Josh Lovell

Tenor

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Canadian-born tenor Josh Lovell, a former ensemble member of Wiener Staatsoper and Prize winner of numerous prestigious Competitions, has been praised by The Guardian as “a handsome sounding tenor with a warm, liquid voice and easy high notes”. Renowned for his vocal versatility, Lovell commands a wide-ranging repertoire that spans baroque, romantic and contemporary works, and his compelling stage presence and dramatic intensity bring vivid life to each of his character portrayals.

Although still in the early stages of his freelance career, Josh Lovell has already established himself as one of the most exciting tenor talents of his generation marked by standout debuts at Teatro alla Scala as Fernand in Thomas Adès’ The Tempest, at Salzburger Festspiele as the Italian singer in Capriccio under Christian Thielemann, at Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Ernesto in Don Pasquale and at both Opéra national de Paris and Edinburgh International Festival as Ferrando in Così fan tutte. At Bayerische Staatsoper, he performed as Florville (Il signor Bruschino), the Italian Singer (Der Rosenkavalier) and Count Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), at Deutsche Oper Berlin as Gérald (Lakmé), at Oper Frankfurt as Grimoaldo (Rodelinda) and at Atlanta Opera as both Jupiter and Apollo (Semele). He debuted at the Rossini Opera Festival, Pesaro as Lindoro (L’italiana in Algeri), as Medoro (Orlando Paladino) under Giovanni Antonini at both Teatro Real and Gran Teatre del Liceu and recently returned to Teatro alla Scala as Ritornello in Gassmann’s L’Opera seria.

Die Zauberflöte: Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön © ORF

During Lovell’s seasons at Wiener Staatsoper, he sang many principal roles including Ernesto, Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Fenton (Falstaff), Lysander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Italian Singer (Der Rosenkavalier), Ruodi (Guillaume Tell), Lurcanio (Ariodante) and Telemaco (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria).

Josh Lovell’s 2025/2026 season includes Ferrando at Oper Leipzig, Ritornello in Laurent Pelly’s acclaimed production of L’Opera seria at Theater an der Wien, the world premiere of Iain Bell’s Medusa at La Monnaie and both Tamino (The Magic Flute) and Claude Lejeune in the American premiere of Tobias Picker’s Lili Elbe at Santa Fe Opera. In concert, he appears with San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in Handel, Messiah under Jane Glover, with Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Bach, Weihnachtsoratorium under Kaspars Putniņš and in Haydn, Die Schöpfung with Nürnberger Symphoniker and Chief Conductor Jonathan Darlington.

Esteemed for his work on the concert stage, Lovell has performed with Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Mozart, Coronation Mass under Nicholas Kraemer, with Wiener Philharmoniker under Christoph Altstaedt in Haydn, Die Jahreszeiten, with St Louis Symphony Orchestra in Mozart, Requiem under Stéphane Denève, with The English Concert and Harry Bicket in Handel, Brockes Passion, with the Victoria Philharmonic Choir as the Evangelist in Bach, St. Matthew Passion and at Amsterdam’s famous Het Concertgebouw in Rossini, Petite messe solonnelle.

As part of Opera Rara’s series, Josh Lovell appears with London Philharmonic Orchestra under conductor Paul Daniel as Prince Casimir in Offenbach, La Princesse de Trébizonde which was awarded 2024 Opera Recording of the Year by both Opus Klassik and OPER! Awards. He also features as Clistene in Cimarosa, L’Olimpiade, recorded and released by Château de Versailles with Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset, of which Musicweb wrote, “Lovell is the real thing; a tenore di grazia, one who has an admirably full-throated tone. He demonstrated impressive singing technique and beguiles the listener throughout the opera”.