THE MAESTROS
Bruno Caproni, Baritone
Bruno Caproni has appeared in many of the major opera houses including the Royal Opera Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera, Vienna Staatsoper, La Scala Milan, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Komische Oper Berlin, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, the opera companies of Houston Grand Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Dallas Opera, San Diego Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Staatsoper Hamburg, Oper Frankfurt, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Aalto Theater Essen, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Vlaamse Opera, Oper Du Rhin, Teatro Verdi Trieste, Teatro Goldoni Livorno, Politeama Greco Lecce, Teatro Sociale Rovigo, Teatro Comunale Vicenza as well as the Casals Festival Puerto Rico, Wexford Festival and the Klangbogen Wien.
In 2011 Caproni was especially invited by the distinguished Brazilian director Felipe Hirsch to sing his production of Verdi’s Rigoletto to mark the 100th anniversary and reopening of the newly refurbished Theatro Municipal in São Paulo.
In 2016 he sang the lead protagonist in the world premiere of the Belfast Opera “Long Story Short” with music by Neil Martin and libretto by Glenn Patterson. This sold out production was a commission by Fionnuala Jay-O’Boyle the Lord Lieutenant of Belfast and told a brief history of the great city from it’s inception to the present day.
He has performed with many of the greatest singers past and present including Roberto Alagna, Jose Carreras, Montserrat Caballe, Jose Cura, Diana Damrau, Placido Domingo, Renee Fleming, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Angela Gheorghiu, Luciano Pavarotti, Nina Stemme, Rolando Villazon, Dolora Zajick.
Caproni has sung under the direction of amongst others, Marco Armiliato, Richard Bonynge, Paolo Carignani, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Edward Downes, Placido Domingo, Edward Gardner, Danielle Gatti, Sir Bernard Haitink, Philippe Jordan, Carlos Kleiber, Fabio Luisi, Zubin Metha, Riccardo Muti, Donald Runnicles, Nello Santi, Patrick Summers and Jeffrey Tate.
Background
Bruno Caproni began his vocal studies privately in Belfast with lessons from James Shaw a well known and respected local singer and teacher. After taking first prize in many regional competitions as well as best male vocalist in the 1983 national Golden Voice of Ireland Competition he decided to pursue singing full time. Sorry to leave Shaw but with his encouragement he needed to embark on the next step. A successful audition at the Royal Northern College of Music meant a transfer to Manchester where he lived and studied for the next five years. Fate played a golden hand in the choice of singing teacher when he was fortunate to be placed with the legendary Frederic Cox. Fortunate also as Cox, already in his late 70´s, had not had a first year student in five years and indeed Bruno Caproni became his last pupil. Whilst at college he won the The Vaughan Williams/Frederic Cox Award for Singing and the Ricordi Prize for Opera following his performance in the title role of Verdi`s Rigoletto. This was mounted especially for him at the college in his final year and has been the role most associated with his career having sung it more than 300 times. A year at the National Opera Studio followed with sponsorship from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, English National Opera and the Friends of Covent Garden. It was during this year he made his debut at Covent Garden and shortly after became a company Junior Principal. Upon advice and help from Covent Garden’s Peter Katona in order to gain experience in larger roles he moved to Germany after being offered a contract at the Staatstheater Darmstadt. Five wonderful years at Darmstadt followed during which time he guested in the theatres of Osnabrück, Kiel, Wiesbaden, Braunschweig and Karlsruhe. This was followed by a move to the opera house in Cologne where he remained for thirteen years.
During this time Bruno made several important debuts including a hugely successful US debut at the San Francisco Opera in 1999 after which Opera News wrote the following:
Asked to audition for Riccardo Muti at La Scala the maestro stated that Caproni had one of the best voices he had heard in the past ten years and received the following invitation:
Julian Evans, Pianist
Julian Evans gives concerts and resides in Germany where he has appeared as soloist with the major German orchestras. Following his initial recitals at the Ludwigsburg festival (“he gave us some idea how people must have gone berserk when they first heard Franz Liszt” Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung) and in the Kongresshalle for the Luzern Festival where he was described as ” A veritable discovery for the piano world” by the Sudostschweiz newspaper. He continues to concertize regularly throughout Europe and has appeared as soloist and recitalist in all the major German concert venues such as Berlin and Cologne Philharmonie, Berlin Konzerthaus am Gendarnmarkt (Scriabin Recital where the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper hailed him as “serious competition to the leading interpreter Igor Zhukov”), Dresden Frauenkirche, and in all the major cities. He was also invited to give a piano recital by the European Space Agency (ESOG) in Darmstadt to coincide with their launch of the space satellite Ariane 5. This recital was broadcast live around the world and Julian was referred to by Matthew Parris who was present as “A genius…” in the Spectator Magazine.
