Bass STEPHEN RICHARDSON’s (Lady Bracknell) recent and future engagements include the roles of Drum-maker and Puppeteer / Fire-eater / Ape-Judge / Fisherman / Ringmaster / Farmer in The Adventures of Pinocchio (Opera North); Flint in Billy Budd (Netherlands Opera); Ludwig van Beethoven in Gerald Barry’s Schott and Sons‚ Mainz (National Chamber Choir of Ireland‚ Dublin); Sir Joshua Cramer in Barry’s The Intelligence Park (Irish Museum of Modern Art‚ Dublin); Lady Bracknell in Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest (Los Angeles Philharmonic); the Commandant in From The House of The Dead (Opera North); Ferrando in Il trovatore (Den Jyske Opera); Hobson in Peter Grimes (Royal Opera House‚ Covent Garden); Falstaff and Sarastro (Opera Australia); Kaspar in Der Freischütz (Opéra de Rennes); Don Quichotte in Fénelon’s Le Chevalier imaginaire (Ensemble InterContemporain)‚ Monterone and Hobson (Opera North)‚ Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro (Grange Park Opera), and X in Powder Her Face (London Symphony Orchestra concert / Thomas Adès).

Stephen Richardson was born in Liverpool and studied at Manchester University and the Royal Northern College of Music. He has created roles in many important contemporary works, including Thomas Adès’ The Tempest (Royal Opera House‚ Covent Garden); Tan Dun’s Orchestral Theatre II‚ Re‚ and Tea (Suntory Hall‚ Tokyo); Barry’s The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit and The Intelligence Park; Tavener’s Eis Thanaton‚ Resurrection‚ The Apocalypse, and Fall and Resurrection (City of London Sinfonia‚ St Paul’s Cathedral); and the British premiere of Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale (English National Opera).

Roles with British companies include Graf Waldner in Arabella, Mamirov in The Enchantress, Daland‚ Claggart‚ Fasolt‚ Osmin‚ Sarastro‚ Colline‚ Commendatore‚ the Commandant in From the House of the Dead‚ Sparafucile‚ Baron Ochs‚ Swallow‚ Timur‚ and Sir Morosus in Die schweigsame Frau. He appears regularly with Netherlands Opera‚ De Vlaamse Opera‚ Opéra National de Paris‚ Teatro alla Scala‚ Oper der Stadt Bonn‚ Istanbul Festival‚ Lyric Opera of Chicago‚ the Salzburg Festival, and Nationale Reisopera.

Richardson’s concert repertoire includes Anubis / Death of Kong in Birtwistle’s The Second Mrs. Kong (Royal Festival Hall / Martyn Brabbins)‚ Hansel and Gretel (BBC Concert Orchestra)‚ Messiah (Carnegie Hall / Trevor Pinnock)‚ Oedipus rex (BBC Stravinsky Festival / Sir Andrew Davis)‚ Nixon in China (London Symphony Orchestra), and Knussen’s Where the Wild Things Are and Higglety Pigglety Pop! (Cleveland Orchestra and London Sinfonietta / Knussen).

His recordings include Where the Wild Things Are‚ the title role in Goehr’s Death of Moses (Unicorn Kanchana)‚ Purcell’s Ode for the Birthday of Queen Mary (DG Archiv)‚ Stravinsky’s The Flood, and Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Colin Davis‚ Philips) and Albert Herring (Chandos).