Biography
Paul Nilon is established as one of Europe’s outstanding lyric tenors in a wide repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Britten.
Paul Nilon’s major operatic roles include: Septimius/Theodora and Pirro/Ermione for Glyndebourne Festival Opera; Grimoaldo/Rodelinda, Alfredo/La Traviata for Glyndebourne Touring Opera; Narraboth/Salome, Tamino/The Magic Flute, Almaviva/The Barber of Seville, Don Ottavio/Don Giovanni, Lurcanio/Ariodante and the title roles of La Clemenza di Tito and Idomeneo for ENO; Tom Rakewell/The Rake’s Progress, Nerone/L’incoronazione di Poppea, Prologue/Peter Quint/The Turn of the Screw, Benedict/Beatrice and Benedict, Eisenstein/Die Fledermaus, Pylade/Iphigenie en Tauride and the title role in Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria for Welsh National Opera; Osmin/L’incontro improviso, Haydn, Don Ottavio, Sultan /La verità in cimento by Vivaldi, the title role of Vivaldi’ L’incoronazione di Dario and Paolo/Maometto II for Garsington Opera. His many roles,over 23 years,for Opera North include: Don Ottavio, Ferrando/Cosi fan tutte, Contino Belfiore/La Finta Giardiniera, Fenton/Falstaff, King Ouf/L’Etoile, Chartkov in Weinberg’s The Portrait, Michel/Julietta by Martinu (also at the National Theatre ,Prague and the Ravenna Festival,) Albert Gregor/The Makropulos Case, Golo/Genoveva by Schumann at the Edinburgh Festival and the title roles of Idomeneo, Orfeo(Monteverdi), Croesus/The Fortunes of King Croesus by Keiser, Zemlinsky’s The Dwarf , Werther and La clemenza di Tito. For The Birmingham Opera Company he has sung Basilio in the world premiere of Life is a Dream by Jonathan Dove, The Scribe / Khovanschina and the title roles of Idomeneo and Ulisse.
Overseas appearances include Monteverdi’s Ulisse at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Netherlands Opera; Lurcanio with the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and on tour in Japan, Grimoaldo in Munich, at The Montreux Festival and for both the San Francisco and Dallas Operas; Croesus for Minnesota Opera; Ferrando, Tom Rakewell and Almaviva for New Israeli Opera and Pylade and Lurcanio for Opera di Oviedo.
Recent and future operatic engagements include Aschenbach/Death in Venice for the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Garsington Opera and Gothenberg Opera, the title role of Idomeneo for Gothenburg Opera, the Lithuanian National Opera and the Buxton Festival, Bajazet / Tamerlano for the Buxton Festival and the Grange Festival, Paolo/Maometto II for the Volkstheater Rostock, Ulisse / Il ritorno di Ulisse in Patria for The Grange Festival, Soliman / Zaide for the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome and Grimoaldo/Rodelinda for the Bolshoi Theatre Moscow.
He has an active concert career with highlights including Bach’s B Minor Mass with the LPO, Mozart Requiem and Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri (conducted by Mark Elder) and Handel Susanna, all with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Handel L’Allegro with the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Handel Solomon in Florence and Israel under Ivor Bolton, Britten’s War Requiem and Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with the Hallé, Beethoven Symphony No 9 with the BBC Philharmonic and Gianandrea Noseda, Britten’s War Requiem with the Huddersfield Choral Society, Mendelssohn Elijah for the Newbury Spring Festival, Elgar The Dream of Gerontius with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Mahler (arr Schoenberg) Das Lied von der Erde with the London Philharmonic and Mark Elder at the Wigmore Hall, a concert performance of Handel Jephtha for City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Beethoven: Christ of the Mount of Olives for the Russian National Orchestra, Janacek Diary of one who Disappeared for the Bath Festival, Mahler Das Lied von der Erde with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Tippett A Child of our Time with the Northern Sinfonia and Honneger Jean d’arc du Boucher with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Recent and future concert engagements include Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with the BBC Philharmonic, Beethoven Symphony no. 9 with Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Elgar’s The Kingdom in Worcester Cathedral, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, Rachmaninov’s The Bells and The Dream of Gerontius at Three Choirs Festival as well as at Salisbury Cathedral, the world premiere of Blackford’s Not in our Time with Bournemouth Symphony Chorus in Bremen, Mozart Requiem with the ORTVE in Madrid, Stanford’s Stabat Mater with Huddersfield Choral Society, Britten Serenade with the Bremen Philharmoniker as well as recitals for Kirker Festival, Ischia and Ilkley Concert Club.
Paul Nilon has appeared on a number of notable recordings for Opera Rara including: 100 years of Italian Opera Volumes 2 and 3, Rossini’s Ricciardo et Zoriade and Donizetti’s L’assedio di Calais, Mayr’s Medea in Corinto, Mercandante’s Orazi e Curiazi, Paer’s Sofonisba and most recently Rossini’s Ermione.
