Edwin Crossley-Mercer
Clare Erskine
Shirley Thomson
Edwin Crossley-Mercer stole the show with a magnificent display of richly-toned bass legato
Bachtrack
Since the outset of his career in 2006, Anglo-French Bass Edwin Crossley-Mercer has been a regular presence on the stages of Europe’s major opera houses and concerts halls, from debuts at the prestigious Glyndebourne, Aix-en-Provence and Salzburg Easter Festivals, to performances with the renowned orchestras of Berlin, Vienna, Paris, London and Los Angeles. An exemplary musicianship has allowed Crossley-Mercer to embrace a wide-ranging repertoire of roles across the baroque, classical and contemporary styles bringing collaborations with some of the finest conductors of our day including Daniel Barenboim, Gustavo Dudamel, Andris Nelsons, Philippe Jordan, Riccardo Minasi and Leonardo García Alarcón.
From an earlier bass-baritone repertoire focused principally on Mozart, Rossini, Handel and Rameau, today Crossley-Mercer’s bass voice lends itself to a rich repertoire of roles by composers including Beethoven, Berg, Britten, Strauss, Verdi and Wagner. With a natural affinity for the French repertoire, Berlioz, Gounod, Massenet and Meyerbeer firmly feature on his performing schedule marking debuts at Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival in Béatrice et Bénédicte, with Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir Simon Rattle in La damnation de Faust, at The Dallas Opera in Manon, with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under Daniel Harding in Roméo et Juliette, at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence under Sir Mark Elder in Le Prophète, and with Orchestre National de France in L’enfance du Christ.
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Praised for his rich timbre and authoritative bass, Edwin Crossley-Mercer has demonstrated great vocal and dramatic versatility in recent seasons with debuts ranging from Biterolf in Romeo Castellucci’s Tannhäuser at Osterfestspiele Salzburg under Andris Nelsons, Osiride in Tobias Kratzer’s new production of Rossini’s Moïse et Pharaon at Opéra national de Lyon under Daniele Rustioni through to Reimann’s Lear in Christoph Marthaler’s new production at Bayerische Staatsoper under Jukka-Pekka Saraste. Other significant appearances include Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte) for Opernhaus Zürich/Riccardo Minasi and Bayerische Staatsoper/Antonello Manacorda, Colline (La bohème) with Orchestre National de Lille/Alexandre Bloch, von Weber’s Der Freischutz at Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin/Daniel Barenboim, and at Theater an der Wien both Guillame Tell under Diego Matheuz and Peter Grimes under Thomas Guggeis. Recent baroque projects include Handel’s Jeptha at Händel Festspeiele Halle, Les Indes galantes at Opéra national de Paris under Leonardo García Alarcón, Platée for Gran Teatre del Liceu and Theater an der Wien under William Christie, and most recently as Hidraot in Lully’s Armide for Opéra Comique, conducted by Christophe Rousset.
In the upcoming season Crossley-Mercer returns to both Opéra Comique and Opéra National Montpellier as Créon in Cherubini’s Médée in a new production by Marie-Ève Signeyrole, conducted by Laurence Equilbey. In his debut performances as Escamillo (Carmen) he returns to La Monnaie in Dmitri Tcherniakov’s production under Nathalie Stutzmann. On the concert platform, he makes appearances with Hamburger Symphoniker and at the Bratislava Music Festival as Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette under Sylvain Cambreling, with Opera Fuoco in Namur as the title role in Handel’s Hercules under David Stern, and on tour with Les Talens Lyriques for Bach’s Easter Oratorio under Christophe Rousset.
Enjoying a buoyant concert career, Crossley-Mercer has amassed a broad and varied concert repertoire including Beethoven’s Symphony No.9, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung, Handel’s Messiah, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass, Schumann’s Paradies und die Peri, Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex and Bach’s Matthäus-Passion. A sought-after recitalist and former student of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Crossley-Mercer has presented lied and art song programmes at Bad Kissingen, Festspeiele Mecklenburg, Musée d’Orsay, Festival de Pâques, Festival International de Colmar, and at the Louvre. Twice a Grammy-Award nominée, Edwin Crossley-Mercer’s discography includes several baroque programmes (Charpentier and Lully), a collaboration with American composer Michael Linton on Carmina Catulli and Wilde Songs, a compilation of mélodies by Nadia Boulanger, and Schubert‘s Die Winterreise.
