Described by The Guardian as "The finest British bass of his
generation", Alastair Miles is one of the UK’s most renowned singers,
returning regularly to the operatic stages and concert platforms of
Europe, North America and the Far East. His career was launched when he
won the "Decca Kathleen Ferrier Prize" at London’s Wigmore Hall and his
repertoire ranges from J. S. Bach and Handel via Verdi and Wagner to Elgar
and Havergal Brian.
He appears regularly at London’s Royal Opera House, where his roles have
included Rodolfo (La sonnambula), Le Comte des Grieux (Manon),
Elmiro in Rossini’s Otello, Lord Sidney (Il viaggio a Reims),
Poliferno in Steffani’s Niobe, Regina di Tebe, Banquo (Macbeth)
and, most recently, Le Bailli (Werther). For English National
Opera, his roles have included the title role in Boïto’s Mefistofele,
Alfonso d’Este (Lucrezia Borgia), Don Basilio (The Barber of
Seville), Silva (Ernani), Zaccaria (Nabucco) and Ford
(Sir John in Love); for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Commendatore (Don
Giovanni), Speaker (Die Zauberflöte), Fiesco (Simon
Boccanegra) and Pogner (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg);
for Grange Park Opera, The Grand Inquisitor (Don Carlo); for Opera
North, Claggart (Billy Budd), Leporello (Don Giovanni),
Timur (Turandot) and King Philip II (Don Carlos); for
Scottish Opera, Arkel (Pelléas et Mélisande); and for Welsh
National Opera, Méphistophélès (La damnation de Faust), Enrico (Anna
Bolena), Talbot (Maria Stuarda) and Fiesco (Simon
Boccanegra).
Elsewhere, engagements have included Giorgio (I Puritani) and
Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor) at the Metropolitan Opera, New York;
Narbal (Les Troyens), Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor),
Cardinal Brogni (La Juive), Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro),
Lodovico Nardi (Die Gezeichneten) and Pogner (Die Meistersinger
von Nürnberg) for the Dutch National Opera; Nourabad (Les
Pêcheurs des Perles) and Bertram (Robert le Diable) at the
Opera di Salerno; Arkel (Pelléas et Mélisande), Zorastro (Orlando),
the title role in Saul, Creonte in Mayr’s Medea in Corinto,
Timur (Turandot) and Lodovico Nardi (Die Gezeichneten) for
the Bavarian State Opera; Prefetto (Linda di Chamonix), Cardinal
Brogni (La Juive), Philippe (Don Carlos), Padre Guardiano (La
forza del destino) and Zaccaria (Nabucco) at the Vienna State
Opera; Claudio (Agrippina) at the Opéra de Dijon and the Opéra de
Lille; Melisso (Alcina) and Lord Sidney (Il viaggio a Reims)
at La Scala, Milan; Melisso (Alcina) at the Salzburg Festival;
creating Paulin in Michael Jarrell’s Bérénice at the Opera
national de Paris and Leporello (Don Giovanni) for the Flanders
Opera; Dr Bartolo / Antonio (Le nozze di Figaro) with the Tokyo
Symphony Orchestra; Filippo II (Don Carlo) for the Deutsche Oper,
Berlin, and at the Teatro Real, Madrid; Nick Shadow (The Rake’s
Progress) and Count Walter (Luisa Miller) at the Theater an
der Wien; and Daland (Der fliegende Holländer) for the Opéra Royal
de Wallonie, Liège.
A highly sought-after concert artist, Alastair Miles has sung with
conductors including Maurizio Bernini, Ivor Bolton, Martyn Brabbins,
Myung-Whun Chung, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Mark Elder, Sir John Eliot
Gardiner, Valery Gergiev, Carlo Maria Giulini, Daniel Harding, Nikolaus
Harnoncourt, Andrew Litton, Sir Charles Mackerras, Kurt Masur, Riccardo
Muti, John Nelson, Sir Roger Norrington, Jonathan Nott, Seiji Ozawa, David
Parry, Trevor Pinnock, Sir Simon Rattle, Helmuth Rilling, Donald
Runnicles, Andreas Spering and Robin Ticciati. He has made over ninety
recordings, including a recital disc of Brahms and Wolf for Signum
Classics; a recital disc of "Great Operatic Arias" for Chandos; Raimondo (Lucia
di Lammermoor) for Sony Classical; Alidoro (La cenerentola),
Tiresias (Oedipus Rex) and Monterone (Rigoletto) for Warner
Classics; Le Gouverneur (Le Comte Ory) for DG; Beethoven's Mass
in C and Handel's Messiah for LSO Live; award-winning
recordings of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and Verdi's Requiem
with Sir John Eliot Gardiner for DG Archive and Philips; Berlioz's L’Enfance
du Christ with Robin Ticciati for Linn Records; Brian's Symphony
No. 1 and Elgar's Caractacus with Martyn Brabbins for
Hyperion; Handel's L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato for
Erato; Elijah with Kurt Masur for Teledec; and Mozart's Requiem
for Belvedere. With Opera Rara, he has recorded Giustiniano (Belisario),
Dom Juam de Sylva (Dom Sebastien, roi de Portugal), Gualtiero
Clifford (Rosamonda d’Inghilterra), Vecchio Orazi (Orazi e
Curiazi), Carlo (Margherita d’Anjou), Orosmane (Zaira),
Ircano (Ricciardo e Zoraide), Le Commandeur de Baeupré (La Cour
de Célimène) and "Il Salotto, Volume 1".
Recent engagements have included Stromminger (La Wally) at the
Theater an der Wien (now available on Unitel DVD / Blu-Ray), Arkel (Pelléas
et Mélisande) for the Orchestre national de France, Melisso (Alcina)
and Father Trulove (The Rake’s Progress) for Glyndebourne Festival
Opera, further performances as Le Bailli (Werther) and Crespel (Les
contes d’Hoffmann) for London’s Royal Ballet and Opera, Commendatore
(Don Giovanni) at Zurich Opera, Prospero (Miranda) for Oper
Köln, Don Basilio (The Barber of Seville) for English National
Opera, Silva (Ernani) at Buxton International Festival and Pistola
(Falstaff) for Scottish Opera.
Engagements during 2025-2026 include Lord Gordon (Mary, Queen of Scots)
for English National Opera, Claudius (Hamlet) for Buxton
International Festival, Le spectre du Roi (Hamlet) at Teatro Regio
di Torino and King Marke (Tristan und Isolde) for Longborough
Festival Opera. In concert, he sings Arkel (Pelléas et Mélisande)
with BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis
at the 2025 Enescu Festival in Bucharest, Berlioz’s L’Enfance du
Christ for Cambridge Philharmonic Society, Schumann’s Szenen aus
Goethes Faust with Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España and Verdi's
Requiem with Royal Choral Society.
Alastair Miles received a 2024 "Santley Award" from The Worshipful
Company of Musicians.
September 2025