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The English bass-baritone, Matthew Brook, studied at the Royal College of Music in London (Class of 1983).
Matthew Brook has appeared as a soloist throughout Europe, Australia, South Africa and the Far East, and has sung extensively as a recitalist and concert artist. He has developed a world-wide reputation for his interpretation of the music of J.S. Bach and George Frideric Handel, but his musical tastes stretch way beyond this period of music, often performing new compositions at major festivals and concert halls, and has performed on the operatic stages of Europe singing Weber, W.A. Mozart, Georges Bizet, Chabrier, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Leonard Bernstein and Monteverdi. He has performed at many of Europe's top festivals, including The Edinburgh Festival and the BBC Proms.
During his career Matthew Brooks has enjoyed working with many fine orchestras and ensembles around the globe. These include: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Australian Chamber Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Handel and Haydn Society (Boston), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, SDG Chicago, Il Complesso Barocco, Darmsadt Konzertchor, Dresden Staatskapelle, Dunedin Consort and Players, English Baroque Soloists, Freiburger Barockorchester, Gabrieli Consort & Playerst, Collegium Vocale Gent, Hallé Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Nationale de Lille, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra (London), New London Consort, City of London Sinfonia, Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Northern Sinfonia, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Mozarteum Salzburg, Orchestra de Champs Elysees, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, The Sixteen, Les Talens Lyriques,.Zürich Tonhalle. He was He is also a member of the internationally acclaimed groups the Dunedin Consort (Director: John Butt), I Fagiolini (Director: Robert Hollingworth) and Tenebrae (Director: Nigel Short).
Matthew Brooks has enjoyed long collaborations with many conductors, including: John Butt, Harry Christophers, Alan Curtis, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Matthew Halls, Philippe Herreweghe, Richard Hickox, Sir Charles Mackerras, Paul McCreesh, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, John Nelson, Philip Pickett, Jean-Bernard Pommery, Christopher Robinson, Christophe Rousset, Wolfgang Seeliger and Sir David Willcocks. More recent collaborations have been with: Sir Mark Elder, Sir Roger Norrington, Richard Tognetti, Emmanuelle Haïm, Paul Goodwin, Roy Goodman, Oleg Caetani, Evelino Pido, Laurence Equilbey, Marcus Creed,.
Matthew’s operatic repertoire includes: G.F. Handel: Il Re in Ariodante, Garibaldo in Rodelinda, Araspe in Tolomeo, Polyphemus in Acis; W.A. Mozart: Don Giovanni (Leporello), Le nozze di Figaro (Figaro, Antonio), Die Zauberflöte (Papageno), Così fan tutte (Don Alfonso), Leonard Bernstein: A Quiet Place (Young Sam), Georges Bizet: Carmen (Zuniga); Benjamin Britten: Albert Herring (Vicar); Noye’s Fludde (Noye), Peter Grimes (Ned Keene); Janácek: Jenufa (Starek, Mayor); Menotti: Amahl and the Night Visitors (Melchior); Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea (Seneca), Purcell: Dido and Aeneas (Aeneas), The Indian Queen (Ismeron); Puccini: Tosca (Sacristan); Rameau: Castor et Pollux (Jupiter), Sullivan: Trial by Jury (Counsel), Ivanhoe (Friar Tuck); Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin (Onegin, Zaretsky); Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Pilgrim’s Progress (John Bunyan, Lord Hategood, Watchful, Obstinate, First Shepherd); William Walton: Troilus and Cressida (Antenor, Calkas); Weber: Der Freischütz (Kuno).
Matthew Brook is an active song recitalist with his accompanist, Anna Markland, former BBC Young Musician of the Year. Past engagements have included a commission by Anthony Powers with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 2004 summer.
Matthew's recent performances and engagements: Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3 with the Hallé Orchestra and Sir Mark Elder; J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor (BWV 232) with Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe Herreweghe; Zuniga in Carmen at the Opera Comique in Paris with Sir John Eliot Gardiner; J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion (BWV 244) for the Nederlandse Bachvereniging; J.S. Bach’s St John Passion (BWV 245) with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Oleg Caetani; Bach Cantatas conducted by Marcus Creed with the Tonhalle-Orchester, Zürich; Elijah at the Three Choirs Festival with Geraint Bowen and the Philharmonia Orchestra; Felix Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht and W.A. Mozart’s Requiem with Philippe Herreweghe and the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées; George Frideric Handel’s Apollo e Dafne with Retrospect Ensemble and Matthew Halls at the Wigmore Hall; Haydn’s The Seasons with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir; W.A. Mozart’s Requiem with the City of London Sinfonia; Messiah in Boston with Harry Christophers and the Handel and Haydn Society, and with The Sixteen; Il Re in G.F. Handel’s Ariodante with Il Complesso Barocco, Joyce DiDonato and Alan Curtis; Conti’s David with the Nederlandse Bachvereniging and Alan Curtis; J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion (BWV 244) with Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe Herreweghe; A tour of Australia with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Richard Tognetti, singing L.v. Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and a Bach programme; J.S. Bach's St John Passion (BWV 245) with the Gabrieli Consort and Paul McCreesh.
This season and beyond include: Araspe in G.F. Handel’s Tolomeo in Vienna; Seneca in L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; Kouno in Le Freischutz at the Opera Comique with John Eliot Gardiner, Joseph in Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ for Ensemble Orchestral de Paris; Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and John Butt.
Matthew Brook has taken part in many recordings (for Chandos, Hyperion, Naxos, EMI and others) and broadcasts throughout the world and for the BBC. Most recently a BBC television recording of Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ with Richard Hickox and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. His recordings include: G.F. Handel: Messiah (Linn Records), Acis and Galatea (Linn Records), Esther (Linn Records), Ariodante (Virgin Classics); J.S. Bach's: St Matthew Passion (BWV 244) (Linn Records), B Minor Mass (BWV 232) (Linn Records), St John Passion (BWV 245) (Linn Records, due for release in 2003), Weinachts Oratorium (BWV 248) (Hyperion Records, due to be recorded January 2013); Johann Christian Bach: Solos (SDG Records); Sullivan: Trial by Jury (Chandos Records), Ivanhoe (Chandos Records); Purcell: Dioclesian (Chandos Records); Ralph Vaughan Williams: Dona nobis pacem / Sancta Civitas (Naxos), Cotswold Romance (Chandos Records), Mass in G Minor (Chandos Records); Johannes Brahms: Requiem (SDG Records); Heinrich Schütz: Christmas Story (Naxos); Machaut: Lays (Naxos); Vermulst: People’s Mass (Delphian Records). For for EMI he recorded Idomeneo with Sir Charles Mackerras, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus. He also recorded W.A. Mozart’s Requiem with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He recenly recorded the role of Friar Tuck in Sullivan’s Ivanhoe for Chandos Records. There are future plans to record Jephtha with Harry Christophers in 2014. His DVD recording of J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion (BWV 244) with John Nelson from the St Denis Festival was recently released. He currently lives in Marcross, Vale Of Glamorgan, UK. |
