Matthew Best
Matthew Best began his career as a bass, singing at Covent Garden and at other leading operatic venues throughout the world. But since the mid-'80s he has turned increasingly toward conducting, recording many choral/orchestral and operatic works for Hyperion Records. Over the years his singing range has changed as well, placing him in the category of bass-baritone and including roles such as Scarpia and Amfortas.
Best was born in Farnborough, Kent, on February 6, 1957. He showed vocal talent in his youth and at age 16 (1973) founded the Corydon Singers, serving then and ever since as the ensemble's artistic director. He enrolled at King's College, Cambridge, and later at the National Opera Studio in London. His principal teachers included Robert Lloyd, Otakar Kraus, and Patrick McGuigan.
Best was signed on as a principal bass at Covent Garden in 1980 and two years later drew major notice when he was awarded the Decca-Kathleen Ferrier Prize. In 1985 he began an association with the English Chamber Orchestra, leading the ensemble in concerts and recordings, often with his Corydon Singers. He left Covent Garden the following year but continued singing with many other opera companies throughout the world, including the Scottish Opera and Nederlandse Opera.
Best founded the Corydon Orchestra in 1991, and together with the Corydon Singers has made numerous critically acclaimed recordings, including the Bruckner Mass in F minor and Psalm 150 (1992) and the Beethoven Opferlied and Meeresstille Cantatas (1996).
In 1998 Best became principal conductor of the Sussex-based Hanover Band, a highly respected period instrument chamber ensemble. But his increasing activity on the podium hardly diminished his operatic pursuits. He received high praise, in particular, for his portrayal of Amfortas in Wagner's Parsifal at the Scottish Opera in 2000, as well as for his Wotan in Wagner's Siegfried there in 2003. In the role of Kutuzov in Prokofiev's War and Peace at the English National Opera's 2001 English-language production, he scored a similar success.
© TiVo
Artistes similaires
-
Fauré: Requiem; Cantique de Jean Racine; Messe basse; 2 Motets, Op. 65
Corydon Singers, English Chamber Orchestra, Matthew Best
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 sept. 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Mass No. 3 in F Minor & Psalm 150
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 nov. 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninoff: Vespers (All-Night Vigil)
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 mars 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music, Flos Campi, 5 Mystical Songs, Fantasia on Christmas Carols
Corydon Singers, English Chamber Orchestra, Matthew Best
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 sept. 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Duruflé: Requiem & 4 Motets
Corydon Singers, English Chamber Orchestra, Matthew Best
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 févr. 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Requiem; Psalms 112 & 114
Corydon Singers, English Chamber Orchestra, Matthew Best
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 nov. 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: St Nicolas & Hymn to St Cecilia
Corydon Singers, English Chamber Orchestra, Matthew Best
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 10 févr. 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: A Boy Was Born; Rejoice in the Lamb; Festival Te Deum
Corydon Singers, Westminster Cathedral Choir, Matthew Best
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 avr. 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Motets
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 25 févr. 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Dona nobis pacem & Other Works
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 nov. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Motets
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 avr. 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fauré: Requiem – Duruflé: Requiem
Corydon Singers, English Chamber Orchestra, Matthew Best
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 avr. 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Te Deum; Mass No. 1 in D Minor
Corydon Singers, Corydon Orchestra, Matthew Best
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 sept. 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Hör mein Bitten "Hear my Prayer" & Other Choral Music
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 12 déc. 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Missa Choralis & Via Crucis
Corydon Singers, Thomas Trotter, Matthew Best
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 oct. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Finzi: Dies natalis & Intimations of Immortality
John Mark Ainsley, Corydon Singers, Matthew Best
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 oct. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, Op. 41; 9 Sacred Choruses
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 nov. 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains & Other Works
Corydon Singers, City Of London Sinfonia, Matthew Best
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 mai 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Howells: Requiem – Vaughan Williams: Mass in G Minor
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 mars 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bruckner: Mass No. 2 in E Minor & Other Works
Corydon Singers, English Chamber Orchestra Wind Ensemble, Matthew Best
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 juin 1986
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bernstein: Chichester Psalms; Copland: In the Beginning; Barber: Agnus Dei
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 août 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo