Nicholas Lester
Gallery
Audio
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Die Forelle
Composer: Schubert. Excerpts from recent lunchtime recital St Martin in the Fields 2019. Pianist - J P Ekins
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Die Tote Stadt
Composer: Korngold
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Eugene Onegin
Composer: Tchaikovsky Date: 2016
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Faust - Valentin's aria
Composer: Gounod. Date: 2016
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Largo al factotum (il barbiere di Siviglia)
Composer: Rossini
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La Cenerentola - Dandini's aria
Composer: Rossini. Date: 2016
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Le nozze di Figaro - Il Conte
Composer: Mozart
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Sehnsucht
Composer: Schubert. Excerpts from recent lunchtime recital St Martin in the Fields 2019. Pianist - J P Ekins
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Wenn Ich Mit Menschen (Excerpts)
Composer: J Brahms (Vier ernste gesänge). Excerpts from recent lunchtime recital St Martin in the Fields 2019. Pianist - J P Ekins
03:26
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Australian baritone Nicholas Lester studied at the Adelaide Conservatorium of Music and the National Opera Studio, London and was a State Opera of South Australia Young Artist. His studies were sponsored by Glyndebourne Festival Opera as the recipient of the Anne Woods/Johanna Peters Award and he was a recipient of an Independent Opera/National Opera Studio Postgraduate Voice Fellowship‚ awards from the Simon Fletcher and Tait Memorial Trusts and is very grateful for support from Chris Ball and Serena Fenwick. Nicholas was delighted to be voted Best Male in a Leading Role by the Opera Holland Park audience for his performance as Figaro Il barbiere di Siviglia.

Recent and future plans include Count Le Nozze di Figaro and Guglielmo (State Opera of South Australia), Eugene Onegin and Figaro Il barbiere di Siviglia (Welsh National Opera)‚ Don Giovanni (Kilden Opera), Orphée, Marcello La Bohème and Cascada The Merry Widow (ENO), Ford Falstaff, Lescaut Manon Lescaut and Guglielmo Cosi fan Tutte (The Grange Festival), Chou en Lai Nixon in China, Josef K in Philip Glass’s The Trial‚ Germano La Scala di Seta‚ Dr Malatesta Don Pasquale and Ping Turandot (Scottish Opera), Prince Vyazminsky The Oprichnik (Chelsea Opera Group), Gluttony Beauty and the Seven Beasts and Daddy Bear Goldilocks and the Three Little Pigs (The Opera Story)‚ Marcello (New Zealand Opera, English Touring Opera‚ Iford Festival and Lyric Opera Productions‚ Dublin), Onegin and Belcore L'Elisir d'Amore (West Green House Opera), Guglielmo Cosi fan tutte‚ Dandini La Cenerentola, Figaro and Frédéric Lakmé (Opera Holland Park)‚ Valentin Faust (Dorset Opera Festival)‚ Guglielmo (Danish National Opera)‚ Escamillo Carmen (Mid Wales Opera)‚ excerpts of Gianni Schicchi (title role) in a broadcast performance from Amsterdam’s Bimhuis‚ and Bohuš The Jacobin (Buxton Festival). Recent concerts include an Opera Gala with the CBSO, Raymond Gubbay Spectacular Classics at Bridgewater Hall and Sea Symphony with Brighton Philharmonic conducted by Barry Wordsworth.

He created the role of Edward Lear in Ode to nonsense- a co-production between Slingsby Theatre Company and SOSA in Adelaide‚ and performed Marcello for SOSA. Further roles include Fred / Petrucchio Kiss Me Kate (WNO)‚ Belcore L’elisir d’amore‚ Conte Almaviva Le nozze di FigaroDon Giovanni (title role)‚ Theseus A Midsummer Night’s Dream‚ Doctor and Shepherd Pelléas et Mélisande‚ Diarte Erismena (Cavalli)‚ Justizrat and Storch Intermezzo‚ Schaunard La bohème‚ Onegin Eugene Onegin‚ Pietro Simon Boccanegra‚ Aeneas Dido and Aeneas‚ The Foreman Jenufa‚ Miguel Betrothal in a Monastery (Prokofiev)‚ Colonel Calverly Patience‚ Pirate King The Pirates of Penzance‚ Sir Joseph Porter HMS Pinafore‚ Paris Roméo et Juliette‚ Kagler Wiener Blut‚ The Vicar Albert Herring.

