben McAteer’s imposing Sir Thomas Bertram...
Andrew Clark, Opera Magazine
CD: Maltworms and Milkmaids: Warlock and the Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra
[EM Records EMRCD080] (August 2023)
...the star of the album is Ben McAteer whose agreeably lyrical baritone can effortlessly muster plenty of much-called-upon swagger and suggestive tongue-in-cheekery.
Paul Riley, BBC Music Magazine
… characterfully sung by baritone Ben McAteer whose enunciation is excellent… [In ‘Mr Belloc’s Fancy’ and ‘Captain Stratton’s Fancy’] McAteer, robust of voice and crisp of diction, enters fully into the spirit... McAteer proves an engaging storyteller.
Claire Seymour, Opera Today
Haydn The Creation, Ulster Orchestra
Ulster Hall (April 2023)
Ben McAteer, who sounded rich and savoury and heroic and who basically stole the show by leaning into the guileless comedy of Haydn’s musical depictions of birds and beasts: bleating like a sheep and hollowing out his voice, poker-faced, for that most collectible of lines, ‘In long dimension / Creeps with sinuous trace the worm’. Performances of The Creation tend, by their nature, to be cheerful occasions, but this is the first time I’ve witnessed an audience laughing out loud, or indeed rising to their feet for what looked like a wholly unpremeditated ovation.
Richard Bratby, The Spectator
Don Pasquale (Malatesta), Irish National Opera
(November 2022)
[Masterson] and Danby are ideally complemented – both vocally and in dramatic energy and comic timing – by baritone Ben McAteer as Pasquale’s friend Malatesta (the plastic surgeon)
Michael Dungan, The Irish Times
Ben McAteer as a Malatesta sounding more handsome of voice than the pre-show caution of his ailing state suggested: just perfect, in fact.
David Nice, The Arts Desk****
Ben McAteer summons gravitas as Dr Malatesta
Katy Hayes, Irish Independent
“McActeer’s fine visual portrayal of Malatesta” [whilst walking the part]
Ian Fox, Opera Magazine
Strong work all round from the… bullish Malatesta (Ben McAteer)
Robert Thicknesse, Opera Now
Lalla Roukh (Baskir)
Wexford National Opera (October 2022)
The Irish baritone balanced buffo
banter – the patter ever clear – with vocal finesse, in a strongly characterised performance.
Claire Seymour, Opera Today
Ben McAteer, from Northern Ireland and making his Wexford debut, was Baskir, who has never seen the king (essential to plot plausibility so he can spend the opera ignorantly frustrating his boss). He is a dupe made sympathetic by a fine voice… His sparring with Mirza was entertaining, vocally and histrionically… This season is labelled “Magic and Music” and what casting Wexford can often conjure up.
Roy Westbrook, Bachtrack****
Ben McAteer’s natural charisma and histrionic know-how meant his Baskir almost stole the show
Hugh Canning, Opera Magazine
…baritone Ben McAteer capering in the chief comic role of court official Baskir
George Hall, The Stage*****
Ben McAteer as Baskir is responsible for the funny moments. He has a hard time keeping the princess away from the poet and scores with a wonderful buffo-baritone. In interaction with O'Sullivan, McAteer also convinces with humorous play when he succumbs to the maid's attempts to flirt and thus allows himself to be distracted so that Lalla-Roukh can meet her Nourreddin again. Another highlight is the duet with Nourreddin in the second act, in which he tries to trick the king without realizing that he is talking to the king himself. When he subsequently fears for his life because Nourreddin and Lalla-Roukh have tricked him, he expresses this in a brilliant couplet, in which he is literally thrown across the stage by the dancers in the shopping cart like on a ship in a storm.
Thomas Molke, Online Musik Magazin
Utopia Ltd (King Paramount), National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company
(September 2022)
The singing was splendid, too. McAteer …who’d sounded positively Wagnerian as he announced his resolve to turn his kingdom into a limited liability company at the end of Act One, was an imposing and intensely sympathetic figure
Richard Bratby, The Arts Desk****
The usual G&S material was all present, nonsense and wit balanced with lyrical tunes and compelling ensembles. The cast captured it all with enthusiasm, with hats in the first act differentiating the suited men. Ben McAteer was suavely confident as King Paramount
David Smythe, Bachtrack****
Ben McAteer’s portrayal of a rather ineffectual king who turns into an effective one is finely played – in the trio where he eavesdrops on the plotting of Phantis and Scaphio, he conveys decided glee.
