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Biography
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"The evening's one consistently bright
spot was the Figaro of Russell Braun, who entered as if shot from
a cannon and remained a spry, winning presence throughout. Braun's
elegant, soft-grained timbre and meticulous handling of verbal and
musical detail were a joy to hear." (Opera News)
"Russell Braun's eagerly awaited account
is superb in every way, notable for its smooth legato, a consistent
and ravishingly beautiful tone throughout the vocal range, clear
enunciation and impeccable pitch." (Opera Canada review of Winterreise
recording)
"As the Traveller, Russell Braun, his
curly dark locks tipped in devilish red, stole every scene in which
he appeared, filling the house with his lustrous voice and over-the-top
characterizations, which ranged from a ghastly over-rouged elderly
fop to an ingratiating chatterbox barber." (Musical America)
Thrilling, manic, glorious, superbly sung and malevolently acted,
rich, powerful, elegant, soft-grained, and spine-tingling are but
a few of the epithets the media have used to describe Canadian opera
sensation Russell Braun. In concert, opera and recital, the international
stages of the world are his - whether it be the Metropolitan Opera
in New York, l'Opéra de Paris, the State Opera in Vienna, the Lyric
Opera in Chicago, the Los Angeles Opera, La Scala in Milan, the
Salzburg or the Glyndebourne Festival.
His powerful voice and commanding presence have given vigour to
such roles as Billy Budd, Prince Andrei, Figaro, Papageno, Count
Almaviva, Don Giovanni, Pelléas, and Eugene Onegin.
Performances
Following a summer at the Salzburg Festival as Mercutio in Romeo
et Juliette, Russell's 2010-2011 season begins with a tour to
Japan for which he reprises his acclaimed role as Lescaut in the
ROH Covent Garden production of Manon. He also makes two major role
debuts, both at the Metropolitan Opera - as Chou En-lai in John
Adams's Nixon in China and Olivier in Strauss's Capriccio which
will be broadcast internationally Live on HD. The season also takes
him to Rio de Janeiro for his debut performance with the Rio de
Janeiro Orchestra and Roberto Minczuk in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
and back to La Scala as Mercutio in Romeo et Juliette.
Future highlights include returns to the Metropolitan Opera, La
Scala, the Vancouver Opera and the Canadian Opera Company.
Highlights
Last season featured a challenging balance of concerts, recitals
and opera. He made highly successful role debuts as The Traveller
in Benjamin Britten's Death in Venice at the Theatre an der
Wien in Vienna and as Lescaut in the ROH Covent Garden production
of Manon. He appeared with the Chicago, Cleveland, Toronto,
and Ottawa symphony orchestras, in duo recital with Michael Schade
in Kansas City and travelled Western Canada on an extensive recital
tour featuring two programs: Schubert's Die Winterreise and
opera arias. He also appeared in a special 2010 Olympics performance
of Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
and Bramwell Tovey.
Other recent appearances include Valentin in Faust at ROH Covent
Garden, the title role of Pelléas et Mélisande at La Scala
in, Orestes in the Opéra national de Paris's Iphegénie en Tauride,
Eugene Onegin with the San Francisco Opera, the title role
in Billy Budd, as Prince Andrei in War and Peace,
and as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor with the Canadian Opera
Company. He has performed in New York at the Metropolitan Opera
(I Pagliacci and Il Barbiere di Siviglia), at the
Salzburg Festival (Ariadne auf Naxos, Roméo et Juliette),
the Vienna Staatsoper (Roméo et Juliette, Die Zauberflöte,
Ariadne auf Naxos, Die Fledermaus, Billy Budd),
in Paris at the Opéra national de Paris (Die Zauberflöte,
Cosi fan tutte, Faust, Pelléas et Mélisande)
and at the Théâtre du Châtelet (Dido & Aeneas), in San Diego
(Les Pecheurs de Perles, Cosi fan tutte), the Glyndebourne
Festival (Pelléas et Mélisande), l'Opéra de Montreal (Die
Zauberflöte), and l'Opéra de Québec (Don Giovanni). A
favourite of Toronto's Canadian Opera Company, he has appeared in
many productions with them including Cosi fan tutte, Le
Nozze di Figaro, Billy Budd, Lucia di Lammermoor,
Pelléas et Mélisande.
