Category Archives: Touring

Revisiting LILAV

After a break of a couple of years, it was a great pleasure to work with the cast of Lessons In Love And Violence again, under the baton of Sir George himself, on a piece that is very close to my heart. Having done about 40 fully-staged performances of Lessons, from Covent Garden to the Liceu in Barcelona, it was a challenge to be doing four concert performances of the piece, but a luxury to be with the wonderful Mahler Chamber Orchestra, for whom Written On Skin, George’s previous opera, was originally composed. Performances took place in Dortmund, Cologne, Essen and Brussels and were very well received!

Brockes Passion (Telemann) with Le Banquet Céleste

Next week I will be working again with Damien Guillon and Le Banquet Céleste as we prepare for three performances of Telemann’s Brockes Passion, in Gent, Rennes and Caen. Here is René Jacobs with an introduction to the piece:

The Indian Queen

Next week I will be travelling to Antwerp to perform Henry Purcell’s The Indian Queen, under the directorship of Guy Cassiers, with Emmanuelle Haïm conducting.

Here is a trailer from Opera Ballet Vlaanderen:

Charpentier: La descent d’Orphée en Enfers – Vache Baroque Festival

“Boden negotiated the protagonist’s haute-contre utterances with seamless elegance and sensitivity … “
Opera, November 2022

“Samuel Boden gave a mesmerising vocal performance in the title role … “
Opera Scene, 5 September 2022

“Samuel Boden’s Orphée negotiates his aerial line … with unfailing elegance and sensitivity … “
The Stage, 5 September 2022

“Samuel Boden plays Orphée… my how he can act. His anguish at the death of Euridice is palpable; his disconsolation is abject as her body is carried off … Musically, the role of Orphée is demanding. Charpentier calls for an haut-contre voice … Boden rises magnificently to this challenge, taking his tenor high without the slightest hint of strain yet with great strength, a timbre that has an enthralling and stirring effect.”
Mark Aspen, 4 September 2022

“Above all Samuel Boden sustains a soberly lyrical line in true haute-contre register, without any roughness, ensuring that musically the work remains squarely focused upon the title character.”
Classical source, 2 September 2022

Bach: St Matthew Passion – NBV

“…radiant height, dynamics and differentiating design – characteristics that also come to light in the performance of the tenors Samuel Boden and Guy Cutting.”
Online Merker, 15 April 2022

“Samuel Boden’s moving timbre corresponds well to the anguished “O Schmerz”.”
Forum Opera, 8 April 2022

Campra: Idoménée – Berlin Staatsoper

“Samuel Boden was a tender Idamante.”
Opera, December 2021

“The overwhelming star of the evening is the Idamante of Samuel Boden, who only briefly survived the lily-adorned sacrificial altar, with a piano shimmer and the finest accuracy in haute-contre.”
Nmz online, 17 November 2021

“the fine-voiced Samuel Boden as Idamante.”
Orpheus Online, 11 November 2021

“Both Samuel Boden and Chiara Skerath are visually believable and immediately win over the audience with their beautiful voices. He with a bright, well-led tenor …”
Der Online Merker, 11 November 2021

“The interaction and the musical dialogue between Chiara Skerath and Samuel Boden, who portrays the young prince is deeply moving. Samuel Boden has only one aria, but the sensitivity of his beautiful and expressive tenor is simply overwhelming.”
Klassikinfo.de, 10 November 2021

“In the character of Idamante, the son of King Idomenee, Samuel Boden shone, a high tenor, charming, even tender.”
Opera Actual Online, 9 November 2021

“… tenor Samuel Boden succeeds as Idamante in great musical moments of silvery tenderness, especially in harpsichord-accompanied recitatives.”
Berliner Mogenpost, 8 November 2021

“… Samuel Boden’s Idamante, with its tenoral restraint, is a prime example of the male tenderness that was so common in the Baroque era.”
Berliner Zeitung, 8 November 2021

“As Idamante, Samuel Boden used his beautiful voice with sovereign agility.”
Kultura-Extra Online, 8 November 2021

“Samuel Boden’s Idamante is sensitive and in his inner turmoil, a tragic figure”
Kieler Nachrichten Online, 7 November 2021

“Samuel Boden sings Idamante with an unshakable tenderness that makes his lot seem all the more cruel.”
Tagesspiel, 6 November 2021

“But the tenor of the king’s son Idamante (Samuel Boden) floats pure and radiant above everything; which makes him, who only wants good for everyone, a natural victim. For the second half, Boden‘s portrayal of the unfortunate, all-loving Idamante is downright touching.”
Hundert 11 Online, 6 November 2021

“… Samuel Boden in particular as the Idomenee son Idamante, [is] characterized by a wonderfully supple, bright tonal range.“
Gf-kuehn.de, 5 November 2021