Gordon Bintner
Shirley Thomson
Alice Jones
Bass-baritone Gordon Bintner amassed a broad and impressive operatic repertoire across six seasons as a member of Oper Frankfurt’s ensemble including Argante (Rinaldo), Chorèbe (Les Troyens), Graf (Capriccio), Harlekin (Ariadne auf Naxos), Count (Schreker’s Der ferne Klang), Vladislav (Smetana’s Dalibor), Escamillo (Carmen) and Don Polidoro (Cimarosa’s L’italiana in Londra). He has recently made notable debuts at Opéra National de Paris as Junior in Bernstein’s A Quiet Place under Kent Nagano, at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte conducted by Julia Jones, at San Francisco Opera in Robert Carsen’s classic production of Eugene Onegin and at Opéra national de Lyon in the title role of Le Nozze di Figaro under Alexandre Bloch.
A native of Canada, Bintner is a former member of the Opera Studio of Canadian Opera Company and has since returned as a regular guest to that stage including in his role debut as both Eugene Onegin and Belcore in L’Elisir d’amore and, most recently, as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and as Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, conducted by Harry Bicket. A graduate of its prestigious Young Singers Project, he has also performed at Salzburg Festival as Astolfo in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia, conducted by Marco Armiliato, as Phorbas in Enescu’s Oedipe under Ingo Metzmacher and as the Herald in Verdi’s Otello under Christian Thielemann.
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Gordon Bintner’s 2023/24 season includes first performances at Teatro Regio di Torino as Ruggiero in a new production of Halévy’s La Juive under the baton of Daniel Oren, two productions at Opéra national de Paris as Oronte in David McVicar’s new staging of Charpentier’s Médée under William Christie and as Guglielmo conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado, and the title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni under Johannes Debus at Canadian Opera Company.
Other recent operatic highlights include Albert in Werther at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano, Nardo in La Finta Giardiniera as part of San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, Lescaut in Massenet’s Manon at Opéra de Montréal, Papageno at Festival d’opéra de Québec and Michigan Opera Theatre, Mozart’s Figaro at Manitoba Opera and he has appeared at both Opéra de Montréal and Festival de Beaune as Don Giovanni. In concert, he portrayed both Guglielmo and Count Almaviva in a da Ponte trilogy presented by Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra under Edo de Waart as well as Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro with NAC Ottawa under Music Director Alexander Shelley.
A refined and accomplished concert singer, Gordon Bintner’s repertoire includes Bach’s St Matthew Passion (Christus) and Weihnachtsoratorium, Beethoven’s Symphony No.9, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Mahler’s Symphony No.8 and Handel’s Messiah. In the current season, he joins Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal as Joseph in Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ under Hervé Niquet.
The Grand Prize Winner of the OSM Standard Life Competition (2011) and first prize and People’s Choice Award recipient of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio Competition (2012), Gordon Bintner’s discography to date includes Junior in Bernstein’s A Quiet Place recorded with Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Kent Nagano (Decca Classics, 2018) and the Count in Schreker’s Der ferne Klang (OehmsClassics, 2021). An avid recitalist, Bintner made his debut at London’s historic Wigmore Hall last season with acclaimed pianist Kirill Gerstein in a programme of Busoni, Beethoven and Kurt Weill and this season performs a programme of Brahms, Finzi, Schubert and Schumann at Montreal’s Salle Bourgie together with accompanist, Michael McMahon.
Gallery
“…a vocally handsome Albert”
“…this revival benefited from an excellent ensemble cast, led by the former COC ensemble baritone Gordon Bintner as an ideal Count, his beautiful, warm baritone and commanding stage presence a pleasure”
“Gordon Bintner has a glorious sound and a willing, enthusiastic manner which brought to mind the young Olaf Bär.”
“Gordon Bintner (Don Polidoro), a virile baritone and a great comedian..”
“Gordon Bintner, recent grand prize winner of the OSM competition, is the star of the show. Tall, blond, seductive, he has everything a Don Giovanni needs, and better yet, he acts well and he sings well. This man will certainly have a big career.”
“By far the most finished was the baritone of Gordon Bintner, first-prize winner in this season’s OSM Competition. Warmly coloured from top to bottom, his singing boasted the twin virtues of natural phrasing and dead centre pitch.”
“This is a major singer and is clearly the best in this competition. He is tall, slim, handsome, moves well on stage, musicality and charisma to burn, has a glorious baritone that is sturdy yet expressive. In other words, this guy has the complete package. His Figaro aria was acted with flair and sung with firm, manly tone – bravo. His Rinaldo aria – a role he sang at McGill – was fabulous with excellent agility for such a big voice. It is clear Mr. Bintner is enormously talented.”
“The riveting and imperious Argante of bass-baritone Gordon Bintner dominated the largely uniform cast. Physically alluring, his acting was both organic and expressive, his characterization compelling and layered and his command of musical idiom, phrasing and Italian diction exemplary. He also produced a vocal performance of awe-inspiring beauty (as in ‘Vieni o cara’) and effortless power and accuracy (as in ‘Sibillar gli angui d’Aletto’).”
“Physically alluring, his acting was both organic and expressive, his characterization compelling and layered and his command of musical idiom, phrasing and Italian diction exemplary. He also produced a vocal performance of awe-inspiring beauty…and effortless power and accuracy.”
