Rayfield Artists - Matthew Brook

MATTHEW BROOK

Bass-baritone

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"Brook's 'Mache Dich', prefaced by perhaps the most assuaging recitative in musical history, is little short of masterful with the range of colour, risk and gentle courtesy he brings to this superlative emblem of unswerving faith"
- The Gramophone

"Matthew Brook stood out as a soloist prepared to engage the text with individuality."
- The Independent

Matthew Brook has worked with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Richard Hickox, Sir Charles Mackerras, Christophe Rousset and Paul McCreesh, and ensembles including the Philharmonia, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Freiburger Barockorchester, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and Orchestra Nationale de Lille.

His operatic roles include Polyphemus Acis and Galatea, the title role in Eugene Onegin, Sacristan Tosca, Noye Noye's Fludde, Papageno The Magic Flute, Figaro The Marriage of Figaro, Leporello Don Giovanni, Young Sam in the British premiere of Bernstein's A Quiet Place, Vicar Albert Herring, Jupiter in Rameau's Castor et Pollux, Starek and Mayor Jenufa, Antenor and Calkas in Walton's Troilus and Cressida with the Philharmonia/Hickox, and Counsel Trial By Jury recorded on Chandos with National Orchestra of Wales/Hickox.

Matthew's many recordings include Berlioz's L'Enfance du Christ with BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Hickox, and Handel's Messiah with the Dunedin Consort/John Butt on Linn Records (Gramophone Award winner). He has recorded for DVD the acclaimed production of "The Full Monteverdi" with I Fagiolini.

Matthew has performed Brahms's Requiem with the St Petersburg Philharmonic, Mozart's Requiem, Haydn's The Seasons and Bach's St Matthew Passion for Gardiner, the St John Passion with the OAE, and Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, Ned Keene in Britten's Peter Grimes as well as Watchful, Obstinate and First shepherd in Vaughan-Williams's A Pilgrim's Progress, all with with Hickox. Recent performances Nielsen's Symphony no. 3 with the Hallé Orchestra and Sir Mark Elder; Bach's Mass in B minor with Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe Herreweghe; recording the role of Friar Tuck in Sullivan's Ivanhoe for Chandos Records; Zuniga in Carmen at the Opera Comique in Paris with Sir John Eliot Gardiner; Bach's St Matthew Passion for the Netherlands Bach Society; Bach's St John Passion with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Oleg Caetani; a concert of Bach Cantatas conducted by Marcus Creed with the Tonhalle-Orchester, Zurich; and Elijah at the Three Choirs Festival with Geraint Bowen and the Philharmonia.

Engagements this season include Mendelssohn's Die erste Walpurgisnacht with Philippe Herreweghe and the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées; 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; 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; and Il Re in Handel's Ariodante with Il Complesso Barocco and Alan Curtis; Bach's St Matthew Passion with Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe Herreweghe; a tour of Australia with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Richard Tognetti; and Bach's St John Passion with the Gabrieli Consort and Paul McCreesh.

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