Jeremy Ovenden

British tenor Jeremy Ovenden is considered one of the most sought-after Mozart tenors of his generation and a welcome international guest on the opera and concert stage.

Projects in the past season include Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra under Philippe Herreweghe and its Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with the Bamberg Philharmonic, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Zaide with the Munich Radio Orchestra under Rinaldo Alessandrini, Mozart’s Requiem with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Bernard Labadie, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in Bergen and Stavanger, and the title role in Mozart’s Idomeneo at the Teatro Real in Madrid. In Haydn’s Harmoniemesse No. 14 in B-flat major (Hob: XXII), Jeremy Ovenden was featured as soloist at the 2019 Herbstgold Festival in Eisenstadt, conducted by Fabio Biondi. Furthermore, in the 2019/2020 season Jeremy Ovenden performed Handel’s Theodora Concertante at the Vienna Konzerthaus together with Jonathan Cohen and his ensemble Arcangelo, made a guest appearance at New York’s Carnegie Hall under the baton of Bernard Labadie as soloist in Beethoven’s Mass in C major op. 86. Other concert stops in the 2019/2020 season included a European tour of Haydn’s The Seasons under Paul McCreesh and his Gabrieli Consort, Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Orquesta Nacional de España under David Afkham in Madrid, and the Evangelist part in Bach’s St. John Passion with the Danish Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester.

Other highlights include Britten’s Serenade and its War Requiem with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Mozart’s Requiem at the Edinburgh International Festival and the BBC Proms under Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Haydn’s The Seasons with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester under Andrew Manze, the Gabrieli Consort under Paul McCreesh (also documented as a recording) and with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Sir Simon Rattle. Jeremy Ovenden’s concert repertoire also includes works such as Mendelssohn’s Elijah and The First Walpurgis Night, Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, Edward Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, and Hector Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ. Jeremy Ovenden also appeared as soloist under the direction of René Jacobs in George Frideric Handel’s oratorios Saul, Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno and La Resurrezione.

Jeremy Ovenden has performed works by Johann Sebastian Bach, including as soloist in his Christmas Oratorio with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski, as Evangelist in the St. Matthew Passion with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, as Evangelist in the St. John Passion with the WDR Sinfonieorchester, and as tenor (arias) in the St. Matthew Passion with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Ivor Bolton.
Jeremy Ovenden’s most recent operatic appearances include the title role in Mozart’s Lucio Silla in Brussels, Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) at the Edinburgh Festival and Titus in La clemenza di Tito in Toulouse and Madrid. Other roles in his repertoire include Nerone in Claudio Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and the title role in the latter’s l’Orfeo, George Frideric Handel’s Bajazet (Tamerlano), Grimoaldo (Rodelinda) and Jupiter (Semele), and Belfiore in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera. As Idomeneo in Mozart’s opera of the same name, Jeremy Ovenden makes guest appearances at leading international houses such as the Theater an der Wien, the Teatro Real in Madrid, and the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York.

Jeremy Ovenden’s extensive discography includes works from Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. Mark and St. John Passions as well as selections from his cantata oeuvre, George Frideric Handel’s oratorios Saul and L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, and Joseph Haydn’s The Creation and The Seasons. A considerable number of recordings are dedicated to the early operatic works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Il sogno di Scipione, La Betulia liberata, La finta semplice, L’oca del Cairo and Lo sposo deluso). Also entirely dedicated to Mozart is Jeremy Ovenden’s solo album recorded with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Jonathan Cohen, which was released on the Signum Classics label under the title An italian journey.