Hailed by Rupert Christiansen in the Daily Telegraph as Best Newcomer in his “Opera Highlights of 2009”, British baritone Benedict Nelson is one of the most exciting singers of his generation and has attracted comparisons to Gerald Finley and Simon Keenlyside among others.
Born in London, Benedict studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio. In 2007 he won second prize in both the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and the Guildhall Gold Medal at the young age of 23. Benedict is currently a member of the ENO Young Singers Programme.
Benedict has amassed a considerable number of operatic roles including Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas), Count Almaviva and Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Masetto and Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Marcello (La Bohème), Demetrius (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Sid (Albert Herring), Christian (Un ballo in maschera), and Tarquinius and Junius (Rape of Lucretia). Operatic engagements last season included Valentin (Faust) and Demetrius for ENO, Tarquinius for Opéra Anger Nantes, and Aeneas for the prestigious Verbier Festival in Switzerland.
A protegée of Sir Thomas Allen and a Samling Foundation scholar, Benedict made his debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Jiří Bělohlávek in 2010, singing Brahms’ Requiem. He has performed at many prestigious venues including Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Kings Place, Snape Maltings, St John’s Smith Square and St Martin-in-the-Fields under conductors including Sir Neville Marriner, Sir Roger Norrington, David Parry and Thomas Zehetmair. Last season he made his debut with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Andris Nelsons, and with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall. He also gave a concert at the Verbier Festival of songs for voice and string quartet by Barber and Babbitt.
Other performances over the past seasons have included his debut recital at the Cheltenham Festival, Britten’s Songs and Proverbs of William Blake at Snape Maltings with Malcolm Martineau (recorded in 2010 and released by Onyx), Silvano (Un Ballo in Maschera) for Opera Holland Park, concerts with the Classical Opera Company, The Tender Land for Opéra de Lyon, and the world premiere of The Lion’s Face at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Studio and on tour.
In the 2011/12 season, Benedict sings Belcore L’elisir d’amore and the title role Billy Budd for English National Opera, and has concert engagements with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Utah Symphony Orchestra, Basel Chamber Orchestra, RTÉ Orchestra, Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen, and with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in their concert performances of Tristan und Isolde. Future recitals include the London Song Festival and the Wigmore Hall.
Benedict Nelson is represented worldwide by Intermusica.
September 2011 / 428 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.
Joseph in Berlioz L’enfance du Christ (The Childhood of Christ) / Utah Symphony
Abravanel Hall / cond. Thierry Fischer
“Six superb soloists joined Fischer... Mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford and baritone Benedict Nelson were beautifully matched as Mary and Joseph”
Catherine Reese Newton, The Salt Lake Tribune, November 2011
Britten: Songs Volume 2 with Malcolm Martineau (piano) / Onyx 4079
“But the revelation of the set is Benedict Nelson’s searingly powerful account of Songs and Proverbs of William Blake. This late cycle, dedicated to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, is dark and spare in tone without any of Britten’s customary twinkle. But when sung with the focused intensity that Nelson’s rich baritone brings to it, its impact is profoundly haunting.”
Rupert Christiansen, Daily Telegraph, November 2011
London Song Festival Recital / St George’s Hanover Square / Nigel Foster (piano)
“Nelson blazed with righteous Blakeian indignation at the Church, marriage and poverty, gripping us with Stanford's setting of Keats's haunting La Belle Dame Sans Merci.”
Barry Millington, Evening Standard, November 2011
Belcore / Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love / English National Opera
Cond. Rory Macdonald / Original Dir. Jonathan Miller
Revival Dir. Elaine Tyler-Hall
“Nelson’s baritone maintained its lyrical standpoint even when the character was at his most bold and brash.”
George Hall, Opera, November 2011
“Nelson plays Belcore as a glamorous bully boy who thinks he's God's gift. Miller's relocation of the opera to the American midwest in the 1960s allows him to look like Elvis in GI Blues, though you sense a nasty temper beneath the mix of machismo and grace. It's an immaculate characterisation.”
Tim Ashley, The Guardian, September 2011
“Benedict Nelson and Johnson play off each other to nicely-judged effect…the duets and trios by this vocal triangle bowl very sweetly along.”
Michael Church, The Independent, September 2011
“Nelson is perfect casting as the bumptious soldier and sings with vigour and panache.”
George Hall, The Stage, September 2011
“Acting with style… Benedict Nelson has the swagger for Belcore.”
London Evening Standard, September 2011
“Benedict Nelson, a singer new to the production, who fields Belcore’s colloquialisms around ‘knuckle sandwiches’ and ‘meatheads’ with idiomatic nonchalance. As the G.I. who attempts to woo Adina … Nelson certainly walks the walk. Last seen wearing a different kind of uniform – the school variety – in ENO’s controversial A Midsummer Night’s Dream, he is a characterful baritone of real promise”
Mark Valencia, WhatsOnStage, September 2011
“Benedict Nelson sang with confident swagger as Belcore. Mr Nelson impressed me at the 2009 Wigmore Song competition so I was not surprised to see such rapid progress in his career.”
Melaine Eskenazi, musicOMH, September 2011
“Belcore (Benedict Nelson) is a swaggering G.I.
Nelson’s Belcore felt stronger, more lived-in vocally, and the balance of his charming Sergeant and Johnson’s grumpily sincere Nemorino worked well.”
Alexandra Coghlan, The Arts Desk, September 2011
Belcore / Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love / English National Opera
Cond. Rory Macdonald / Original Dir. Jonathan Miller
Revival Dir. Elaine Tyler-Hall
“Belcore (Benedict Nelson) is a swaggering G.I.”
“Nelson’s Belcore felt stronger, more lived-in vocally, and the balance of his charming Sergeant and Johnson’s grumpily sincere Nemorino worked well.”
Alexandra Coghlan, The Arts Desk, September 2011
Valentin in Gounod’s Faust
English National Opera / cond. Edward Gardner / dir. Des McAnuff
“…the hugely promising baritone Benedict Nelson was moving and eloquent in Valentin’s death scene.”
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph, September 2010
“Benedict Nelson hurls out Valentin’s deathbed curse impressively”
Richard Morrison, The Times, September 2010
Opera: highlights of 2009
“Best newcomer: Benedict Nelson, potentially a baritone in the Finley and Keenlyside class”
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph, April 2010
Brahms German Requiem
The Barbican / BBC Symphony Orchestra cond. Jiri Belohlavek
“Baritone Benedict Nelson struck the right, serious note. In all, the performance had a calm spaciousness, which went right to the music’s ambiguous heart.”
Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph, March 2010
Britten Songs and Proverbs of William Blake
Kings Place / piano Malcolm Martineau
“But it was Benedict Nelson's superbly rich baritone that stole the show. Songs and Proverbs of William Blake is marked by a darkness of mood and bleak mixture of yearning lyricism and uncanny incantation. Controlled and committed, Nelson produced a tour de force.”
Guy Dammann, The Guardian, November 2009
“Then baritone Benedict Nelson tackled the hardest nut, The Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, not flinching from their intensity…”
Richard Fairman, Financial Times, November 2009
Ping in Puccini Turandot
English National Opera / cond. Edward Gardner / dir. Rupert Goold
“The excellent Benedict Nelson (Ping)…stood out in supporting roles.”
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph, October 2009
“The Ping however, Benedict Nelson, rescued them from disaster with his rich and vibrant baritone.”
Antony Lias, Opera Britannia, October 2009
“Ping (an eloquent Benedict Nelson)”
Fiona Maddocks, The Guardian, October 2009