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Tenor

John Treleaven

BIOGRAPHY

'John Treleaven has reached a level of role identification
which amazes, captivates, excites and inspires'

the press wrote about his TRISTAN after his spectacular debut in Amsterdam with Simon Rattle, a role which he has personified worldwide in more than 100 performances e.g. in the Hamburg State Opera, at the Gran Teatro del Liceu Barcelona, the Frankfurt Opera, the Brisbane Festival, at the Teatro Verdi di Verona, the Teatro Regio di Torino, in Santiago de Chile, in concert performances in Montreal, at the Luzern Festival with Maestro Claudio Abbado, as well as with the BBC Symphony Orchestra London with Donald Runnicles (published by Warner Music). He rerepeatedly portrayed Tristan at the Bavarian State Opera Festival in Munich and at the Summer Festival of the Bavarian State Opera. Moreover, the Cornish tenor convinced both audience and press with his TRISTAN interpretations at the Vienna State Opera, the Los Angeles Opera and the Opera House Zurich.

John Treleaven is one of the most sought after Heldentenors at the important international opera houses. He was celebrated as Stolzing at the Bavarian State Opera Festival in Munich, in Toulouse and in Peter Konwitschny’s production at the Hamburg State Opera. As Lohengrin he performed successfully at the Vienna State Opera, the Gran Teatro del Liceu Barcelona, the Hamburg State Opera, in Gothenburg, Basle and Amsterdam. As Tannhäuser he fascinated public and press at the Staatsoper of Hamburg and in the new production of the Opera House Graz in 2008.
John Treleaven has achieved particular success internationally as Siegfried in ‘Siegfried’ and ‘Götterdämmerung’, including Tokyo, Zurich, Helsinki, at the Gran Teatro del Liceu Barcelona (available as a DVD), at the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House London with Antonio Pappano and Keith Warner and at the Lyric Opera Chicago.
He sang Siegmund in Karlsruhe, Tokyo and Nice, in Dresden’s Semper Opera, as well as in concerts with the Bamberg Symphony and the Helsinki Radio Orchestra.

John Treleaven studied in London at the College of Music with William Lloyd Webber, among others, and at the London Opera Centre, Covent Garden as well as in Naples under Maestro Campanino. At first he sang primarily in his home country at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Welsh National Opera, the Scottish National Opera and the English National Opera, where he learned numerous roles such as the Prince in Rusalka, which is available on DVD. At the Edinburgh Festival he sang the role of Hans in The Bartered Bride, as well as Radames, Erik, Florestan and was heard in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex. Further guest performances took him to the Adelaide Festival, the Taormina Festival, to Bologna, Amsterdam, Paris, New York …

In 1991 he made his highly acclaimed German debut at the Mannheim National Theatre as Peter Grimes, a role he has since sung at the Hamburg State Opera, in Bremen, Frankfurt and Genoa, at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and at the Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg (directed by Alfred Kirchner). His repertoire also includes roles such as Bacchus in ‘Ariadne auf Naxos’, Canio in ‘I Pagliacci’, Calaf in ‘Turandot’, Dick Johnson in ‘La Fanciulla del West’ and Hermann in ‘Pique Dame’. At the Berlin State Opera he sang Pollione in ‘Norma’, at the Teatro Real Madrid he performed Menelas in ‘Die Ägyptische Helena’ and in Helsinki he sang the Emperor in ‘Die Frau ohne Schatten’.

John Treleaven continuously keeps adding new roles to his repertoire. Recently, he portrayed Idomeneo in a production of the New National Theatre Tokyo, Pedro in ‘Tiefland’ at the Opera House Frankfurt. In this very role he was subsequently trumphant at the Zurich Opera House. He was Parsifal at the Wagner Festival in Wels, sang AENEAS in ‘Les Troyens’ at the Karlsruhe State Theatre and OTELLO – another role from the Italian repertoire – at the Eutin Festival and the Mannheim National Theatre.

John Treleaven proves his special affinity for ‘Wagner’s heroes’ in his solo recitals ‘Wagner’s heroes’ - excerpts from the Ring - and a ‘Wagner Portrait’ (Oehmsclassics - Ivan Anguélov conducting).