Notable concert engagements include Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen for Maurice Béjart’s ballet Song of a Wayfarer with English National Ballet at the London Coliseum‚ performances of Mendelssohn Elijah‚ Bach Cantatas‚ Rameau Motets and Mozart Requiem. He has sung Brahms Requiem in Beijing‚ Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra‚ the Fauré Requiem at St Martin-in-the-Fields and Messiah under Laurence Cummings.

Guglielmo - Cosi fan tutte - The Grange Festival

Their collaborative chemistry was notable, as was that between Nicholas Lester’s Guglielmo and Alessandro Fisher’s Ferrando, both offering finely sung and acted performances, similarly (yet differently!) differentiated.

Opera Today (June 2023)

Fisher and Lester forming a superb double act, notably in Act One where the two seemed to be having the time of their lives. Fisher and Lester created a real sense of the easy camaraderie between these two young men, both officers, each in love with a sister.

Nicholas Lester made Guglielmo's journey from easy fun and frolics to anger and bitterness all too believable. His first aria was wonderfully swaggering, but his gloating in the second of course got its comeuppance, and Lester drew Guglielmo's change finely, as well as being positively nasty to Whately's Dorabella at the end.

Planet Hugill (June 2023)

Prince Vyazminsky - The Oprichnik - Chelsea Opera Group

Chelsea Opera Group presented a strong cast and gave a performance that in many ways brought out the best in the opera.

As the villain of the piece, Prince Vyazminsky, Nicholas Lester did wonders with a woefully underwritten part. We got no background, never really heard from Prince Vyazminsky himself. But Lester, looking stylishly the part on the platform, brought a sort of gleeful relish to his whole performance. This Prince Vyazminsky was most definitely a nasty piece of work.

Planet Hugill (March 2023)

There was also strong support from ... Nicholas Lester as Vyazminsky,

Music OMH (March 2023)

Nicholas Lester put in a suave, iniquitous performance as Prince Vyazminsky, the opera’s other villain;

Musical America (March 2023)

Nicholas Lester was a smoothly insidious Vyazminsky, exuding the character’s evil not with an obvious dark force but a slyly fluent account of the baritone role.

Classical Source (March 2023)

As the villain of the piece, Prince Vyazminsky, Nicholas Lester did wonders with a woefully underwritten part. We got no background, never really heard from Prince Vyazminsky himself. But Lester, looking stylishly the part on the platform, brought a sort of gleeful relish to his whole performance. This Prince Vyazminsky was most definitely a nasty piece of work.

Opera Today (March 2023)

Belcore - L'Elisir d'Amore - West Green House Opera

Nicholas Lester is an extremely suave Belcore, who asserts his tremendous baritone to great effect. Here, the sergeant is a passenger taking a break from manoeuvres and looking for a holiday romance, and he certainly takes the stage by storm as he arrives in a shiny green jacket and purple shirt.

Music OMH (July 2022)

Beauty and the 7 Beasts - The Opera Story

And the show's satirical bite is greatly enhanced by having such characterful singers as Sarah Tynan, Nicholas Lester and Anthony Gregory playing the ghastly individuals who intrude into Beauty's solitary world.

The Times (April 2022)

Lescaut, Manon Lescaut, The Grange Festival

Nicholas Lester’s Lescaut was tall, dark, and handsome, and he knew it. He was a chancer on the make, gloriously oily and frankly down-right nasty. He made a fine foil to his sister and ensured that the opera was not simply a duet.

Opera Today (June 2021)

Silvio, i Pagliacci, The Grange Festival

Nicholas Lester’s gleaming Silvio, an emotionally charged scene where Covid-secure kisses are blown across the stage and all the more affecting for the absence of any embrace.

Opera Today (December 2020)

Nixon in China, Scottish Opera

Nicholas Lester made a noble Chou...

