Scottish tenor Liam Bonthrone was a member of the Opernstudio of the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich from 2022-2024, where roles included Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Remendado (Carmen), Brighella (Ariadne auf Naxos) which also toured to the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Narrator (Der Mond - Orff), Rustighello (Lucrezia Borgia), Ein Junger Seemann (Tristan und Isolde), Gran Sacerdote (Idomeneo), Eurimaco/Pisandro (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria), Un Lampionaio (Manon Lescaut) and Player 2 (Hamlet - Brett Dean).
This season he returns to Bayerische Staatsoper as a guest for further performances of (Der Mond) as well as Gaston/Victorin (Die tote Stadt) and makes debuts at Potsdam Winteroper as Rinaldo in Haydn's (Armida), Count Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia) for Royal Danish Opera, and for Glyndebourne Festival 1st Grail Knight in a new production of (Parsifal) and Abner/Doeg/High Priest in Barrie Kosky's revival of (Saul) where he will also cover the role of Jonathan. Beyond next season he will perform roles for Oper Köln, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Glyndeborune Festival and a title role for Göteborgs Operan.
He recently made debuts with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Sir Simon Rattle singing Gran Sacerdote (Idomeneo) and at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl singing the role of Der Waldgeist in Rimski-Korsakow’s (Schneeflöckchen).
He has worked under conductors including Ivor Bolton, Valdimir Jurowski, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, François-Xavier Roth, Carlo Rizzi, Daniele Rustioni Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Constantin Trinks, Antonio Fogliani and Christopher Moulds in productions by Barrie Kosky, Calixto Bieito, Christof Loy, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Krzystof Warlikowski and Robert Carsen.
As a concert soloist, performances include Handel Messiah and Samson, Mendelssohn Elijah, Mozart Requiem and Mass in C minor, Bach Christmas Oratorio, St John Passion, St Matthew Passion, Haydn The Creation, Finzi for St. Cecilia and MacMillan All the Hills and Vales Along. He also appeared in various roles in the ensemble for Bernstein’s Candide, with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Marin Alsop, at the Barbican Centre.
At home on the recital platform, Liam has recently released his debut solo album titled Soirée Parisienne with pianist Benjamin Mead as part of the Royal Academy of Music Bicentenary Series for the Linn label. He has performed recitals at the Wigmore Hall, for the BBC, most recently for NI Opera Festival of Voice, Glenarm with Michael Pandya and in Graham Johnson’s Song Guild at Milton Court.
Liam has participated in Masterclasses led by artists including Joyce DiDonato, Brigitte Fassbaender, Malcolm Martineau, Ian Bostridge, Ann Murray and Roger Vignoles and in 2022 attended the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie, directed by Edith Wiens.
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Count Almaviva (The Barber of Seville)
Nevill Holt Opera, June 2022
Some of [the singing] is excellent. High-flying tenor Liam Bonthrone has all the notes for Count Almaviva and can get around the coloratura with the best of them.
The Stage ***
‘Tenor Liam Bonthrone had all the high notes for Count Almaviva while his ability to negotiate Rossini’s florid writing was impressive.’
George Hall, Opera Now
L'heure espagnole (Gonsalve)
Royal Academy of Music, November 2021
Liam Bonthrone’s self-obsessed nerdy Gonsalve is most stylish; he makes the high vocal lines sound as easy as pie and brings a wonderful ‘heady’ quality to them
Alexander Campbell, Classical Source
Ramiro, La Cenerentola
British Youth Opera
Liam Bonthrone's Don Ramiro had a charming naivety to him, coupled with an admirable facility in Rossini's tenor writing, with just the right sort of vibrant yet not overdone top notes, and this role is high
Robert Hugill, Planet Hugill
Liam Bonthrone was a Prince Ramiro of integrity...the tenor fearlessly climbed to the top of Rossini’s challenging vocal lines, using the energy of the music to suggest the Prince’s ardency and nobility.
Claire Seymour, Opera Today
Liam Bonthrone, delightfully blessed with a light bubbling tenor and an appealing presence: just what any Prince Charming needs
Bill Knight, The Times
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