Alan Opie

Alan Opie (born 22 March 1945 in Redruth, Cornwall, UK) is a Cornish baritone, primarily known as an opera singer.

He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the London Opera Centre before joining the Sadler's Wells Opera (now the English National Opera, ENO). He became a Baritone there while still a student.

Opie has also sung with the other major UK opera companies Scottish Opera, Opera North, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Internationally, he has performed in the opera houses of Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna, Brussels, Berlin, Chicago and Santa Fe and regularly appears at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. He has also sung at the Bayreuth Festival.

In 1996, Opie switched his status at the ENO from company member to regular guest, enabling him to make his début at La Scala, Milan. There he created the role of Outis in the opera of the same name by Luciano Berio.

He has recorded for CBS, EMI, Hyperion, Chandos and Decca, winning Grammy Awards in 1996 and 1998 for his involvement in, respectively, recordings of Britten's "Peter Grimes" and Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg". In 1997, his performance in the title role of Verdi's "Falstaff" earned Opie a nomination for the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera.

Operatic roles

(performed and/or recorded, listed alphabetically)