The Telegraph (February 2020)

Yet the lyrical moments, the private reflections especially of Pat Nixon and of the philosophically inclined Chou En-lai – elegantly sung by Nicholas Lester – stood out.

The Observer (February 2020)

he cut through the texture admirably. So, too, did Nicholas Lester as Chou,

Seen and Heard (March 2020)

Orphée, English National Opera

The singing was of a stellar standard, equal surely to anything ‘them up the road’ could offer. Lester took on the role of Orphée with all the style, panache and ego-driven confidence the part required, offering a vocal performance to match, often of great beauty. His fascination with The Princess was completely believable.

Seen & Heard International (November 2019)

...he sings with unfailing assurance...

The Telegraph (November 2019)

The cast is well stocked with ENO regulars. Nicholas Lester cut an imposing yet skittish figure as the title character. Tall, gaunt, and in steely voice, his performance captured the character’s otherworldly disdain for those around him, as well as Cocteau’s psychological acuity, descending deeper into his obsession in trying to comprehend the enigmatic radio transmissions from the world beyond.

MusichOMH (November 2019)

And the singers have more chances to excel. Nicholas Lester’s full-voiced but oddly petulant Orphée... touches selfless grandeur as well as egotistic self-regard as his plight worsens.

The Arts Desk (November 2019)

The singing is excellent throughout with a big cast led by Nicholas Lester as Orphée and Sarah Tynan as Eurydice

London Living Large (November 2019)

Baritone Nicholas Lester excels in the work’s title role. Rejected from the bohemian sphere of poets, plucked as an accomplice to The Princess and subsequently a pawn in her convoluted game, Lester’s portrayal of Orphée was dynamic.

Plays To See (November 2019)

Nicholas Lester imbued his poet Orphée with a credible physical and vocal mix of artistic uncertainty, arrogance, boredom, jealousy and then ardour in his romantic interactions with the Princess. The warmth of his compassionate singing to Eurydice and re-awakening of his poetic creativity at the end were great.

Classical Source (November 2019)

Nicholas Lester captures Orphée’s destructive self-absorption...

Evening Standard (November 2019)

Falstaff, The Grange Festival

Nicholas Lester sings and acts up a storm in Ford’s Jealousy Monologue.

The Times (June 2019)

But it’s the cast that excels in every department….On the male team, Nicholas Lester’s complex Ford…give[s] as good as [he] gets.

Financial Times (June 2019)

Nicholas Lester’s forceful declamations captured Ford’s insecurities with vivid insight and Lester’s depiction of his downfall was just as incisive as Falstaff’s own.

Bachtrack (June 2019)

He’s got excellent support from Nicholas Lester as an uptight Ford gloriously kitted out, every inch a wide-boy.

Classical Source (June 2019)

Nicholas Lester as Ford, kept the character's more serious moments on the right side of comedy so that his intensity never overbalanced things. This Ford was finely sung, moving in his jealousy and very funny.

Planet Hugill (June 2019)

Nicholas Lester is luxury casting as the tightly-wound Ford.

The Arts Desk (June 2019)

Ford was winningly portrayed by Nicholas Lester, both in his nerdy accountant-like self and his pink-suited ‘Fontana’ persona...

MusicOMH (June 2019)

The cast could not be faulted...
On the other side of the sexual divide were Nicholas Lester’s vividly vocalized Ford, paying duty to both the control-freak pomposity and the sexual jealousy of a complex character...

Opera Magazine (August 2019)

La bohème‚ English National Opera

…Nicholas Lester’s Marcello‚ noble of voice and likeably laid-back…

Opera Magazine (February 2019)

... Romaniw is reunited with Nicholas Lester‚ her Onegin at WNO‚ who brings dramatic heft and baritonal beauty to the key role of Marcello‚ Musetta’s love-hate lover.

BachTrack (November 2018)

Nicholas Lester makes a fine Marcello‚ projecting affability and commanding resonance in equal measure.

Classical Source (November 2018)

The other ‘Bohemians’ made a fine team‚ with the excellent Nicholas Lester singing a strongly sympathetic Marcello...

