Simon Bailey
Bass-Baritone
Frankfurt-based bass-baritone Simon Bailey has garnered critical acclaim for his interpretations of a diverse and eclectic range of roles over the course of his career. An alumni of the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala, Clare College Cambridge, and the Royal Northern College of Music, he has worked with leading companies internationally.
Video & Audio
Simon Bailey | Dans les roles d'amoureux langoureux | Lindorf | Les Contes d´Hoffman
Simon Bailey | Oh wunder wundervoller heiliger Speer | Gurnemanz | Parsifal Act 1
From 2002-15 he was a member of the solo ensemble of Oper Frankfurt where his numerous role include Méphistophélès La Damnation de Faust, Klingsor Parsifal, Gunther Götterdämmerung, Orest Elektra, Duke Bluebeard Bluebeard’s Castle, Dulcamara L’elisir D’amore, Bartolo Il barbiere di Siviglia, Figaro Le nozze di Figaro, Balstrode Peter Grimes, Redburn Billy Budd, Peter Hänsel und Gretel, Nick Shadow The Rakes Progress, Ferrando Il Trovatore, Achilla Giulio Cesare, Fernando Villabella La gazza ladra, Don Alfonso Così fan tutte; Gelone L´orontea, Ochsenschwanz Schwergewicht, Don Magnifico La Cenerentola, Leporello Don Giovanni, and Budivoj Dalibor.
Other role highlights include Jochanaan Salome, Kaspar Der Freischütz, Four Villains Les contes d´Hoffmann, Peter Hänsel und Gretel, Re di Scozia Ariodante (Staatstheater Stuttgart); Klingsor Parsifal and Mizoguchi in Mayuzumi´s Kinkakuji (Opéra National du Rhin); the title role Le nozze di Figaro, Bartolo Il barbiere di Siviglia, Procolo Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali, and Viceprocuratore in Corgi’s Tat’jana (La Scala); Leporello Don Giovanni and Sirocco L´étoile, Kutuzov War and Peace (Royal Opera House); Nicanor/Satan in Félicien David´s Herculanum (Wexford Festival); Four Villains Les contes d´Hoffmann (Theater Basel); Shishkov From the House of the Dead (Brno Festival); Dinosaurus Magnus in Borboudakis’ Z (Munich Opera Festival); Šiškov From the House of the Dead, Kutuzov War and Peace, Shaklovity Khovánščina, and Leporello Don Giovanni (Welsh National Opera); Méphistophélès in Terry Gilliam’s production of Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust (Opera Vlaanderen; Staatstheater Stuttgart); Achilla Giulio Cesare and the Employer in Levinas’s La Métamorphose (Opéra de Lille); Truffaldino Ariadne auf Naxos and Achilla Giulio Cesare (Theater an der Wien); Zuniga Carmen (Glyndebourne Festival Opera); Bartolo Il barbiere di Siviglia (Beijing); and Kelvin in Dai Fujikura’s Solaris (Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre).
On the concert platform he has performed both sacred and operatic works including Mendelssohn Elias (Gießen; Wetzlar); Walton Belshazzar’s Feast (Bad Homburg); Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis (Tampere Filharmonia, Finland); Bach Johannes-Passion and Matthäus-Passion (Trier); Dyson’s The Canterbury Pilgrims (Three Choirs Festival); Messiah (Royal Albert Hall); Elgar The Kingdom (Köln; Bad Homburg); Mendelssohn Paulus and Jeptha (Maulbronn); the title role in Handel´s Saul at the (Kölner Philharmonie); Die Schöpfung and Die Jahreszeiten (Dublin); Gurnemanz Parsifal (Bad Homburg; Wiesbaden); Kaspar Der Freischütz (OAE); Sulpice La fille du Regiment and David L´amico Fritz (Moscow); Mussorgsky Songs and Dances of Death (Japan) and the world premiere of Alisdair Nicolson´s I, Pilgrim (St. Magnus Festival).
Current engagements include Wotan Die Walküre, and Wanderer Siegfried (Tiroler Festspiele); Fasolt Das Rheingold (ENO); title role Don Pasquale (Saarländisches Staatstheater); Fra Melitone La Forza del destino (Oper Frankfurt); he also returns to La Monnaie and ENO in major roles; and the Tiroler Festspiele for Der Ring des Nibelungen. On the concert platform he sings Wotan Das Rheingold under the baton of Kent Nagano in Cologne, Ravello, and Luzern; and makes his debut with Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España for Die Schöpfung also under the baton of Kent Nagano.