REPERTOIRE

Bellini Vincenzo	Norma	Pollione
Bizet Georges	Carmen	Don José
Britten Benjamin	Billy Budd	Edward Fairfax Vere
Britten Benjamin	Peter Grimes	Peter Grimes
Cajkovskij Pëtr Il'ic	Pikovaja Dama	Hermann
d' Albert Eugen	Tiefland	Pedro
Korngold Wolfgang	Die Tote Stadt	Paul
Leoncavallo Ruggiero	Pagliacci, I	Canio
Mozart Wolfgang A.	Idomeneo	Idomeneo
Puccini Giacomo	Fanciulla del West, La	Dick Johnson
Puccini Giacomo	Turandot	Calaf
Strauss Richard	Ariadne auf Naxos	Bacchus
Strauss Richard	Daphne	Apollo
Strauss Richard	Frau ohne Schatten	Kaiser
Strauss Richard	Die Ägyptische Helena	Menelas
Stravinskij Igor' Fëdorovic	Oedipus Rex	Oedipe
Verdi Giuseppe	Aida	Radamès
Verdi Giuseppe	Otello	Otello
Wagner Richard	Götterdämmerung	Siegfried
Wagner Richard	Lohengrin	Lohengrin
Wagner Richard	Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Die	Walther von Stolzing
Wagner Richard	Parsifal	Parsifal
Wagner Richard	Siegfried	Siegfried
Wagner Richard	Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg	Tannhäuser
Wagner Richard	Tristan und Isolde	Tristan
Wagner Richard	Walküre, Die	Siegmund
Weber Carl Maria von	Freischütz, Der	Max
Weill Kurt	Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny	Jim Mahoney

REVIEWS

Wagner Gala Concert - Ravinia Festival – Chicago

“In the long ensuing duet, she and Treleaven rode the mighty crests of Wagner's plush orchestration without having to force. Their voices were well matched, and his tenor remained firm, focused and attentive to the text.”

Chicago Tribune

„ Treleaven, who just came off the Los Angeles Rings, was the real surprise, matching Brewer in warmth and spirit and not merely showing earnestness and stamina.”

The View From Here

“Fatigue was nowhere in sight Wednesday night. Treleavan navigated Wagner’s wide, leaping melodic lines with flexibility and ease. In the love duet, the British tenor was utterly convincing as an ardent young lover intent on winning the reluctant Brünnhilde.“

Chicago Classical Review

Tannhäuser – TANNHÄUSER - Bavarian State opera Munich - January 2010

„John Treleaven mastered this difficult part with profound highs and lows, played the fiery minstrel and the penitent sinner with complete commitment of voice and body.
The Rome narration, in which he was able to fully demonstrate his heroic tenor and interpretive talent was extremely moving. Time and time again his perfect phrasing is striking.”

Der neue Merker

Otello – OTELLO – Eutin Festival- July 2009

„The main character, Otello, was the star of the evening and ideally cast with John Treleaven. It was his debut in the role and yet he played and sang the part as if he had already performed it many times on stage. With a great voice ranging from warm middle tones to shining top notes, he ruled the stage. Yet it is not only the outstanding voice that Treleaven has to offer; he transforms the words, expresses love, wrath, anger and pain in perfect tones. With seldom seen perfection he plays the role of a person pushed into a hopeless situation. John Treleaven is Otello!“

Der neue Merker

Siegfried – SIEGFRIED - Los Angeles Opera –October 2009

„Siegfried, the tenor John Treleaven, who survived the arduous vocal challenges of this near-impossible role, had stamina and vitality.“

The New York Times

“Of course the toughest task of this five-hour marathon fell to John Treleaven, who, just for getting through it as well as he did, deserves kudos……he gave a heroic if not thrilling performance.“

LA Opus

„Treleaven’s was a stirring performance and the closing scene was deeply moving and hauntingly beautiful.”

Wagner News

„As Siegfried, John Treleaven sang with intelligence and variety, had stamina aplenty,”

Orange County Register

„Siegfried is played by John Treleaven with sublime, emotional tenor tones. Some of his lines are so moving, especially when he is asking Mime about his mother, who died giving birth to him“

LA Splash

“As Siegfried, Treleaven’s penetrating timbre seemed fearless and inexhaustible.”

Opera Today

“Vocally Treleaven is clear, accurate and tireless. He throws himself into the Freyer concept completely and is responsible for much of the success of this production.”

Stagehappenings.com

Tannhäuser – TANNHÄUSER - Greek Natioanl Theatre Athens - January 2009

“The “singing-actor” John Treleaven was freely able to act out the part of the knight of Venus. One seldom sees such variable reactions to the blandishment of Venus. The lover of the Goddess of Love wavered between attraction, ecstatic devotion, joyful minstrel song, wanderlust with a guilty conscience and ultimately, the energetic decision to return to the upper world. This also came across in his voice. As the singer had no vocal problems with the part, the dramatic highlights in Acts 2 and 3, right up to the frenzied outburst at the end of the Rome narration naturally remained extremely captivating.”

Der neue Merker

Die tote Stadt – PAUL – Teatro Massimo Palermo

“John Treleaven sang his first Paul in this uncut version containing numerous high passages which tenors have been spared elsewhere. There are long phrases in this role which are almost solely in the high range between G and B. Treleaven sang these with relish. This corresponds to the emotional state of the man who has the talent to become totally absorbed with an illusory romance. Admittedly, there are tenors whose voices open more radiantly in the high range but few who are not only totally secure but also able to sing with such variety of nuance. As expected, John Treleaven portrays Paul not as a psychopath of unsound mind but as quite a personable highly emotional visionary, who is ultimately able to free himself with the help of his strong feelings and imagination as a result of the anguish he experiences. The most positive interpretation of the role I have ever come across over the years.”

Der neue Merker