John Horton Murray

Biography

Hailed by Opera Now for his “believably heroic figure with a gleaming ring at the top of his vocal register,” John Horton Murray’s engagements in the 2010-11 season include Siegmund in Die Walküre with Lithuanian National Opera. Last season, he sang his first performances of the title role of Tannhäuser with Teatro Verdi in Trieste as well as returned to the roles of Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos in his Washington National Opera debut, Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with Cincinnati Opera, and Canio in I Pagliacci with Opera Grand Rapids.

Mr. Murray's relationship with the Metropolitan Opera started with his participation in the company’s famed Lindemann Young Artist Development program and subsequent debut as Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. He has since bowed there as Don Jose in Carmen, Walther von der Vogelweide in Tannhäuser, Enée in a new production of Les Troyens conducted by James Levine, False Dmitiri in Boris Godunov, Andres in Wozzeck also conducted by James Levine and recorded for television broadcast, Kaiser in Die Frau ohne Schatten in performances conducted by Philippe Auguin and Christian Thielemann.

Highlights of his other engagements in America include Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with Seattle Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Utah Opera, and Tulsa Opera; Bacchus and Menelaus in Die Ägyptische Helena at Santa Fe Opera; Paul in Die tote Stadt and Don Jose in Carmen at New York City Opera; a return to Lyric Opera of Chicago for Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg; and Narraboth in Salome at Houston Grand Opera and Opera Company of Philadelphia. He has also joined the roster of Los Angeles Opera for Die Walküre.

He recently added several new roles to his repertoire at the Nationaltheater Mannheim where his performances included the title roles in Lohengrin, Parsifal, and Otello, Jason in Medée, Alvaro in La forza del destino, Kaiser in Die Frau ohne Schatten, which he has recently repeated with Opera Wrochlawska, Max in Der Freischütz, Siegmund in Die Walküre, Sergei in Lady Macbeth von Mtsensk, and Canio in I pagliacci.

Additionally, among his many international engagements are performances at the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Apollo in Daphne and Menelaus in Die Ägyptische Helena. He sang Erik in Der fliegende Holländer with Frankfurt Opera and Den Nye Opera, Menelaus in Die Ägyptische Helena and Tichon in Kát'a Kabanova at the Royal Opera at Covent Garden, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos and the title role in Parsifal at the Scottish Opera, and Florestan in Fidelio at Opera Northern Ireland and New Haven Symphony Orchestra. He made his debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in the title role in Lohengrin and later joined the company for Bacchus. He made his debut at the Teatro alla Scala as Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos and at the Arena di Verona as Don Jose in Carmen. Other engagements lead him to De Vlaamse Opera for Apollo in Daphne and Gherman in Pikovaja Dama, Grand Théâtre de Genève and L'Opéra de Nancy for Laca in Jenufa, Chatelet in Paris for Apollo in Daphne, Opera Hong Kong for Calaf in Turandot, Angers Nantes Opéra for both the title role of Lohengrin and Florestan in Fidelio, and to Opera på Skäret in Sweden for Luigi in Il tabarro and Canio in I pagliacci. He also joined conductor Bertrand de Billy for concert performances of Albrecht von Brandenburg in Mathis der Maler at the Konzerthaus in Vienna and has sung title role in Lohengrin at the Teatro Municipal di Santiago in Chile.

On the concert stage, John Horton Murray recently sang Fritz in Schreker's Der Ferne Klang at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Shostakovich’s Songs of the Forest with the Grant Park Music Festival at the Grant Park Music Festival. He joined the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Andrew Litton as well as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Libor Pesek for Janácek's Glagolitic Mass; the Kansas City Symphony for Mahler's Symphony No. 8; the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Symphony under Lorin Maazel for Beethoven's Symphony No. 9; the Colorado Symphony for Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde; and the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas for Stravinsky's Les noces.

A frequent guest at festivals all around the world, the tenor has been featured at the Spoleto Festival in Rachmaninov's The Bells, as the Magician in The Consul and in Haydn's Die Schöpfung. He's sung the title role in Rienzi at the Antiken Fesitval with Sebastian Lang-Lessing, Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde and Symphony No. 8 at the Bard Music Festival, Menelaus at the Baden-Baden Festival and Florestan in Fidelio at the Bellingham Festival.

Mr. Murray's recordings of scenes from Lohengrin and Siegfried as well as scenes from Tristan und Isolde have been released on the Naxos label. He can be heard as the Magician in The Consul on Chandos and tenor soloist in 'In These Great Times', released on Tzadik. Other recordings include Zorn in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg on London Decca under the baton of Sir Georg Solti, and Araldo in Don Carlo on Sony conducted by James Levine. ∎