| "Characterised by a very strong acting presence, the singer succeeded in creating a portrait (Parsifal) of immense humanistic sympathy. Vocally, Jonathan Stoughton also drew on a wealth of resources, with a bright, youthful tenor that seemed to feel visibly at home in the part. Soft cantilenas, excellent phrasing, fresh colours, fine dark tones of the middle register, a wonderful timbre with a beautiful sound as well as the flowing legato to the best accent-free articulation were his brilliant attributes and thus he advanced to a celebrated audience magnet.
So cheered the press after his debut as Parsifal in April 2022 at the National Theatre in Mannheim.
Following his debuts as Bacchus ('Ariadne auf Naxos'), Prince in Rusalka and Siegfried ('Siegfried'), which were praised as "passionate, fresh and promisingly effortless" [The Guardian], he has established himself as one of Britain's most exciting heroic tenors. His repertoire includes Siegfried ('Siegfried' and 'Götterdämmerung') Bacchus, Erik, Florestan, Stolzing, Don José, Radames, Gustavo and Jimmy (Alwa in the American 'Lulu'). He began the 2017/18 season with his debut at Opera North in the role of Turridu in the new production of 'Cavalleria rusticana'. In January 2019 he made his debut as Max in Krenek's 'Johnny Plays Up' at the Prague State Opera.
In 2019/20 he made his debut as Tristan and was heard in concert as Siegfried at Henry Wood Hall in London. He also made his debut at the Nationaltheater Mannheim as Kaiser in 'Die Frau ohne Schatten'. From the 2020/21 season he will be an ensemble member of the Nationaltheater Mannheim, where he will sing the major roles of the German repertoire. Siegmund, Siegfried, Parsifal, Erik, Stolzing, Bacchus, Kaiser, etc.
At the Leipzig Opera he was heard as Siegfried Ring in one evening in 2021. At the Nationaltheater Mannheim he made his debut as Einsiedel in the premiere of Simplicius Simplicissimus in May 2021, a role that was a great personal success for the attractive Heldentenor. At the Nationaltheater Mannheim, his long-awaited German debuts followed in April 2022 as Parsifal (see review), Erik and as Max in 'Der Freischütz'. The press wrote: "'Kommt ein schlanker Bursch'gegangen' mused Ännchen, for true he came along in the shape of Jonathan Stoughton and advanced to the vocal ideal of Max. His wonderfully timbred tenor climbed the radiant heights excellently and lent the part a masculine, tart note with a pithy, melodious middle register and the best intonation. In an excellent way, the intelligent singer knew how to effectively combine the lyrical sequences with dramatic overtones."
Siegmund and Siegfried followed in the summer of 2022 in the new production of 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. In 2023 he will be singing Florestan in the new production of Fidelio at the Staatstheater Augsburg and will be singing the Parsifal in the opera for children at teh Bayreuth Festival 2023. |  |