Mark Ronan Theatre Reviews (November 2018)

Nicholas Lester’s Marcello was definitely a cut above the average‚ rich and‚ where appropriate‚ ardent of tone‚ hinting cleverly at far more to the character than we ever officially learn (surely so much of the trick to a compelling Puccini performance).

Opera Today (November 2018)

Among the surrounding cast‚ Nicholas Lester’s Marcello and Nadine Benjamin’s teasing Musetta‚ a wily fox with a plan‚ almost steal the show in Act II with a great comic scene where they try to catch each other’s attention.

Reviews Hub (November 2018)

There was tremendous support both in voice and personality from Nicholas Lester’s Marcello... All three gave charismatic‚ nuanced and totally committed performances.

Seen & Heard International (November 2018)

...Nicholas Lester’s Marcello oozes vocal charm.

The Guardian (November 2018)

Nicholas Lester sings Marcello with gentle warmth...

The Telegraph (November 2018)

La bohème‚ New Zealand Opera

Each of the voices “sounded” the character so beautifully – Nicholas Lester’s Marcello muscular and virile...

Middle C (October 2018)

Nicholas Lester as Marcello sang and acted with nuance and charisma.

Radio NZ (October 2018)

And what superbly idiomatic support they receive; whether it is the beautifully realised Marcello of Nicholas Lester...

Stuff.co.nz (October 2018)

Australian baritone Nicholas Lester was a bluff and warm-hearted Marcello...

BachTrack (September 2018)

All the young singers performing as the four students were thoroughly at ease in their roles: Thomas Atkins and Nicholas Lester as Rodolfo and Marcello…Their notably polished voices came over well in the opera house’s accommodating acoustic.

Opera Magazine (February 2019)

La bohème‚ Dorset Opera Festival

Nicholas Lester’s direct and confident Marcello combined with the other flatmates to form a neatly played ensemble quartet…Nicholas Lester’s direct and confident Marcello combined with the other flatmates to form a neatly played ensemble quartet…

Opera Magazine (October 2018)

Baritone Nicholas Lester has sung and impressed at Dorset Opera before; here as Marcello‚ he was most impressive‚ the voice rich and well projected with clear diction and plenty of colour. He conveyed chemistry with his Musetta sung by Lauren Michelle...

BachTrack (July 2018)

Cosi fan Tutte‚ Opera Holland Park

Their officers were no less convincing‚ with Nick Pritchard a sensitive Ferrando and Nicholas Lester more robust – and with a roving eye – as Guglielmo. Pritchard’s mellifluousness and well sustained legato made for a memorable "Un’aura amorosa". His initial diffidence in wooing Guglielmo’s fiancée nicely contrasted with the latter’s relish in wooing Dorabella with the suave allure of his baritone.

BachTrack (June 2018)

So too did Nicholas Lester’s Guglielmo‚ the bitterness of his disillusion moving indeed‚ his ‘journey’ perhaps the greatest of all.

Boulezian (June 2018)

Lester’s easy baritone created a good humoured fluency to Guglielmo’s music‚ with his relatively easy seduction of Kitty Whately’s Dorabella.

Planet Hugill (June 2018)

Mozart and Da Ponte’s naive young lovers are finely explored over the course of the show by four singers who lay all their ambiguities bare by means of expert vocalism. Eleanor Dennis’ complex Fiordiligi‚ Kitty Whately’s extrovert Dorabella‚ Nicholas Lester’s cocksure Guglielmo and Nick Pritchard’s sensitive Ferrando all sing their parts to a degree of excellence rarely encountered.

The Stage (June 2018)

Lester is spry‚ characterful and in excellent voice. The best I’ve seen or heard him.

What’s on Stage (June 2018)

Alongside him‚ Nicholas Lester asserts his firm and controlled baritone to strong effect as he gives the impression of a Guglielmo who thinks rather too highly of himself.

MusicOMH (May 2018)

Goldilocks and the Three Little Pigs‚ The Opera Story

The three pigs/bears (these beasts are compounds) are the tops. Daddy Bear/Pig (Nicholas Lester) has a tremendous baritone voice and irresistible comic gift – although his intentions are anything but comic. He is dressed in a suit with a half-undone tie and regularly consults his mobile phone. His furry slippers are more bear than pig – suited to an opera red in tooth and claw‚ a meaty tragedy.

