Athlone Artists is pleased to welcome to its roster Alex Richardson, a tenor hailed for his”ringing top notes and sweet, floated tones” by Opera News.
A native of Las Cruces, New Mexico, Richardson began singing when his parents enlisted him in the sixth grade school choir, and his passion for the art form has been growing ever since. “When I’m performing, I feel like I’m at home – these are my people. I adore singing, and I adore the music. I love to collaborate, I love the travel and I love the element of working on a project and seeing it come to fruition. I’m equally interested in doing the classics as I am performing new music – I enjoy the challenge.”
Praised for “an exceptionally secure vocal command, from pianissimo to a sustained forte at the top of his range” (Princeton Packet), Richardson’s leading roles in the 2018-19 season have included Werther, Don Jose, Peter Grimes, Pinkerton, Cavaradossi and Alfredo with companies like Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Southwest and Orlando Philharmonic and at Boston Symphony Hall, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.
At the Metropolitan Opera, Richardson “brought a touch of gold to the shepherd’s part” (New York Classical Review) in Tristan und Isolde with Sir Simon Rattle conducting, sang the role of the Fourth Jew in Salome and covered Alwa in Lulu, Loge in Das Rheingold, Lucas in The Exterminating Angel, and the First Knight in Parsifal. He recently performed Váňa Kudrjáš in Káťa Kabanová at Spoleto Festival USA and Molqi in John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer at Long Beach Opera. Of his performance in the American premiere of Franco Faccio’s Amleto at Opera Southwest, The Santa Fe New Mexican declared, “Tenor Alex Richardson scored a success in the title role. His ample voice was secure and firmly projected. He secured the audience’s sympathetic attention by keeping his acting direct and to the point. He seems well placed to climb the operatic ladder.”
Alex met Miguel Rodriguez of Athlone Artists several years ago while performing in Boston. He began noticing colleagues moving to the Athlone roster. “I started looking into how Miguel did things, and I was so impressed,” says Alex. “He’s already established a great social media presence. This business is changing, and I feel like Athlone is tapped into the present. I’m excited to join the Athlone roster!”
“I have followed Alex’s career since his appearance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra as the Second Jew in Salome,” says Miguel Rodriguez. “I have always been impressed with the naturally beautiful and mature timber of his tenor voice, even at a very young age. He is able to convey with great musical emotion the demands of leading romantic tenor roles. I’m excited to be working with such a fine artist!”
A two-time regional prize winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, honoree of the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, and first prize winner of the Laureen Butler Competition of El Paso Opera, Richardson honed his skills at the University of Colorado at Boulder and Manhattan School of Music. He has performed recitals throughout the US as a roster member of the Marilyn Horne Foundation and participated in young artist programs at Central City Opera, Santa Fe (two seasons), and Tanglewood (two seasons).
Richardson has been featured in concert with the Boston Symphony, Toledo Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Orlando Philharmonic, Oratorio Society of New York, Symphonies of Akron, Bridgeport and New Haven, and Orquesta Filarmonica de Montevideo in Uruguay performing Szymanowski’s King Roger,Louis Andriessen’s De Materie, the Verdi Requiem and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde.He was tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Missa Solemnis, as well as Bruckner’sTe Deum mat Carnegie Hall. Among his numerous performances at Tanglewood, Richardson appeared in the role of Vogelgesang in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg under the baton of Maestro James Levine, Fatty the Bookkeeper in Kurt Weill’s The Rise and Fall of the City at Mahagonny, and tenorsoloist in the Beethoven Choral Fantasy at the 75th Anniversary Gala Concert, televised on PBS’s Great Performances.
Other companies with which Alex has performed include Boston Lyric Opera, Northern Lights Music Festival, Festival Lyrique-en-mer, St. Petersburg Opera, Opera Western Reserve, Winter Opera Saint Louis, Princeton Festival, Dicapo Opera, Amarillo Opera, Opera Southwest and New York City Opera, and he counts among his favorite roles Tom Buchanan in John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby, Sam Polk (Susannah), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Romeo (Roméo et Juliette), Rodolfo (La Bohème), Cavaradossi (Tosca), the Steuermann (Der fliegende Holländer), the Duke (Rigoletto), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly),Vaudemont (Iolanta), Flaminio (L’Amore dei Tre Re) Turiddu (Cavalleria Rusticana), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Fenton (Falstaff) Alfred (Die Fledermaus), Camille (The Merry Widow) and Will Tweedy in Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree.