Gallery
“In the role of Hercules, bass Edwin Crossley-Mercer is very impressive… The voice is quite spectacular, with unfathomable depths, a great reserve of power, and he manages to give the role the necessary brutality to reflect the somewhat obtuse nature of the character of Hercules, a war leader not include to introspections”
“Of the soloist trio, Lorenzo, appearing in the third part, has the largest space in the work, whose part was performed by the English-French bass Edwin Crossley-Mercer with a velvety soft, voluminous and balanced tone in the positions, with appropriate expressiveness.”
“Edwin Crossley-Mercer’s Colline is generous and effective during the evening. He quite legitimately obtained the acclamations of the public with his “Song of the Coat” (Act IV).”
“His thick and guttural timbre unfolds with ease; imposing singing, both rich and profuse”
“Through the richness of his timbre, Edwin Crossley-Mercer possesses the authority of Hidraot”
“In the end, it is the basses that bring mellowness: Edwin Crossley-Mercer’s majestic Hidraot”
“Edwin Crossley-Mercer surprises in a Hidraot of imposing robustness”
“Edwin Crossley-Mercer gives the dark character of Hidraot all the authority it needs”
“[Edwin] is well present even in the recitatives, with important nuances, accelerations of anger, indignation, and beautiful lyrical moments of amorous passion”
“Edwin Crossley-Mercer lends his deep timbre and unfailing support to Hidraot”
“The supporting roles are exemplary. Edwin Crossley-Mercer, accustomed to singing dark characters, plays an obnoxious Oberthal.”
“Edwin Crossley-Mercer completed the cast with a more than solid performance incarnating the villainous Latin Lover.”
“Supporting roles are also ideally cast, notably thanks to… Edwin Crossley-Mercer as Biterolf.”
“…in excellent form, the bass-baritone Edwin Crossley-Mercer (Osiride) is just as sumptuous.”
“Edwin Crossley-Mercer plays the roles of the Mysterious Voice and the high priest Osiride boldly in his ample voice, showing his vocal power in the middle register.”
“An elegant figure in an impeccably tailored suit, the Franco-Irish bass-baritone uses a brass timbre, homogeneous throughout the range, to declaim in the third act “Before leaving this shore”. Each of his interventions are brief but perfectly in place.”
“Edwin Crossley-Mercer, never disappointing, and here excellent Osiride with a beautiful bass-baritone timbre, with a phrasing that is always neat and always elegant.”
“The other roles are all well-sung — especially Edwin Crossley-Mercer’s Hidraot, who flourishes in creating memorable moments in the first act…His voice is a sonorous bass-baritone to keep track of.”
“Edwin Crossley-Mercier plays Hidraot, ruler of Damascus and enchanter like his niece Armida, with a full-bodied voice and beautiful timbre, as well as phrasing that is always immaculate.”
“As Armide’s uncle King Hidraot, Edwin Crossley-Mercer stole the show with a magnificent display of richly-toned bass legato.”
“On the other hand, there is no reproach to the perfect Hidraot of the French-Irish baritone Edwin Crossley-Mercer, with his dark and ideally evil voice.”
“Edwin Crossley-Mercer as Hidraot is imposing with a sonorous and cavernous voice, offering a harmonious counterpoint to the more gallant and luminous tessitura of the knights.”
“Edwin Crossley-Mercer impresses in the role of Hidraot, as he asserts full and complete authority on stage and vocally, which gives all his power to the character. His bass-baritone voice thunders and resonates with all the desired darkness and an affirmation that his rich costume further amplifies.”
“The rest of the cast is impeccable…(Edwin Crossley-Mercer as Biterolf), with well-chosen voices for their roles… ”
“French-Irish baritone Edwin Crossley-Mercer sang the high priest Osiride in beautiful voice.”
“In two roles – the Mysterious Voice and Osiride – but a few lines, the Franco-Irish bass-baritone imposes a beauty of timbre and a nobility of tone acquired through his command of the French baroque repertoire.”
“In the role of Apothecary Keene, Edwin Crossley-Mercer highlights the power and brilliance of his timbre through his expressiveness coupled with the clarity of his diction.”
“As Jupiter – a fantastic Edwin Crossley-Mercer who has already played this character on several occasions with his majestic bass-baritone voice.”
“Edwin Crossley-Mercer is an impeccable Don Alfonso… his vocals unfold beautifully in the trio “Soave sia il vento” and blend in harmony with the female voices.”
