About this Artist

Canadian tenor RICHARD MARGISON is acknowledged as one of the most acclaimed tenors on the international scene. He has made very successful debuts in theaters worldwide which have included the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, San Francisco Opera, Theatre Royale de la Monnaie in Brussels, the Royal Opera, Covent Garden and many others in roles such as Manrico in Il Trovatore, Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera and Don Jose in Carmen.

During the 2000-01 season Mr. Margison will debut the role of Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Met. He will also appear with the Metropolitan Opera as Calaf in Turandot. In Genoa you will hear Richard in the title role of André Chénier. In San Francisco and San Diego, he will appear as Radames in Aida. In November, Mr. Margison performed in concert with the Canadian Opera Company's Orchestra in Toronto's Massey-Roy Thomson Hall.

In the 1999-2000 season Richard Margison returned to the Metropolitan Opera to sing Faust in Mefistofele and Radames in Aida. He returned to the San Francisco Opera for Un ballo in maschera and to the Netherlands Opera for Tosca. The artist performed the title role of Ernani with Radio VARA. He appeared as Manrico with the San Diego Opera, Pollione in Seville and will appear as Radames in Amsterdam. Mr. Margison also debuted in two new roles in concert; Enzo in La Gioconda with the Collegiate Chorale at Carnegie Hall and Florestan in Fidelio with the Vancouver Symphony. This summer Mr. Margison will debut in Torre del Lago as Cavaradossi.

Richard Margison launched the 1998-99 season with performances of Calaf with the San Francisco Opera -- he reprised the role with Michigan Opera Theatre. He sang Faust in Mefistofele in Chicago and Il Trovatore at the Metropolitan Opera, the Australian Opera and the Canadian Opera Company. The artist appeared in the title role of Don Carlo with L'Opera de Montreal, in Das Lied von der Erde with the Montreal Symphony and sang solo concerts in Vancouver, Calgary, Kitchener and Hamilton, Canada.

Margison opened the 1997/98 San Francisco Opera season in Tosca and returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Manrico in Il Trovatore and as Calaf. The artist returned to London for concert performances with the Royal Opera of Boito's Mefistofele under Bernard Haitink and made his stage debut in Amsterdam in a new production of Tosca conducted by Riccardo Chailly that was taped for television. Margison returned to the Bavarian State Opera in Tosca and to Hamburg in Turandot. The artist also performed Trovatore for the Vancouver Opera. He appeared in concert with the Toronto Symphony in Das Lied von der Erde and with the Ottawa's National Arts Center Orchestra in Handel's Messiah.

Richard Margison made his debut with the Chicago Lyric Opera in 1997 as Pollione in Norma. He returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Radames in Aida and added two new roles to his repertoire: Calaf in Turandot with the San Diego Opera and the title role in Ernani with Opera Orchestra of New York. Margison sang his first Bacchus in a new Ariadne auf Naxos under Pappano in Brussels and returned to Munich as Don Jose in Carmen.

In the 1995/96 season Margison appeared at the Metropolitan Opera as Don Jose in Carmen. He was heard in Hamburg in Tabarro, Butterfly and Trovatore and sang Madama Butterfly for the San Francisco Opera. Margison made his Dallas Opera debut as Manrico in Trovatore and then debuted at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich as Riccardo in Ballo. He returned to Vienna for Il Trovatore and added the role of Dick Johnson in Puccini's La Fanciulla del West to his repertoire in a new production by Robert Carsen for the Flemish Opera. The artist recorded the title role in Don Carlos for Philips under Bernard Haitink and also appeared in concert in London under Haitink in the role. In the summer of 1996 Margison sang his first Radames in Aida for the Victoria State Opera.

Richard Margison began his career with appearances with the leading opera companies in Canada including the Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera, Calgary Opera, National Arts Centre, L'Opera de Montreal, Edmonton Opera and Manitoba Opera. His roles there have included Riccardo in Ballo, Ferrando in Cosi Fan Tutte, Tito in La Clemenza di Tito, Rodolfo in La Bohème and the title role in Werther. Margison made his American stage debut in 1990 in the title role of Gounod's Faust with the Houston Opera. In the 1991-92 season, Richard Margison made his debut with the Oslo Opera as Riccardo in Ballo and in Santiago as Nadir in Les Pecheurs de Perles. He appeared with the Vancouver Opera singing his first performances of Don Jose in Carmen and made a triumphant European debut with English National Opera in 1989 singing his first performances as Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera. Max Loppert in Opera Magazine said of his performance: "Certain opera-history parallels came to mind: 32 years earlier, a young Canadian tenor named Jon Vickers made his debut with the Royal Opera in the same role, and soon swept on to wider fame. The two are not similar in build and personality, but the younger singer's ability to grip the stage with his presence from his first moment to last and the appealingly full, honest, unforced quality of his substantial lyric tenor certainly made one wonder if a similar career progression might be in view."

Since this triumphant debut Richard Margison has made many international debuts of great importance. The artist made his Royal Opera, Covent Garden debut in 1992 as Cavaradossi in Tosca and then returned in 1994 as Don Jose in Carmen. Margison bowed at the Theatre Royale de la Monnaie in Brussels as Don Jose in a new production of Carmen in the fall of 1993 and bowed at the Flemish Opera as Riccardo in Ballo followed by concert performances of Foresto in Verdi's Attila. Richard Margison made his German operatic debut in Stuttgart as Don Jose and debuted in the same role at the Teatro del Liceo in Barcelona, as well as at the Vienna State Opera. He was first heard in Hamburg as Manrico in Il Trovatore in the fall of 1994 and has also appeared at the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Cavaradossi.

Richard Margison made his San Francisco Opera debut in the fall of 1992 in the title role of Verdi's Don Carlos, a role he first sang in 1992 for the Victoria State Opera where in 1994 he returned for his first performances as Manrico in Il Trovatore. In recent seasons the artist has also debuted with the Metropolitan Opera, appeared with the Washington Opera, Welsh National Opera and in Oslo as Riccardo in Ballo, in Vancouver and in Toronto as Rodolfo in La Bohème. In the 1994/95 season Richard Margison debuted at the Metropolitan Opera as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and returned to the San Francisco Opera for Faust in Boito's Mefistofele. Margison also appeared in a new production of Il Tabarro in Hamburg where he also sang in Tosca, Il Trovatore and Madama Butterfly. The artist returned to Brussels for a revival of Ballo.

Richard Margison also appears frequently as soloist with orchestras and has appeared with the Royal Philharmonic in London, Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, Montreal Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and at the Ravinia Festival. He debuted in Brussels in 1992 in Verdi's Requiem.