Colin Lee

Biography

Born in South Africa, Colin Lee moved to London in 1994 where he continued his studies with the tenor, Jeffrey Talbot. He was a company principal on the English National Opera Young Singers’ Programme from 2001 to 2003.

His operatic engagements have included Marzio Mitridate (Royal Opera House, Salzburg Festival); Nemorino L’elisir d’amore (Grange Park Opera); Ernesto Don Pasquale (Klagenfurt, Opera Holland Park); Le Comte Ory (Garsington, Athens); Almaviva Il barbiere di Siviglia (WNO, Deutsche Staatsoper, Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper, Royal Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Opéra de Paris); Ermanno Rossini’s L’equivoco stravagante and James V in Rossini’s La donna del lago (Garsington); Lindoro L’Italiana in Algeri (Klagenfurt); Don Ramiro La Cenerentola (WNO), Elvino La Sonnambula (Flanders Opera), Arturo Lucia di Lammermoor for the Metropolitan Opera, Narciso Il Turco in Italia (Deutsche Staatsoper, Berlin and Royal Opera); Argirio Tancredi at the Theater an der Wien; Tonio La Fille du Régiment (Royal Opera), Léopold La Juive and Rodrigo La donna del lago for Opéra de Paris and Rameau’s Platée for the Netherlands Opera.

Among his concert engagements he has sung most notably Rossini’s Stabat Mater, which he has performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Toscanini Fondazione, Italy and most recently with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Antonio Pappano in Siena and at the 2007 BBC Proms.

For Opera Rara, Colin’s recordings include ‘Entre nous — Celebrating Offenbach’, the roles of Cadmo in Donizetti’s Il diluvio universale, Guglielmo in Rossini’s Elisabetta, Regina d’Inghilterra, Aladino in Mercadante’s Emma d’Antiochia, Ormondo in Mercadante’s Maria Stuart, Lelio in Paër’s Sofonisba, Corasmino in highlights from Mercadante’s Zaira, Bellapunta in Meyerbeer’s Margherita d’Anjou, Patrizio in Federico Ricci’s La Prigione d’Edimburgo, Oreste in Rossini’s Ermione (Gramophone Award 2011) and Gerardo (Caterina Cornaro).

Most recently he has sung Tonio for both the Royal Opera and Hamburg Opera, Alfredo La Traviata for Cape Town Opera and James V La donna del lago in Moscow.

In 2013 he took part in the production of La sonnambula at the Bolshoi Theatre, singing the part of Elvino (conductor Enrique Mazzola, director Pier Luigi Pizzi).