British baritone Hugo Herman-Wilson studied at King’s College, Cambridge and the Royal College of Music. He is a former member of the Les Arts Florissants Young Artist Programme and a Britten-Pears Young Artist, and is a recipient of the Help Musicians UK Maidment Award and the Audience Prize at the Somerset Song Prize.
Recent and future engagements include the title role The Marriage of Figaro (Oxford Opera), Ember/Dad in the world premiere of Lucy Armstrong’s Spark (Glyndebourne), Pastore II/Spirito II L’Orfeo (Glyndebourne), Papageno in Damon Albarn’s The Magic Flute II: The Curse (Paris), Gianni Schicchi Gianni Schicchi (Liverpool Mozart Orchestra), and performances of Purcell’s The Fairy Queen with Les Arts Florissants at Teatro de la Maestranza, San Sebastián, Bilbao, São Paulo, Montevideo and Bogotá. He has also appeared at the BBC Proms, Lincoln Center, La Scala and Philharmonie de Paris with Les Arts Florissants.
Hugo’s recent operatic work includes Dan Basilio The Barber of Seville (Charles Court Opera), Dottore Grenvil La traviata (Nevill Holt and Oxford Opera), cover Bartolo The Barber of Seville and Krusina/Micha The Bartered Bride (Garsington Opera), and cover Monsieur Presto Les mamelles de Tirésias and The Notary Don Pasquale (Glyndebourne). His performance as Dan Basilio was praised by The Guardian as a “particularly charismatic” portrayal, while Opera described him as a “real stage animal” following his performances in The Fairy Queen.
On the concert platform, Hugo has performed recitals at Wigmore Hall, the Aldeburgh Festival and the SmorgasChord Festival, and has sung Bach Cantatas with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and at the London Handel Festival. He has recorded the role of Abner in Handel’s Saul with Arcangelo and Jonathan Cohen.
Hugo is grateful for the support of Opera Prelude and the Aldama Foundation.
Among the rest of the large cast, excellent diction and stylish ornamentation came as standard, with particularly charismatic turns from Hugo Herman-Wilson
Hugo Herman-Wilson had power to burn as a skunk-toting, black nail varnish-wearing 'Dan' Basilio
The music teacher Basilio is now 'Dan Basilio', a gross preacher whose ode to slander is thunderously delivered by Hugo Herman-Wilson
The singers included some notable young talents... Hugo Herman-Wilson amusingly dealt with the work's comic moments
Two musical numbers, as opposite as could be, were among the musical highlights. Comedic delight was provided by tenor Ilja Aksionov and baritone Hugo Herman-Wilson in the ‘Dialogue between Coridon and Mopsa’.
It was baritone Hugo Herman-Wilson, a real stage animal, who dominated the ensemble, though, with acting and singing of great subtlety and wit.