Benjamin Hulett
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S 62604 Visions fugitives
The celebrated young British tenor Benjamin Hulett was a soloist at the Hamburg State Opera from 2005 to 2009 and has achieved great success in lyric roles from Tamino (Die Zauberflöte) and Ferrando (Cosi fan Tutte) to Steuermann (Die Fliegende Holländer) and Novice (Billy Budd). He made his debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich in Händel's Alcina, at Theater an der Wien in the world premiere of Johannes Kalitzke‘s Die Besessennen and has returned to Hamburg as Tamino and Narroboth (Salome). Plans include debuts at the Salzburg Festival (Elektra), Opera North (The Turn of the Screw) and Berliner Staatsoper unter den Linden (Phaedra).
As a concert performer he has worked with conductors including Sir Roger Norrington, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Andrew Davis, Phillippe Herreweghe, Christopher Hogwood, Markus Stenz, Ivor Bolton, Jeffrey Tate, Simone Young, Frans Brüggen, Jaap van Zweden and Fabio Biondi amongst others at many of the world's leading venues and festivals.
His growing discography includes Visions Fugitives (Les Illuminations live from the Gergiev Festival), Messiah (Carus), Israel in Egypt (Maulbronn), The NMC Songbook (winner of Gramophone Award 2009) and the role of Paris in The Judgement of Paris (Chandos). Future releases include songs by Richard Rodney Bennett (NMC) and Britten songs with pianist Malcolm Martineau (Onyx). Ben studied Music as a choral scholar at New College, Oxford and Opera at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
What the critics said...
Beethovens Missa solemnis werd vandaag (28/11/09) prima verzorgd uitgevoerd tijdens de ZaterdagMatinee in het Concertgebouw. Waar het naar mijn idee echter aan ontbrak, was passie. Alleen van tenor Benjamin Hulett ging mijn hart sneller kloppen. (Operamagazine.nl)
The other two male soloists, tenor Benjamin Hulett and Australian baritone Derek Welton both sang strongly, the former showing plenty of vocal muscle in the recitative Comfort ye and the following air Every valley shall be exalted. His vocal strength, emotional expressiveness and good diction carried on throughout the evening.. (www.musicweb-international.com, concert review Händel Messiah 2009)
The soloists are all excellent. (...) Benjamin Hulett's firm lyric tenor voice is a great pleasure to hear. (www.arkivmusic.com, album review Händel Messiah)
Ashley Holland and Benjamin Hulett spar impressively in the central billiard scene. (The Guardian, concert review Lortzing The Poacher, 2008))
The tenor Benjamin Hulett and baritone Stephan Loges made a perfect singing partnership.
(...) they excelled in their rendition of the Sanctus, in particular the Amen, which sounded fabulous. (www.edinburghguide.com)
The big treat among this year's soloists is British tenor Benjamin Hulett, making his Toronto debut. His rich, full timbre and dramatic delivery compelled attention. (www.thestar.com, concert review Händel Messiah, 2010)
Young British tenor Benjamin Hulett is (...) now based in Germany and his warm, agile voice has been noticed there in a range of baroque and classical repertoire. At the Waterfront Hall last night his ease of production was particularly noticeable in the Part Two recitatives and arias such as "Behold and see if there be any sorrow" with some lovely unforced high notes being balanced by darker lower tones. (www.operatoday.com, concert review Händel Messiah, 2010)
Van de vier solisten sprongen vooral de invallende alt Maria Streiffert en tenor Benjamin Hulett eruit. (klassiekemuziek.blogspot.com)
All deserved credit for their contributions, but none more so than the echoing, virtuosic pair of tenors, Benjamin Hulett and Thomas Hobbs. (Monteverdi Verspers, Birmingham Post 2007)
Benjamin Hulett and Peter Harvey are also appropriately commanding in this performance. Hulett is still relatively new to the early music scene but performs an impressive pair of arias at the beginning of the work and an especially touching 'Behold and see, if there be any sorrow' in the second part. (www.musicalcriticism.com, concert review Händel Messiah, 2010)
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other links:www.dilettantemusic.com