Keith Lewis (Tenor)

Born: October 6, 1950 - Methven, New Zealand

The New Zealand-born tenor, Keith Lewis, received his early musical training in Canterbury, New Zealand.

Keith Lewis’ first professional engagements included tenor soloist in Bach’s St Matthew Passion (BWV 244) with the Royal Christchurch Musical Society, and touring the country for the Music Federation of New Zealand in the New Opera Quartet. Since leaving New Zealand for London in 1974, his career has involved opera, concert work and recording, all receiving high critical acclaim.

Keith Lewis is one of the world’s busiest tenors. He appears regularly throughout the UK, Europe and North America with conductors who have included Pierre Boulez, Andrew Davis, Sir Colin Davis, Dutoit, John Eliot Gardiner, Carlo Maria Giulini, Haitink, Neville Marriner, Zubin Mehta, Yehudi Menuhin, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Previn, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Sinopoli, Leonard Slatkin, Georg Solti and Svetlanov.

Keith Lewis’ Mozart roles have taken him to opera houses around the world. Don Giovanni (Glyndebourne, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Paris, Madrid, San Francisco), Così fan tutte (Glyndebourne, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Chicago, San Diego, Zurich, Bordeaux, Rome), Die Zauberflöte (Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Paris, Zurich), Il Seraglio (Glyndebourne, Paris), La Clemenza di Tito (Paris, Bordeaux, Stuttgart, Frankfurt), Idomeneo (Glyndebourne, Athens, Paris Bastille).

Other stage performances include Iphigenie en Tauride (Berlin Staatsoper, Paris, Vienna, Frankfurt), Il Barbiere de Siviglia and I Capuleti ed I Montecchi (Covent Garden), La Damnation de Faust (Hamburg, Stuttgart), Maria Stuarda (Monte Carlo), Gluck’s Armide (Hamburg), Lulu (Berlin Staatsoper) and Semele (La Fenice).

Recordings include Mozart's Requiem (Sony/Carlo Maria Giulini and EMI/Welser-Möst), Messiah (Decca/Georg Solti), Don Giovanni (EMI/Haitink), Gustav Mahler's Symphony No.8, Das Lied von der Erde, Das Paradies und die Peri (DG/Sinopoli), La Damnation de Faust (DG/Chung), J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor (BWV 232) (Sony/Carlo Maria Giulini), L.v. Beethoven's Symphony No.9 (DG/Guilini), Salome (Sony/Zubin Mehta), Berlioz's Requiem (Bertini), Haydn's Masses (EMI/ Neville Marriner), Berlioz's Requiem, Te Deum and lelio (Denon/Inbal) and Lieder with Michael Houstoun (Trust)

Recent and upcoming engagements include Die Tote Stadt in the Brisbane Biennial, The Makropulos Case in Toulouse, Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem in Rome, Felix Mendelssohn’s St Paul in Vienna, L’incoronazione di Poppea in Stuttgart and Fidelio in Venice.

Source: Trust Records Website
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (July 2003)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Carlo Maria Giulini

Tenor

BWV 232

Links to other Sites

Keith Lewis (Trust Records)
Keith Lewis - Tenor (Canterbury Cyber Place)

Keith Lewis - Tenor (IMG Artists)
Keith Lewis - Biography (Augstein) [German]