BARITONE

Born in Lancashire, Riccardo Simonetti studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and began his career at English National Opera, where his roles included Dancairo Carmen, Ygène in the world première of Gavin Bryars’ Doctor Ox’s Experiment, Dr Malatesta Don Pasquale, Papageno The Magic Flute, Schaunard La Bohème, Figaro The Barber of Seville, Patroclus King Priam, Marullo Rigoletto, Pish-Tush The Mikado and Bill The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.

His other roles have included Suitor Babette’s Feast for The Royal Opera at the Linbury, Belcore L’elisir d’amore and Papageno The Magic Flute for Opera North, Patroclus Iphigènie en Aulide, the title role in Don Giovanni andCount Almaviva Le nozze di Figaro for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Kramer Tangier Tattoo for Glyndebourne On Tour, Albert Werther and Count Almaviva Le nozze di Figaro for English Touring Opera, Guglielmo Così fan tutte and Marcello La bohème for Co Opera, Ireland, the title role in Don Giovanni and Count Almaviva Le nozze di Figaro for Cork Opera 2005, Sharpless Madama Butterfly, Ping Turandot and Dr Falke Die Fledermaus for Lyric Opera, Dublin, Schaunard La Bohème for Opera Holland Park, Ping Turandot in Nice, Rodimarte in Scarlatti’s Il trionfo dell’onore in Brussels, Caen, Liège and Trento, Giuseppe The Gondoliers and Captain Corcoran HMS Pinafore for Carl Rosa Opera Company, Pish-Tush The Mikado at La Fenice, Venice, Eddy in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Greek for the London Sinfonietta, Figaro Il barbiere di Siviglia for WNO, Marullo Rigoletto for the Netherlands Opera and Belfiore Un giorno di regno  at the Buxton Festival.

Concert engagements have included Messiah with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra, Huddersfield Choral Society, the London Festival Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and at the Royal Albert Hall, Elijah at Manchester’s Free Trade Hall, Carmina Burana at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, The Water Diviner’s Tale at the BBC Proms and A Sea Symphony at the Chichester Festivities as well as Die Zauberflöte for the Oxford Philomusica and L’enfant et les sortilèges at the Royal Festival Hall under Sir Andrew Davis. Recordings and broadcasts include Périchaud La rondine and Gypsy Il trovatore for EMI, both with Antonio Pappano and BBC Radio 2’s Friday Night is Music Night.

Recent and current engagements include Enrico Anna Bolena and the title role in Don Giovanni for English Touring Opera, The Father Hansel and Gretel and Luke Pollock Skin Deep, Falke Die Fledermaus for Opera Project and Baron Douphol La traviata for Longborough Festival Opera

Please note that this biography is not to be used for programmes. Current information is available on request.