Robert Cantrell, bass
Photo by Paul Redline
Bass-baritone Robert Cantrell has been described by Washington Post critic Joseph McLellan as having “a warm, supple voice that brought out the lyrical intention of the composers, making them treasured moments.” Mr. Cantrell is one of the most active bass-baritones in the Baltimore-Washington area.
Highlights of his 2008-09 opera season included the Chorus for the Metropolitan Opera 125th Anniversary Gala; the roles of Count Monterone in Verdi’s Rigoletto and Gubetta in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia with Renée Fleming, both at Washington National Opera; and the title role in Menotti’s The Death of the Bishop of Brindisi at Anne Arundel Community College. Oratorio highlights during 2008-09 were the bass solos in Handel’s Israel in Egypt with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, the Duruflé Requiem with the Handel Choir of Baltimore, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Mr. Cantrell also performed Vaughn-Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, and was soloist in the Reading Symphony Orchestra’s 4th of July Star-Spangled Spectacular.
Other career highlights have included his Washington National Opera debut in the role of the Moorish Envoy in Massenet’s Le Cid, starring Placido Domingo, broadcast on PBS; a Japan tour with Washington National Opera; Porgy and Bess at the Festspielhaus Bregenz in Austria; and three consecutive annual appearances at the Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi in Italy.
Mr. Cantrell has also appeared with Baltimore Opera, Opera Delaware, Wolftrap Opera, Washington Summer Opera, Annapolis Opera, Sarasota Opera, and Opera Ebony. He serves on the voice faculty at the Baltimore School for the Arts, and is bass soloist at Grace United Methodist Church.
Mr. Cantrell sang the bass solo in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at the Hopkins Symphony’s 25th anniversary concert in 2007.
5 December 2009