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.
Simon Bailey | Der Fliegende Holländer | Act 1 | Taipei 2025
Simon Bailey | Leb wohl, du kühnes, herrliches Kind! | Wotan's farewell | Die Walküre | 2024
Simon Bailey | Wache, Wala! Wala! Erwach! & Dort seh' ich Siegfried nah'n | Wanderer | Siegfried Act 3 | 2024
From 2002-15 he was a member of the solo ensemble of Oper Frankfurt where his numerous roles include Méphistophélès La Damnation de Faust, the title role Bluebeard’s Castle, Balstrode Peter Grimes, Redburn Billy Budd, Peter Hänsel und Gretel, Nick Shadow The Rake’s Progress, Gunther Götterdämmerung, Orest Elektra, Klingsor Parsifal, and Leporello Don Giovanni.
Bailey’s career highlights include Wotan/Wanderer Der Ring des Nibelungen (Tiroler Festspiele); Wotan Die Walküre (Royal Swedish Opera); Wotan Das Rheingold & Der Wanderer Siegfried (Theater Dortmund); Wotan Das Rheingold/Die Walküre & Wanderer Siegfried (Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden); Der Wanderer Siegfried (Saarländisches Staatstheater; Château de Versailles); Jochanaan Salome, Four Villains Les contes d´Hoffmann, Peter Hänsel und Gretel, Méphistophélès La Damnation de Faust (Staatsoper Stuttgart); Klingsor Parsifal and Mizoguchi in Mayuzumi´s Kinkakuji (Opéra National du Rhin); 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 (Royal Opera House); Nicanor/Satan in Félicien David´s Herculanum (Wexford Festival); Šiškov From the House of the Dead, Kutuzov War and Peace, Shaklovity Khovanshchina, and Leporello Don Giovanni (Welsh National Opera); Balstrode Peter Grimes and Bartolo Il barbiere di Seviglia (ENO); Achilla Giulio Cesare (Opéra de Lille; Theater an der Wien); Bartolo Il barbiere di Siviglia (Beijing); Kelvin in Dai Fujikura’s Solaris (Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre); David Strom The time of our singing (La Monnaie); and further roles with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Theater Basel, Brno Festival, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Munich Opera Festival.
On the concert platform he has performed both sacred and operatic works including Wotan Das Rheingold (Köln; Ravello; Luzern); Der Wanderer Siegfried(Dresden); title role Der Fliegende Holländer (Taipei National Symphony Orchestra); Kaspar Der Freischütz (OAE); Mussorgsky Songs and Dances of Death(Japan); Mendelssohn Elias (Gießen); Walton Belshazzar’s Feast (Bad Homburg); Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis (Tampere Filharmonia, Finland); Elgar The Kingdom (Köln); Mendelssohn Paulus and Jeptha (Maulbronn); Haydn Die Schöpfung (Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España); Bach Johannes-Passion and Matthäus-Passion (Trier); Dyson’s The Canterbury Pilgrims (Three Choirs Festival); Messiah (Royal Albert Hall); title role Saul (Kölner Philharmonie); Die Jahreszeiten (Dublin); and the world premiere of Alisdair Nicolson’s I, Pilgrim (St. Magnus Festival).
In the 25/26 season he performs the title role in Der Fliegende Holländer (Welsh National Opera); Balstrode Peter Grimes (Opera North); Don Magnifico La Cenerentola (ENO); and Bartolo Il barbiere di Siviglia (Grange Park Opera).