The Guardian (March 2018)

Australian baritone Nicholas Lester gives the standout performance vocally – and manages to be both suave (as far as standing in bear-claw slippers allows) and chilling in his encounter with Goldilocks.

The Stage (February 2018)

Eugene Onegin‚ Welsh National Opera

Nicholas Lester’s tall Onegin was an aloof‚ almost isolated customer in dramatic terms‚ and he also managed to express this vocally as well with coolness to his tone until aroused finally to passion in the final scenes. In the early Acts his sense of distance from those around him contrasted well with Tatyana’s warmer‚ dreamier reserve.

Classical Source (November 2017)

Lester is as vocally distinctive as his characterisation of the title role‚ sounding dark and remote during the first two Acts‚ but attaining frustration and despair in the final one; his performance underlines rather than explains Onegin’s initially standoffish personality and the equally inexplicable turnaround in his affections for Tatyana.

Classical Source (November 2017)

Nicholas Lester‚ splendidly‚ is the ice to her fire‚ singing with elegant clarity‚ acting with a cool languor. Hoheisel has him dressed formally throughout—appearing to our modern eyes a bit like an undertaker at Tatyana’s name-day ball.
It’s a neat touch that when he reappears years later‚ stricken with remorse‚ he’s grown his hair in the style of Lensky‚ the doe-eyed poet he killed in a duel.

British Theatre Guide (October 2017)

...while Onegin himself‚ passionately sung by Nicholas Lester‚ cuts a grimly funereal‚ then desperate‚ Byronic figure.

The Stage (October 2017)

Faust‚ Dorset Opera

As Valentin‚ the tall Australian Nicholas Lester was a classic hero with a ringing‚ battle-ready baritone and an ability to carry off chainmail tights with dignity.

Opera Magazine (October 2017)

Nicholas Lester as her brother‚ Valentin‚ who is felled by Faust’s sword‚ delivers as devastating a death curse to his sister as I’ve heard.

The Express (August 2017)

Baritone Nicholas Lester’s Valentin was stridently sung‚ an energetic assumption of the role which showcased his appealing middle voice and even tone.

BachTrack (July 2017)

La Scala di Seta‚ Scottish Opera

...scheming with Nicholas Lester’s deeply warm-toned and ever-perplexed baritone Germano‚ the opera’s other central character in a splendidly entertaining double act.

BachTrack (April 2017)

It’s a particular pleasure seeing Nicholas Lester in a comic role as the servant Germano‚ who is not as bright as he thinks he is. It might have been tempting to play him as a clown or an idiot‚ but Lester plays him straighter than that. It is‚ of course‚ shameless how Giulia (Jennifer France) toys with the affections of her devoted servant‚ but their first act duet is excellent. In the second act‚ he very convincingly dozes off and talks in his sleep.

Opera Critic (April 2017)

The standout performance was Nicholas Lester as the hopelessly confused servant. Lester is by nature more of an aristocrat‚ but here he used his elegance for comic effect.

The Guardian (April 2017)

The central couple were stylishly sung by Jennifer France (Giulia) and Luciano Botelho (Dorvil)‚ but they were outplayed and outsung by the two buffo baritones‚ Joshua Bloom as the unsuccessful suitor Blansac and Nicholas Lester as the manipulative servant.

The Times (April 2017)

The Trial‚ Scottish Opera with Music Theatre Wales

Nicholas Lester was the handsome‚ vocally commanding K...

Opera Magazine (April 2017)

Nicholas Lester crowned the whole thing as a noble yet humane K...

Seen and Heard International (February 2017)

Nicholas Lester is excellent as Josef K‚ his psychological collapse as he realises his predicament skilfully portrayed.

The Opera Critic (February 2017)

Sure-footed and fine-voiced‚ Nicholas Lester delivers a well-judged Josef K‚ veering between nonchalance and despair perfectly.

Glasgow Theatre Blog (January 2017)

Josef’s guilt lies in his naive belief that he has a degree of self-determination‚ a kind of unwitting arrogance well served by baritone Nicholas Lester.

