| Biography | Glenville Hargreaves, baritone, was born in Yorkshire, and studied music and drama at the University College of St John, York, (where he was organ scholar) and later at the Royal Northern College of Music, finishing his studies at the London Opera Centre and Liverpool University. He was a pupil of the late Frederic Cox.
He began his professional career in 1981, singing the title role in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. In 1982, he made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as Hermann in John Schlesingers famous production of Les Contes dHoffmann with Placido Domingo. In the same year, for English National Opera, his debut was in The Magic Flute; since then he has been a frequent guest with all the major opera companies in Britain and his ninety operatic roles have included Marcello, Falstaff, Don Pasquale, Germont, Sharpless, Scarpia, Don Alfonso, Renato, and Rigoletto.
His career on the concert platform has taken him to almost every major cathedral and concert hall in the UK, singing all the standard repertoire from the Bach Passions, Messiah, Creation, Elijah, Judas Maccabeus, Sea Drift, The Dream of Gerontius, The Kingdom, A Sea Symphony, Mahlers Eighth Symphony, to Carmina Burana. Orchestras with whom he has sung include the Hallé, National Orchestra of Spain, Northern Sinfonia, Manchester Camerata, Royal Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, English Northern Philharmonia, and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. South Bank concerts have included Bruchs Odysseus, Veni Spiritus, by Burgon, Puccinis Messa di Gloria, Carmina Burana, and most recently, Donizettis Caterina Cornaro with Richard Bonynge. He has enjoyed singing songs for ballet and contemporary dancers, most notably Brahms Four Serious Songs with Northern Ballet, and several performances of Songs of a Wayfarer with the late Rudolf Nureyev at the London Coliseum. His recordings include Purgatory, Caterina Cornaro, and many radio broadcasts, including The Creation (BBC Radio 2), Elegy for Young Lovers and The Rakes Progress (Suisse Romande Radio) and last autumn, he was guest soloist on Radio 2s Friday Night is Music Night. He is a noted exponent of Carmina Burana, performances including Royal Albert Hall with Sir David Willcocks, South Bank, and most recently, a recording for Classic FM with Laszlo Heltay.
During the last two years, he has been singing Rigoletto, La Traviata and Madam Butterfly throughout France notably in Paris and Lille, The Rakes Progress in Lausanne and The Makropulos Case in The Netherlands. In the UK, during this summer, he sang Cosi fan Tutte in London and Schumanns Genoveva at Garsington. Future plans include Carmina Burana with the RPO, a concert version of Aida. with the RLPO, and three performances of Elgars The Kingdom in Buenos Aires. |