Concerts and recitals always have a major place on Russell's calendar.
He has performed in duo recital with Michael Schade in London, Edinburgh,
Toronto, San Diego, Graz, Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Strasbourg and
Ludwigsburg and in solo recital in Montréal, Toronto, New York,
Paris (La Chapelle Royale at Versailles) Winnipeg and Ottawa. His
interpretations of German Leider have won him international acclaim
- "A searching musician, Braun also has one of the world's most
beautiful baritone voices. He brings a poet's soul and a young man's
bewildered grief to Schubert's shattering cycle of solitude and
loss." (New York Newsday).
In much demand as a concert artist, the past few seasons have seen
Mr. Braun appear with the New York Philharmonic in the World Premiere
of The World in Flower a new work by Peter Lieberson, at
the BBC Proms in Fauré's Requiem, the Salzburg Festival in
Schubert's Mass in G, the Tanglewood Festival in Brahm's
German Requiem, with the St. Louis Symphony, City of Birmingham
Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony conducted by Bernard Labadie,
in L'Enfance du Christ with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, in
Elijah with the Minnesota Orchestra and in the Durufle
Requiem with Les Violons du Roy in Québec City. He has performed
with many of the world's leading conductors including Sir Simon
Rattle, David Robertson, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Claudio Abbado,
Sylvain Cambreling, James Conlon, Bruno Campanella, Jukka-Pekka
Saraste, Richard Bradshaw and Bernard Labadie, appearing with major
orchestras in Europe, Canada and the United States including the
San Francisco Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Dallas
Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, l'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal,
the Edmonton Symphony and the Calgary Philharmonic. His performance
in Britten's War Requiem in Toronto continues to be a stand-out
in Toronto's musical memory.
Recordings
Russell's extensive discography includes his highly acclaimed recording
of Schubert's Die Winterreise with pianist Carolyn Maule
and the 2007 JUNO-award-winning recording of Mozart arias with tenor
Michael Schade and soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, both on the CBC
Records label. Winterreise quickly made its mark among a
revered set of recordings of the famous song-cyle - "[it] goes
up against this formidable competition [Fischer-Dieskau and Goerne],
as well an estimable Winterreise by Braun's late father, Victor.
Braun fils's effort emerges with considerable credit...a mellifluous,
musical and strongly felt interpretation." (Opera News) - and
was nominated for a JUNO award and by three North American newspapers
in their Best of 2005.
Winner of the 2001 JUNO for Apollo e Daphne with Les Violons
du Roy (Dorian), Russell has twice recorded Dido & Aeneas
(Telarc with the Boston Baroque; CBC Records with Taflemusik), the
award-winning Soirée Française with tenor Michael Schade,
Le Souvenir, a collection of Canadian songs, Shattered
Night, Shivering Stars featuring the music of Canadian composer
Alexina Louie and Liebeslieder - Folksongs with the Aldeburgh
Connection. Other releases include Meditation, featuring
the works of Gerald Finzi (CBC Records) and Serata Italiana,
a recording of Italian opera arias and duets with tenor Michael
Schade (CBC Records), and Beethoven Lives Upstairs, Mozart
and Magic Fantasy, and Daydreams and Lullabies on the
Classical Kids Label.
His highly acclaimed Salzburg Festival appearance as Mercutio in
Romeo et Juliette was released on DVD. He was also featured
in Burnt Toast, a series of eight 6-minute comic operas composed
by Alexina Louie and written by Dan Redican for television featuring
many of Canada's brightest actors and the voices of some of its
most famed opera stars.
Russell Braun makes his home near Toronto with his wife, pianist
Carolyn Maule and their sons, Benjamin and Gabriel.
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Booking Information
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Public Relations
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Elizabeth Crittenden
Vice President
Columbia Artists Management
1790 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Tel: (212) 841 9682
Fax: (212) 841 9557
Email: crittend@cami.com
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Moira Johnson Consulting
180 Metcalfe Street, Suite 404
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K2P 1P5
Tel: (613) 565 0666
Email: moira@moirajohnson.com
Email: megan@moirajohnson.com
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Last Updated: July 8, 2010
© 2000 Moira Johnson Consulting,
All Rights Reserved
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