The Herald (January 2017)

Josef himself is played superbly by Australian baritone Nicholas Lester. The richness of his voice combines fascinatingly with his estimable height to express and embody the seeming self-worth and certainty of a middle-class functionary.

The Herald Scotland (January 2017)

La Cenerentola‚ Opera Holland Park

Nicholas Lester’s forceful baritone was well suited to singing Dandini‚ showing heft and a fine ability to inject a sense of mirth to the voice. His interactions with Don Magnifico in Act II‚ revealing his real identity as a servant‚ was full of glee and a real highlight.

BachTrack (July 2016)

Nicholas Lester’s Dandini is another finely judged portrayal. His height allows him to dominate the stage easily‚ as this character should‚ and he made direct contact with the audience. His ‘asides’ were delivered with point and his singing as rounded as his coloratura was impressive.

Classical Source (July 2016)

The Australian baritone Nicholas Lester was impressive as Dandini and looked every part the prince when in disguise as his master. It would be wrong to say here is a singer to watch because he already has a highly praised track record with a number of prestigious opera companies and watching him perform left me in no doubt that the praise was fully deserved. Lester has an envious vocal ease‚ roundness of tone and audience’s eyes never leave him when he is on stage. He brings real charm to the comic ensemble and an assured musicality.

Limelight (July 2016)

On the palace side‚ Nico Darmanin made a handsome and well sung Prince Ramiro‚ with Nicholas Lester as his valet Dandini…singing with admirable firmness...

Mark Ronan (July 2016)

Nicholas Lester’s arch‚ stylish Dandini; Lester sang with lots of brio and in his Act 1 number‚ ‘Come un’ape ne’ giorni d’aprile’‚ used the text well.

Opera Today (July 2016)

...I loved the way Lester really brought out the feeling that Dandini was enjoying playing his master and pushing it as far as he could go. There was a nice twinkle in his eye which came out in the music too‚ always a good sign. [ ] and as Dandini he showed that he has a musical feel for Rossini’s comedy‚ and the role’s high tessitura seemed to hold no dangers for him.

Planet Hugill (July 2016)

The singers vied to out-camp each other…Nicholas Lester was a suitably charming Dandini.

The Guardian (July 2016)

Musically and dramatically we’re on firm ground‚ too.…Nicholas Lester makes an eminently likable Dandini

The Stage (July 2016)

...Nicholas Lester’s Dandini‚ crisp and commanding‚ full of ham flourishes...

The Times (July 2016)

Nicholas Lester‚… is stylish‚ characterful and musically first-rate as Dandini.

What’s On Stage (July 2016)

Don Giovanni‚ English Touring Opera

It helps that Wood has a Giovanni like Nicholas Lester - a man who really knows how to wear evening dress‚ so commanding and effortlessly charming that he could probably have seduced most of the audience too.

Birmingham Post (May 2016)

[Nicholas Lester’s] Giovanni was a powerful‚ saturnine‚ commanding and ruthless stage presence‚ his fine voice suave in the serenade‚ daringly fast in the Champagne Aria‚ coaxing in Là‚ ci darem la mano with Zerlina‚ and cruel in his exchanges with Donna Anna.

Daily Record (May 2016)

It is so much better when Don Giovanni looks the right side of forty and half-ways decent-looking‚ so much more believable. As is the case with Nicholas (...) He snaps his braces‚ strides across the stage and‚ with a voice like chocolate‚ sings of loving and leaving ‘em.

The Opera Critic (May 2016)

...Nicholas Lester [...] a powerful‚ rakish‚ charismatic Don Giovanni...

The Reviews Hub (May 2016)

The three hour production is an absolute triumph of sustained power and technique. Nicholas Lester is a tall‚ energetic and commanding figure as the Don...

Cambridge News (April 2016)

A Sea Symphony‚ Brighton & Hove Philharmonic

Commanding baritone Nicholas Lester reached confidently high towards the crow’s nest but also delved into the low register of Davy Jones’s locker.

The Argus (March 2016)

...soloists Elin Pritchard (soprano) and Nicholas Lester (baritone) soaring magnificently over a very energised and responsive Brighton Festival Chorus.

