Biography

As Florestan in Fidelio (Metropolitan Opera)
"His penetrating tenor rang reliably through the house. I have never heard him sing so expressively or with such beauty of tone as he did in "In der Lebens Frühlingstagen." (Opera News)

As Calaf in Turandot (COC)
"Richard Margison [gave] a superbly confident rendition of 'Nessun dorma.' Few are the tenors who can walk easily in Luciano Pavarotti's footsteps in this aria. Toronto's Richard Margison happens to be one of them." (Toronto Star)

As Calaf in Turandot (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden)
"The evenness of his singing is a glory in itself. He is legato personified, and legato with an authentic thrill to the sound." (Evening Standard)

Hailed for his ringing top notes and spine-tingling power, Canadian tenor Richard Margison is one of the most critically acclaimed singers on the international stage today. He performs regularly in many of the world's leading opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the San Francisco Opera, the Théâtre Royale de la Monnaie in Brussels, Covent Garden, the Sydney Opera and the Grand Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona.

2010-2011 Season

Richard's 2010-2011 season celebrates his Canadian roots with performances across the country featuring his signature roles - he opens the season as Calaf in Puccini's Turandot with Opera Lyra Ottawa, followed by Manrico in Il Trovatore with l'Opéra de Québec, Cavaradossi in Manitoba Opera's Tosca, and Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Canadian Opera Company. Spring 2011 sees Richard return to his home of British Columbia for a recital tour around the province with acclaimed pianist Kinza Tyrrell. In addition he reprises his celebrated role as O'Brien in Lorin Maazel's 1984 in Valencia Spain.

Recent Highlights

Richard Margison's 2009-2010 season featured performances as Bacchus in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos at the Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo, Spain, as Radamès in Verdi's Aida at the Metropolitan Opera, as Pollione in Bellini's Norma with the Vancouver Opera, and in a series of concerts for Arizona Opera. A highlight of his season was his trip to China for the opening of the new Guangzhou Opera House for which Richard appeared in the inaugural performances of Puccini's Turandot with Lorin Maazel in one of his most celebrated roles, Calaf: "Richard Margison's Calaf revealed both vocally and dramatically the calculated determination of a man who knows how to get what he wants." (Financial Times, 11 May 2010)

Highlights from past seasons include Richard's debut as Aegisthus in Strauss's Elektra with the Seattle Opera and the New York Philharmonic, his debut at Milan's famed La Scala as O'Brien in Lorin Maazel's 1984, a role he originated at the ROH Covent Garden in 2005, recently released on DVD. Renowned for his interpretations of Verdi, Puccini, Strauss and Beethoven, recent seasons have featured performances of Un Ballo in Maschera (l'Opéra de Montréal, Hamburg, the ROH Covent Garden), Turandot (New York, Barcelona, Toronto), Aida (New York, Cincinnati, l'Opéra de Montréal, Chicago, Orviedo), Ariadne auf Naxos (Madrid, London, Hamburg, New York), Fidelio (Seattle, Vancouver), Il Trovatore (New York, Toronto, Berlin, San Francisco), La Gioconda (Barcelona) and Don Carlo (New York).

A much sought after concert artist, Mr. Margison took Toronto by storm in a concert at Roy Thomson Hall garnering such praise as "…it is an important experience to hear Margison live, simply to come into contact with the physical presence of the voice. It has both brass and beauty, and its power is so forceful and concentrated that you have to remind yourself that its source is a human throat…" (Globe and Mail). As well, he has appeared with the Royal Philharmonic in London, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and at the Ravinia Festival. He has also performed with Bryn Terfel at his opera gala at the Faenol Festival in Wales.

Recordings

Mr. Margison's most recent releases include an all-Verdi recording on CBC Records and the highly acclaimed recording of Beethoven's Fidelio with Christine Brewer on Chandos. He has also recorded Lanza (Warner Music), a recording made for the film on the life of Mario Lanza, in which he sings the title role. Other recordings include Verdi's Don Carlo with the Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of Bernard Haitink (Philips) and Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Neeme Järvi (Deutsche Grammophon). He has made three recordings with the late Richard Bradshaw and the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra: a solo album of French and Italian Arias (CBC Records), Rarities by Rossini and Verdi, with Gary Relyea (CBC Records) and Aria, une sélection de Radio-Canada with Anita Krause, Wendy Nielson and Gary Relyea (CBC Records). Richard Margison is also a featured artist on the Millennium Opera Gala recording released by CBC Records.

His DVDs include the upcoming release of his highly acclaimed appearances as Bacchus in the Metropolitan Opera production of Ariadne au Naxos with Deborah Voigt and Natalie Dessay (Virgin Classics), his roles as Cavaradossi in Tosca and as O'Brien in Lorin Maazel's 1984 (both on Decca), and as Enzo in Ponchielli's La Gioconda (TDK).

Folk-Singing Opera Star

Richard's rise to the top of the opera world did not follow the traditional path - his career began in the coffee houses and clubs of Victoria, BC, where he performed with his own rock band for ten years. Since making his debut in 1980 with Pacific Opera Victoria, he has gone on to take the opera world by storm while not neglecting his roots, enthusiastically performing songs by Gordon Lightfoot or Stan Rogers whenever possible. In January 2010, Bravo! presented a documentary (Harbinger Films) on Richard called the 'Folk-Singing Opera Star'. Now available on DVD, the documentary features him in a musical collaboration with Bruce Cockburn, in major performances and in discussion about his life and career. www.thefolksingingoperastar.com

Highlands Opera Studio

In the summer of 2007, Richard Margison and Opera Director Valerie Kuinka founded the Highlands Opera Studio, which provides advanced operatic training to a select group of talented young professionals with the main objective to provide these singers with the necessary skills to embark on a career in opera. Looking forward to its 4th season in the summer of 2010, the program includes vocal master classes, individual voice lessons, movement classes, stagecraft coaching and staging rehearsals for a fully staged production. The faculty includes renowned singer-pedagogues Timothy Noble, John Fanning, Christianne Riel, and Mark Pedrotti. www.highlandsoperastudio.com

Honours and Benefit Work

Although Richard is in great demand on the great opera stages of the world, he gives generously of his time to support a number of causes. He has offered his talent at benefits in Chicago, for the Metropolitan Opera, Leukaemia Research (Ontario), LOFT Community housing (Toronto), the Children's Opera Chorus (Toronto), the Royal Conservatory of Music, and many others. He has been particularly active in his home province of British Columbia, where he has raised more than two million dollars through benefit concerts including Victoria Symphony, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Victoria Conservatory of Music, Vancouver Symphony, Vancouver Opera and the Rotary Club.

Richard Margison was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2001 not only in honour of his contribution to musical life in Canada but in recognition of his presence on the international stage. In October 2009 he received Lifetime Achievement Awards from both the The Giulio Gari Foundation and The Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation. He also holds Honorary Doctorates from the University of Victoria (DMus), University of British Columbia (D.Litt) and McMaster University (D.Litt).

He shares his home in Toronto, Canada with his wife, opera director Valerie Kuinka and his daughter Lauren, a budding singer.

HONOURS & RECOGNITION

Last Updated: August 31, 2010

© 2000 Moira Johnson Consulting, All Rights Reserved