“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, 2022
Scottish tenor Liam Bonthrone joined the Opera Studio of the Bayerische Staatsoper, in Munich, in the 22/23 season where roles included Rustighello (Lucrezia Borgia), Brighella (Ariadne auf Naxos), Ein Junger Seemann (Tristan und Isolde), Eurimaco/Pisandro (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria), Un Lampionaio (Manon Lescaut), Edler I (Lohengrin), Pasek (Cunning Little Vixen), Player 2 (Hamlet) and Bedienter (Lear).
In 23/24 his roles in Munich include Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Brighella (Ariadne auf Naxos) which will go on tour to the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Gran Sacerdote (Idomeneo) and Remendado (Carmen). That season he will also sing the role of Der Waldgeist in Rimski-Korsakow’s (Schneeflöckchen) at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl.
He has worked under conductors including Valdimir Jurowski, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, François-Xavier Roth, Carlo Rizzi, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Antonio Fogliani and Christopher Moulds in productions by Barrie Kosky, Christof Loy, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Krzystof Warlikowski and Robert Carsen and in future seasons will sing under Ivor Bolton, Daniele Rustioni and Constantin Trinks to name a few.
Other operatic roles have included his role debut as Conte Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia) with Nevill Holt Opera, Bruno in Bellini’s I Puritani with the Rotterdam Operakoor in De Doelen, Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola with British Youth Opera, Ferrando (Cosi fan tutte), Gonzalve (L’heure Espagnole), Tanzmeister and Haushofmeister (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Flute (A Midsummer Night’s Dream).
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, 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. The recording takes us on a journey into the fascinating world of Parisian salons in nineteenth-century France and includes music my Liszt, Chabrier, Fauré and Stravinsky. He has performed at the Wigmore Hall, for the BBC 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.
In the 24/25 season Liam will take on major roles for The Royal Danish Opera and Glyndebourne Festival as well as returning to the Bayerische Staatsoper.
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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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