The Latest (March 2016)

The Barber of Seville‚ Welsh National Opers

Figaro’s entrance through the auditorium is a genuine coup‚ spectacularly managed by Nicholas Lester‚ who has the voice and personality to fill this big space from any angle.

The Arts Desk (February 2016)

Making his debut with WNO‚ Nicholas Lester is a Figaro with great stage presence‚ making it obvious from the start who is boss around here and coping well with the famous aria.

The Reviews Hub (February 2016)

Nicholas Lester‚ Richard Wiegold and Rosie Hay contribute brightly to the team as a strongly characterised Figaro‚ Basilio and Berta.

The Telegraph (February 2016)

...the tall and striking Figaro of Nicholas Lester [...] did not need his height to bring stature to the role. There was plenty of novelty in this Figaro and his antics to make this so well-known role fresh and fun.

Wales Online (February 2016)

Lakmé‚ Opera Holland Park

Nicholas Lester in the baritone role of Gérald’s officer friend Frédéric‚ sang with such distinction that you wished he had more to do.

Opera (September 2015)

Nicholas Lester fielded some high-quality singing as Frédéric...

Financial Times (July 2015)

The other outstanding performance came from Nicholas Lester who made much of the role of Frédéric‚ Gérald’s brother officer. Lester has a really strong baritone voice and he more than once reminded me of that superb French artist‚ Laurent Naouri. He is also a strong‚ subtle actor making the most of his stage opportunities. Definitely a singer to watch.

Opera Britannia (July 2015)

Nicholas Lester was excellent as Frédéric. Lester has made a good impression in recent stagings at OHP’s — in Il barbiere di Siviglia‚ first as Fiorello and then as the eponymous barber — and here he once again demonstrated a firm‚ appealing baritone. With his stiff uprightness‚ moral self-righteousness and limited emotional awareness‚ this Frédéric reminded me —… of Lechmere in Britten’s Owen Wingrave‚ a character who through his own short-comings reveals the more extraordinary depths and qualities of his friend.

Opera Today (July 2015)

It helped that in Nicholas Lester‚ Platt had a highly personable and vividly projected Figaro. Towering above everyone else‚ the young Australian baritone had a voice to match and a 100 Watt personality. Lester was quite a find and enlivened the stage without over doing things or mugging. His voice had a nice ping to it‚ so that from ’Largo al factotum’ Lester was a joy to listen to.

The Arts Desk (July 2015)

There is excellent singing‚ too‚ from tenor Robert Murray as Gerald‚ and from baritone Nicholas Lester as Frederic‚ his fellow officer.

The Express (July 2015)

...Nicholas Lester made a robust impression as the hero’s Horatio...

The Telegraph (July 2015)

Carmen‚ Mid Wales Opera

Nicholas Lester’s Escamillo was physically commanding and powerfully sung

Seen & Heard International (September 2014)

Nicholas Lester [...] is a fine‚ personable Escamillo who knows how to move and how to stand‚ like any self-respecting toreador.

The Arts Desk (September 2014)

...Nicholas Lester’s impressive toreador: a glittering‚ chisel-jawed prize for Carmen to enjoy.

The Times (September 2014)

...Escamillo has built-in brio and Nicholas Lester’s smoothly sung matador is the most arresting character on stage.

What’s On Stage (September 2014)

The Jacobin‚ Buxton Festival Opera

Musically‚ The Jacobin is pure delight and the performances here were winning. Nicholas Lester’s authoritative baritone is perfect for the role of Bohuš. His superb diction and warm‚ almost heroic tone made an immediate impact and he was able to spin legato gloriously in his moving tribute to the music of his homeland.

BachTrack (July 2014)

...the casting is superb. Nicholas Lester‚ whose magnificent stage presence is backed up by the lyrical gravitas of his voice‚ made an excellent Bohuš...

Mark Ronan (July 2014)

Tall and distinguished looking‚ Nicholas Lester made a finely attractive Bohus (he impressed earlier this year as Rossini’s Figaro at Opera Holland Park). His opening solo was the character’s big moment‚ and Lester showed a feeling both for Dvorak’s dramatic line and for the feeling of nostalgic melancholy in Bohus’s love of his homeland.

