In the 2022/2023 season, Northern Irish baritone Ben McAteer’s highlights include Pangloss Candide with the Hamburger Symphoniker, Baskir Lalla Roukh for Wexford Festival Opera, and a return to Irish National Opera in his role debut as Malatesta in Don Pasquale.
Last season, Ben sang the roles of Officer Two & Blazes in Peter Maxwell-Davies’ The Lighthouse for Irish National Opera, Grand Inquisitor The Gondoliers for Scottish Opera in both Scotland and London, and performed Brahms Requiem with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. He also featured on a disc of undiscovered songs by Irish composer Ina Boyle with Iain Burnside, released on Delphian Records in August 2021.
Other operatic roles to date include Falke Die Fledermaus and Goryanchikov From the House of the Dead for Welsh National Opera; Schaunard La Bohème, Count Almaviva Le Nozze di Figaro, Father Hansel & Gretel for Irish National Opera; Eisenstein Die Fledermaus, Papageno The Magic Flute, and Marullo Rigoletto for Northern Ireland Opera; Pangloss & Voltaire Candide for West Green Opera and with the Xi’an Symphony Orchestra; Calchas La Belle Helène for Blackheath Opera; Sharpless Madama Butterfly at Opera Holland Park; and Mr Webb in the European premiere of Ned Rorem’s Our Town at GSMD. He also performed Frank-Fritz in a concert performance of Die Tote Stadt with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and Astrologer/Abbot The Burning Fiery Furnace at Southrepps Music Festival.
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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 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
La bohème (Schaunard), Irish National Opera
(March 2021)
Ben McAteer was an excellent Schaunard...
Opera Magazine
Ben McAteer and John Molloy also acquitted themselves well in their respective roles – there were no weak links in the cast.
Robert Beattie, Sean and Heard International
Recording: 3 English operettas (Sullivan, Ford and Cellier)
BBC Concert Orchestra / Dutton Vocalion (2020)
Ben McAteer’s urbane strikes a better balance” [Haddon Hall] / “…the title roles provide Ben McAteer with well-taken comedy chances.” [Mr Jericho and Captain Billy]
Opera Magazine
Die Fledermaus (Eisenstein), Northern Ireland Opera
(September 2019)
Ben McAteer was a game Eisenstein…
Robert Thicknesse, Opera Now
Ben McAteer found ample humour in Eisenstein's self-inflicted quandary...
Michael Quinn, Opera Magazine
La belle Hélène (Calchas)
Blackheath Halls Opera (July 2019)
Ben McAteer gave an object lesson in comic opera as Calchas.
Yehuda Shapiro, Opera Magazine
Die tote Stadt (Frank/ Fritz)
RTE National Symphony Orchestra (April 2019)
Ben McAteer contributed a sonorous and sympathetic portrait of Frank, with a particularly fine rendition of the waltz song 'Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen'.
Ian Fox, Opera Magazine
Baritone Ben McAteer really stood out in his different roles as Frank and Fritz. His aria “Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen” was touchingly sung and in his mid- range his voice possessed a noble, romantic tone.
Andrew Larkin, Bachtrack
The Marriage of Figaro (Title)
Cork Opera House (March 2019)
Ben McAteer impressed as a powerful Figaro with a commanding stage presence.
Cathy Desmond, Irish Examiner
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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