Barry Banks’ 2021–22 season saw a triumphant return to The Metropolitan Opera where he sang the role of Hades in Matthew Aucoin’s acclaimed new opera Eurydice, earning him the highest of praise from audiences and critics alike, the Washington Post writing, “His tenor is white-hot, piercing through the orchestra, threatening to burst into flames as Hades.” Making further steps into a new territory of repertoire, the current season sees him returning to Los Angeles Opera in Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abel’s new opera Omar conducted by Kazem Abdullah and his role debut as Mime in Das Rheingold for Dallas Opera under the baton of Emmanuel Villaume.
In a prestigious career built on impeccable technique and innate musicality, Banks’ notable operatic roles in the bel canto repertoire have included Arnold (Guillaume Tell) at Welsh National Opera, the title role in Mitridate, re di Ponto and Don Narciso (Il turco in Italia) at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Ernesto (Don Pasquale) at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Count Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia) at Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Idreno (Semiramide) at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples and Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore) at The Metropolitan Opera. He has appeared as Iago in Rossini’s Otello at both Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and the Salzburg Festival. The role of Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola) saw his debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, and Oreste (Ermione) marked his debut at the Santa Fe Festival. He made his debuts in Vienna as Norfolk (Elisabetta, Regina d’Inghilterra) at Theater an der Wien, at the 2021 Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro in Elisabetta, Regina d’Inghilterra and, most recently, at the Wiener Staatsoper as Don Narciso.
During a long association with English National Opera, Banks has appeared in a string of new productions and roles, including Tom Rakewell (The Rake’s Progress), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Hoffmann (Les contes d’Hoffmann) and the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto. Recent international highlights include house debuts at Teatro Real as the Astrologer in The Golden Cockerel, as Pirelli in Andreas Homoki’s staging of Sweeney Todd at Opernhaus Zürich, at Opera Philadelphia as Truffaldino (The Love for Three Oranges) and at Dallas Opera in The Golden Cockerel.
In concert, Barry Banks has performed Berlioz’ Grande messe des morts under Sir Colin Davis and London Symphony Orchestra which was released to considerable acclaim on LSO Live. He sang in Britten’s War Requiem at the Teatro alla Scala under Xian Zhang, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with Münchner Philharmoniker under Sir Andrew Davis, Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Daniele Gatti, and Gurrelieder with Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de Espana under the baton of David Afkham. He features on several recordings of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, including with the Utah Symphony Orchestra under Thierry Fischer and with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski; there will be a further release this season, this time with the Minnesota Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä.