Gerald Finley

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Gerald Finley (born 30 January 1960) is a prominent Canadian bass-baritone opera singer. He was born in Montreal and received his musical education at the University of Ottawa, King's College, Cambridge and the Royal College of Music in London, England. He is particularly renowned for his interpretations of Mozart roles such as Leporello, Papageno, Figaro, and Don Giovanni. He made his debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera on January 24, 1998 in the role of Papageno in Die Zauberflöte. He has subsequently performed the title role of Don Giovanni and Marcello in Puccini's La bohème at the Metropolitan.^[1] In addition to his success with Mozart, Finley has been active in contemporary opera. He has created a number of roles including Doctor Oppenheimer in the world premiere of John Adams' opera Doctor Atomic at the San Francisco Opera on October 1, 2005. Other roles he has originated include Harry Heegan in The Silver Tassie by Mark-Anthony Turnage at the English National Opera and the title role in Fantastic Mr. Fox by Tobias Picker at the Los Angeles Opera.^[2]

Finley has been critically praised in both opera and concert. After a recital at Carnegie Hall in March, 2007, he was praised by New York Times critic Bernard Holland as having a "bass-baritone of easy luxury" and that his "sensibilities begin with the pre-eminence of words." ^[3] His portrayal of Schumann's Dichterliebe at the Wigmore Hall in 2006 was also highly praised.

Expanding his repertoire, Finley is due to sing the title role of Eugene Onegin at the Royal Opera House, covent Garden, this March. This is the second time he will have sung a Tchaichovsky fole for the Royal Opera; the first being Prince Yeletsky, from Pique Dame.

Finley appears on a number of recordings, including several solo albums on the Hyperion label.^[4]