Bradley Daley

Bradley Daley has won critical and popular praise for some of opera’s most expansive tenor roles – Siegfried, Der Kaiser, Otello, Florestan, Canio, Don José and Erik. Also celebrated have been his interpretations of Mao Tse-tung in Nixon in China and the tenor solos in The Dream of Gerontius.

2022 began with a critically acclaimed Siegmund Die Walküre (click here for reviews) with Melbourne Opera, his debut with Longborough Festival Opera, United Kingdom singing the title role in Siegfried to great critical acclaim, and his concert performance singing Siegfried with Melbourne Opera at the Melbourne Recital Centre.

In 2023 Bradley has had a busy year having sung Siegfried in Melbourne Opera’s complete Ring Cycle conducted by Anthony Negus, followed by Siegfried in Götterdämmerung at Longborough directed by Amy Lane. Next he travels to Australia to understudy Stefan Vinke as Siegfried in the new Opera Australia production of the Ring.

In 2024 he returned to the UK to sing the complete Ring at Longborough Festival Opera with great success.

As Siegfried, Bradley Daley’s tenor is strong and consistent across all registers, and he paces his voice extremely well to meet this most challenging of sings. Siegfried is often seen as a very unlikeable character, but thanks to Daley and Dwyer (for making Mime feel so ‘real’) we can see how, having being brought up as he has been, it would be impossible for him to have ended up any other way. He also comes across as a sensitive character during the ‘Forest Murmurs’, which feel particularly reflective, and as a total innocent when he gives the most bemused expression before crying ‘Das ist kein Mann!’. In the final scene, he and Lee Bisset’s outstanding Brünnhilde capture the total sense of joy that the pair feel on initially finding each other before the mood becomes more serious. Music OMH Sam Smith 30 June 2024

In Australia Bradley has been performing major principal roles with Opera Australia – Curley in Of Mice and Men (Green Room Award), Don José in Carmen, Siegmund in Der Ring des Nibelungen; Opera Queensland – Florestan in Fidelio, Rodolfo in La bohème, Dick Johnson in La fanciulla del West; State Opera of South Australia – title role in Otello, Narraboth in Salome, Canio in Pagliacci; Victorian Opera – Mao Tse-tung in Nixon in China (Green Room Award), Erik in Der fliegende Holländer, Walther in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for the State Opera of South Australia (semi staged Act3 only) and Bob Boles in Peter Grimes for the Brisbane Festival.

Most recently in Germany Bradley has made his debut in the role of Siegfried, Der Ring des Nibelungen for Opera Kiel. In 2018 Bradley returned to the role of Siegfried, this time in Götterdämmerung, culminating in his first complete Ring cycle of this land mark role. In 2019 he made another German debut with the role of Der Kaiser in Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten followed by more Siegfried’s in another complete Ring cycle for Opera Kiel.

Bradley has been involved in two world premières: he created the role of Staff Officer in English National Opera’s The Silver Tassie by Mark Anthony Turnage and the role of Gunther in The Triumph of Spirit over Matter for Muziektheatre Transparent, Belgium.

After making his debut with the English National Opera as Rodolfo in La bohème, Bradley has worked with Opera North, Welsh National Opera, English National Opera, Holland Park Opera, Co-Opera Ireland and performed regularly with Muziektheatre Transparent in Belgium, Compagnia d’Opera Italiana di Milano, Opera Nomade in Paris; in 2005, he was invited to give the first performance of a Western opera at the Hanoi Opera House. Concert appearances have included Festival Hall, the Barbican, Brangwyn Hall in Wales, Großes Festspielhaus Salzburg, Melbourne Town Hall and the concert halls of both the Queensland Arts Centre and the Sydney Opera House.

Concert performances have included Rachmaninoff’s The Bells, Dvoràk’s Stabat Mater, Verdi’s Requiem, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Die erste Walpurgisnacht for the Prague Music Festival, Messiah with the Britten Sinfonia at Snape Maltings and Elgar’s The Kingdom and The Dream of Gerontius at Melbourne Town Hall.

Representation in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Europe and the Middle East. Other territories click here.

Please note that this biography is not to be used for programmes. Current information is available on request.