Catriona Graham, The Opera Critic
The Gondoliers / Utopia Ltd (Grand Inquisitor / King Paramount), Scottish Opera
Hackney Empire (April 2022)
Ben McAteer makes a fine King Paramount, well-meaning, dithering and longing to be free of his two pushy advisers
Tim Ashley, The Guardian****
Ben McAteer was King Paramount, a tall, genial presence with a sunny baritone, and together with Charlie Drummond as the Girton-educated Princess Zara he set the musical tone at a consistently high level
Richard Bratby, The Spectator
Maxwell-Davies The Lighthouse, Irish National Opera
(December 2021)
The singing of the three roles by Gavan Ring, Ben McAteer and John Molloy was superb.
Noel Megahey, Opera Journal
The Gondoliers / Utopia Ltd (Grand Inquisitor / King Paramount), Scottish Opera
(November 2021)
Ben McAteer upped his artistic profile with a deliciously camp portrayal of the Grand Inquisitor – a mature, stage-filling impersonation that kept within the bounds of taste.
Andrew Clark, Opera Magazine
Ben McAteer’s Grand Inquisitor, a delicious picture of pomposity, gives an outstanding comic performance.
Mark Brown, The National (Scotland)
Outstanding were Ben McAteer’s charmingly easygoing King Paramount…
Ken Walton, The Scotsman****
Though the production maintains a light-heartedness, an ounce of villainy can be sniffed out by Ben McAteer’s Grand Inquisitor, a booming and delicious role. And though not necessarily the most diabolical of Gilbert & Sullivan’s rogues, McAteer devours the scenes, capitalising on every opportunity with his bass-baritone and imposing vocals.
Dominic Corr, The Reviews Hub - Scotland
Ben McAteer was suavely confident as King Paramount
David Smythe, Bachtrack
Opera Repertoire
| Bernstein | Candide (Voltaire/Pangloss/Martin) |
|---|---|
| Britten | The Rape of Lucretia (Tarquinius) |
| Gilbert & Sullivan | HMS Pinafore (Captain Corcoran) |
| Henze | Boulevard Solitude (Lescaut)* |
| Humperdinck | Hansel & Gretel (Peter) |
| Janáček | From the House of the Dead (Goryanchikov) |
| Korngold | Die Tote Stadt (Frank/Fritz) |
| MacRae | The Devil Inside (James) |
| Massenet | La Navarraise (Remigio) |
| Mozart | Così fan tutte (Guglielmo) |
| Puccini | La Bohème (Marcello) |
| Purcell | Dido & Aeneas (Aeneas) |
| Rorem | Our Town (Mr Webb) |
| Strauss | Die Fledermaus (Falke) |
| Tchaikovsky | Eugene Onegin (title role)* |
| Verdi | Rigoletto (Marullo) |
| *role studied/covered |
Oratorio / Masses Repertoire
| J.S. Bach | Christmas Oratorio |
|---|---|
| Beethoven | Symphony No. 9 – “Choral" |
| Brahms | Requiem |
| Durufle | A German Requiem |
| Elgar | The Apostles (Jesus) The Dream of Gerontius The Kingdom (St Peter) |
| Fauré | Requiem |
| Handel | Dixit Dominus |
| Haydn | Nelson Mass |
| Mealor | Crucifixus |
| Mendelssohn | Elijah |
| Mozart | Requiem |
| Orff | Carmina Burana |
| Stravinsky | Pulcinella |
| Sullivan | The Golden Legend |
| Vivaldi | Magnificat in G |
Orchestral Song / Other Repertoire
| Adams | The Wound Dresser |
|---|---|
| Copland | Old American Songs |
| Delius | Cynara |
| Finzi | Let Us Garlands Bring |
| Hay | The Wind Among the Reeds |
| Schubert | Mass in G |
| Stanford | Songs of the Fleet |
| Turnage | At Sixes & Sevens |
| V. Williams | Fantasia on Christmas Carols |
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