In England he has often performed in London’s Wigmore Hall, The Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, St John’s Smith Square, Usher Hall Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Concert Hall Glasgow, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and once in the old Freetrade Hall , where he appeared as soloist with the Halle orchestra in their last night of the Proms!
His many CD recordings for various labels led German CD magazine Fono Forum to report “Staggering manual facility – taste and solidity of style, but above all he has powerfully reinforced that which he promised some years back – namely that he belongs to the very top echelons of the great pianists.”
He is a regular accompanist with the Italian Festivals Il Serchio delle Muse and Bel Canto in Barga working with many of Italy’s prominent singers.
In addition to his activities as a solo pianist he has worked for a number of years accompanying a variety of instrumentalists.
For the past 20 years he has regularly appeared as a duo with the violinist Julia Becker.
Background
Whilst still a young student in London he worked intensely with his Aunt, the distinguished pianist and accompanist Nina Walker (former Chorus Director of The Royal Opera House, accompanist of Montserrat Caballe, Senior Producer Nimbus records) and the late Sir Edward Downes.
Manchester born pianist Julian Evans received early tuition from the renowned pianist, accompanist and music transcriber John Wilson with whom he continued to study at the Junior School of the Royal Northern College of Music (“RNCM”) in Manchester. He continued his studies at the Senior School and graduated from RNCM with the distinguished Polish pianist, pedagogue and Heinrich Neuhaus pupil Ryszard Bakst. He subsequently embarked on an extensive post graduate period of tuition with Maria Curcio in London.
Whilst as a young student in Manchester he was awarded the Gordon Greene Prize for piano playing and became the winner of the Dudley Piano Competition in 1984. As a result he began concertizing in the UK appearing as a concerto soloist with Halle, Royal Scottish and New London orchestras and recitalist in more than 100 concerts a year . His solo London debut followed in 1985 at the Wigmore Hall where Malcolm Hayes of the London Times hailed him as “A remarkable and intensely musical talent.”
The German solo debut took place in Frankfurt in the “Alte Oper ” in 1995 where his rendering of the Liszt solo transcription of the Beethoven Eroica Symphony as part of the Simon Rattle Beethoven symphony cycle was proclaimed by the “Frankfurter Rundschau” newspaper as “Phenomenal pianistic stamina, terse and succinct tempi, meticulous articulation and an execution that Franz Liszt himself would have most probably greatly admired.
Whilst still a young student in London he worked intensely with his Aunt, the distinguished pianist and accompanist Nina Walker (former Chorus Director of The Royal Opera House, accompanist of Montserrat Caballe, Senior Producer Nimbus records) and the late Sir Edward Downes.
Manchester born pianist Julian Evans received early tuition from the renowned pianist, accompanist and music transcriber John Wilson with whom he continued to study at the Junior School of the Royal Northern College of Music (“RNCM”) in Manchester. He continued his studies at the Senior School and graduated from RNCM with the distinguished Polish pianist, pedagogue and Heinrich Neuhaus pupil Ryszard Bakst. He subsequently embarked on an extensive post graduate period of tuition with Maria Curcio in London.
Whilst as a young student in Manchester he was awarded the Gordon Greene Prize for piano playing and became the winner of the Dudley Piano Competition in 1984. As a result he began concertizing in the UK appearing as a concerto soloist with Halle, Royal Scottish and New London orchestras and recitalist in more than 100 concerts a year . His solo London debut followed in 1985 at the Wigmore Hall where Malcolm Hayes of the London Times hailed him as “A remarkable and intensely musical talent.”
The German solo debut took place in Frankfurt in the “Alte Oper ” in 1995 where his rendering of the Liszt solo transcription of the Beethoven Eroica Symphony as part of the Simon Rattle Beethoven symphony cycle was proclaimed by the “Frankfurter Rundschau” newspaper as “Phenomenal pianistic stamina, terse and succinct tempi, meticulous articulation and an execution that Franz Liszt himself would have most probably greatly admired.