“His generous throat produces great torrents of autumnal tones with apparent ease. If I were casting Hoffmann anywhere, Relyea would be my unhesitating first choice for the villains.”
     - Opera News

Photo © Dario Acosta

John Relyea continues to distinguish himself as one of today's finest bass-baritones.

Mr. Relyea has appeared in many of the world’s most celebrated opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera (where he is an alumnus of the Merola Opera Program and a former Adler Fellow), Santa Fe Opera, Seattle Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Paris Opera, Munich State Opera, and the Vienna State Opera. His roles include Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, the Four Villains in Les contes de Hoffman, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Giorgio in I Puritani, Escamillo in Carmen, Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Colline in La Bohème, Marke in Tristan und Isolde, Caspar in Der Freischutz, the title role in Bluebeard’s Castle, Banquo in Macbeth, Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia and Garibaldo in Rodelinda.

Mr. Relyea also remains in high demand throughout the concert world where he has often appeared with such orchestras as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Met Chamber Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, Monnaie Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Berlin Philharmonic. He has also appeared at the Tanglewood, Ravinia, Blossom, Vail, Salzburg, Edinburgh, Lucerne and Mostly Mozart Festivals, and in the BBC Proms. In recital, he has been presented at Weill Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Wigmore Hall in London, the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, and the University of Chicago Presents series.

The many conductors with whom Mr. Relyea has worked with include Harry Bicket, Sir Colin Davis, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Christoph Eschenbach, Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Neville Marriner, Zubin Mehta, Sir Roger Norrington, Seiji Ozawa, Antonio Pappano, Sir Simon Rattle, Donald Runnicles, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Robert Spano, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and Ilan Volkov.

Mr. Relyea’s most recent recording, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with Sir Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, was released on the EMI label. He also recorded Idomeneo with Sir Charles Mackerras and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for EMI, and appears on the Metropolitan Opera’s DVD presentations of Don Giovanni, and Die Meistersinger von Nüremberg, both released by Deutche Grammophon.

This season, Mr. Relyea returned to the Met for the new productions of Lucia di Lammermoor and Macbeth (the latter of which was broadcast in HD in movie theaters around the world), and to the Seattle Opera as Giorgio. In concert, he appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cologne Philharmonie, and the St. Louis Symphony. This summer he returns to Covent Garden as Nick Shadow in a new production of The Rake’s Progress and appears at the Ravinia, Lanaudiere and Aspen festivals; and next season he returns to the Met as both Méphistophélès in a new production of La Damnation de Faust and as Alidoro in La Cenerentola. He also returns to the Seattle Opera for Bluebeard’s Castle, and makes appearances with the London Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Minnesota, Montreal, and San Francisco.

Mr. Relyea is the winner of the 2003 Richard Tucker award.

March 2008

BIOGRAPHY ~ ENGAGEMENTS ~ REVIEWS ~ RECORDINGS
PHOTOS ~ STAY IN TOUCH ~ FOR THE PRESS ~ HOME

Mr. Relyea is represented by
Opus 3 Artists
NEW YORK • LOS ANGELES

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