About this Artist
A “tall, majestic bass” with “impeccable technique” and “a palpable presence on stage,” Canadian bass-baritone Nathan Berg’s career has spanned a vast range of repertoire on the concert and operatic stage. His recent dramatic work has earned acclaim around the globe from the title role in Der fliegende Holländer in his Bolshoi Theatre debut, Alberich in Das Rheingold with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Minnesota Opera, Doktor in Wozzeck with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Houston Symphony, for which he won a Grammy-Award, and his company debut at Teatro alla Scala, in Robert Carsen’s world-premiere production of Battistelli’s CO2.
In the 2021/22 season, Nathan Berg makes his Metropolitan Opera stage debut as The Father in Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, returns to Theater Basel as Philippe in Don Carlos, and debuts the role of Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde with the Taiwan Philharmonic. With Opera Lafayette, Mr. Berg will lead a residency in Taos, NM, culminating in New York and Washington, DC performances of Grétry’s Silvain.
Due to cancelations from Covid-19, Nathan Berg was to sing the title role in Der fliegende Holländer with Tampere Opera in Tampere, Finland, Nekrotzar in Le Grand Macabre with The National Theater of Prague, Alberich in Das Rheingold with Atlanta Opera, Jochanaan in Salome with Hawaii Opera Theatre and Bard College, and covers of Don Pizarro and Vodnik in Fidelio and Rusalka, respectively, with the Metropolitan Opera. In concert, Mr. Berg was to perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Filharmonia Narodowa in Warsaw, Poland, as well as with the Naples Philharmonic and Greensboro Symphony. Finally, he was to join the Grant Park Music Festival in Mendelssohn’s Elijah.
In the 2020/21 season, Nathan Berg made a highly acclaimed debut with Theater Basel in the title role of Messiaen’s Saint François d'Assise. In the 2019/20 season, Mr. Berg made his house and role debuts as Jochanaan in Salome with Atlanta Opera, returned to the Metropolitan Opera in Manon and Turandot. On the concert stage, Mr. Berg joined the Toronto Symphony to sing Palemon in Thaïs, the Rotterdam Philharmonic on a European tour to sing Der Einarmige in Die Frau ohne Schatten with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and performed Lélio with the Helsinki Philharmonic.
In the 2018/19 season, Nathan Berg continued to establish himself as a specialist in the works of Wagner, performing Alberich in Das Rheingold with Opéra de Montréal, Alberich in Siegfried with the National Performing Arts Center in Taipei, Taiwan, and joining the roster of the Metropolitan Opera for The Ring Cycle. He also appeared with Leon Botstein at the Bard Music Festival in Das Wunder der Heliane and the Grant Park Music Festival in Delius’ A Mass of Life.
In the 2017/18 season, Mr. Berg returned to the role of Holländer at the Cincinnati Opera Festival, and made his debut as Wotan in Das Rheingold at the Badisches Staatstheatre in Karlsruhe, Germany. He also made debuts at the Salzburger Festspiele and Whitsun Festival singing The King of Scotland in Christof Loy’s production of Ariodante opposite Cecilia Bartoli in the title role, and Douglas d’Angus in La donna del lago, also opposite Cecilia Bartoli. An incredible presence on the symphonic stage, Nathan Berg performed Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, and the Vancouver Symphony, conducted by Bramwell Tovey. He performed with conductor Hannu Lintu, first in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Finnish National Radio Orchestra, then with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in Rachmaninoff’s The Bells. Other season highlights were Detlev Glanert’s Requiem at the new Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg and Lutoslawski’s L’Espace du Sommeil with the Zürich-based Tonhalle-Orchester on tour in Katowice, Poland.
More recent seasons included appearances as Bluebeard in Mariusz Treliński’s new production of Bluebeard’s Castle for Teatr Wielki, Vodnik in Rusalka for Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts and a return to Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra as Doktor under Markus Stenz. Other appearances included Semperoper Dresden as Zoroastro in Andreas Kriegenburg’s production of Orlando, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks for L’enfant et les sortilèges under Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Wratislavia Cantans International Festival for Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 under Jacek Kaspszyk, BBC Scottish Symphony for Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis under Donald Runnicles, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 under Andrés Orozco-Estrada and the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias for The Dream of Gerontius under Rossen Milanov. In North America, Mr. Berg performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the San Diego Symphony, Saskatoon Symphony, and Grand Teton Music Festival; the latter conducted by Donald Runnicles, Mozart’s Requiem with the Rhode Island Philharmonic and Bramwell Tovey, and a return to the Edmonton Symphony for an evening of opera excerpts.
In his vast range of styles and repertoire, Berg is in demand by the world’s most distinguished conductors including Kurt Masur, Sir Andrew Davis, Hannu Lintu, Roger Norrington, Hans Graf, Donald Runnicles, Philippe Herreweghe, Vasily Petrenko, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Michael Tilson Thomas to name a few.
As a Grammy, Juno and Echo Award-winning recording artist, Mr. Berg has performed on over 30 recordings of works ranging from the 17th to 20th century with period to modern orchestras. Early in his career, alongside building a solid reputation in major Mozart roles, Nathan Berg established his name around the world as an outstanding interpreter of baroque and pre-classical music in both concert repertoire and opera. Notable amongst his many early recordings with Les Arts Florissants are Mozart’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah, and video recordings of Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes (Opéra de Paris) and Lully’s Armide (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées). Other noteworthy earlier recordings are Dvořák’s Stabat Mater with Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Peter Hall’s Glyndebourne Festival production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola, as well as lieder recordings, including songs by Othmar Schoeck, and featured on the album ‘Lieder Recital’ with pianist Julius Drake. Recent releases include Wozzeck (Doktor) with the Houston Symphony conducted by Hans Graf, Dvořák’s Requiem with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic conducted by Philippe Herreweghe, Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas and Les Indes Galantes conducted by Christophe Rousset with Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse. Soon to be released are Rusalka (Vodnik) on DVD and Donna del Lago (Duglas) on CD.
Born in Saskatchewan, Nathan Berg studied in Canada, the United States, and Paris, as well as at the Guildhall School of Music, London, where he won the prestigious Gold Medal for Singers.