Planet Hugill (July 2014)

Nicholas Lester suggests Bohuš’s decency and bravery in singing that is never less than confident.

The Guardian (July 2014)

Nicholas Lester brings unimpeachable integrity and film-star handsomeness to Bohus.

The Spectator (July 2014)

Il barbiere di Siviglia‚ Opera Holland Park

Lester’s crisp‚ resonant baritone will doubtless be heard in bigger houses before long; Figaro is a good calling card for the elegant Australian.

Opera Magazine (August 2014)

...Opera Holland Park takes great risks in putting on rare repertoire‚ not so much dabbling its toes in verismo as diving in fully clothed. So‚ why a solidly traditional Barbiere? The answer lies in the casting. . . Nicholas Lester‚ who started out in the OHP Chorus and sang Fiorillo last time round‚ made a great impression as Figaro‚ the eponymous barber. His full baritone is agile and he negotiated the patter of “Largo al factotum” with great panache. His contribution to “Dunque io son”‚ his duet with Rosina‚ was perfectly judged and he successfully manipulated the whole plot and had the audience in his palm. Quite an achievement...

BachTrack (June 2014)

...Nicholas Lester has been nurtured by OHP over several years‚ and with good reason. He has a terrific baritone‚ nimble‚ graceful and with a virile top range of great quality. His Figaro exuded authority and charisma‚ compounded by his being handsome and about a head taller than the rest of the cast – height is such a reassuring accomplishment. He wound the plot round his little finger with enormous skill and his ‘Largo al factotum’ alone was worth the trip...

Classical Source (June 2014)

...Australian baritone Nicholas Lester has a large‚ opulent voice which he put to excellent effect as the quick-thinking barber. His bass-inclined resonance grabbed the attention from his first entrance. Pushing a stripy-poled hand-cart‚ this Figaro peddled his talents and wares — some wild wigs dangle from his wagon — with confidence and composure‚ a nonchalant single swipe of the razor de-whiskering a client during ‘Largo al factotum’. Lester’s lines were clearly formed‚ of pleasing tone‚ and his performance was well-paced. His on-stage presence ensured that the uproar never lapsed into anarchy‚ and when a commanding hand was required he assuredly stepped in...

Opera Today (June 2014)

It helped that in Nicholas Lester‚ Platt had a highly personable and vividly projected Figaro. Towering above everyone else‚ the young Australian baritone had a voice to match and a 100 Watt personality. Lester was quite a find and enlivened the stage without over doing things or mugging. His voice had a nice ping to it‚ so that from ’Largo al factotum’ Lester was a joy to listen to.

Planet Hugill (June 2014)

...Nicholas Lester and Kitty Whately both did a superb job with the two principal roles. Lester’s Figaro was a likeable rogue full of wit‚ energy and low cunning. He brought considerable vocal heft and virility to the role and was highly attentive ot issues of balance and coorindation during the ensemble numbers. Largo al Factotum was a complete triumph with Lester making light work of the rapid coloratura and bringing an unfettered exuberance to this most famous of arias...

Seen & Heard International (June 2014)

...As for Nicholas Lester‚ a former Fiorello at this address and a chorus member in an even earlier incarnation of Il barbiere‚ he celebrated his promotion to the title role with a vocal performance of sprightly and mellifluous vigour...

What’s On Stage (June 2014)

Don Pasquale‚ Scottish Opera

Nicholas Lester’s finely sung Malatesta was well matched‚ no more so than in the formidable patter duet in the last act.

BachTrack (February 2014)

...Nicholas Lester made an unusually young‚ vigorous Malatesta. The two were well contrasted‚ though‚ and their patter duet in Act 3 was exhilarating.

Seen & Heard International (February 2014)

...Nicholas Lester’s smooth Malatesta completes a strong trio of male leads.

The Guardian (January 2014)

Nicholas Lester‚ with a splendidly neat curtain beard‚ serves well as Malatesta‚ flattering Pasquale but driving the plot. Their famous Act III patter duet is crisply done - its technical prowess accentuated with speech bubbles over their heads‚ echoing the earlier photostory.

The Stage (January 2014)

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