Includes arias from

Rossini:The Italian Girl in Algiers; Stabat Mater; Count Ory; Moses in Egypt; Ermione; The Thieving Magpie; Armida; Mozart: Don Giovanni; Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress; Donizetti: Don Pasquale; The Elixir of Love; Mascagni; Our Friend Fritz

Distinguished tenor Barry Banks presents the next disc in Chandos’ Great Operatic Arias series. His recital comprises predominantly bel canto arias.

Several other highly distinguished artists, many of whom have their own recital discs on the Opera in English label, also appear in this programme.

The disc features music by Rossini, Mozart, Donizetti, Stravinsky, Mascagni and Mozart, forming an original and highly satisfying programme which showcases Banks’s versatility and technique.

Barry Banks will be appearing this year in Capriccio at the Opéra national de Paris (June and July) and in Don Giovanni at English National Opera (October and November). Engagements next year include L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Opéra national de Paris and Il turco in Italia at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

This CD is available at mid-price.



This is a recital in rondo form, where the recurring theme is Rossini. The very good reason for this is that Rossini wrote copiously and to excellent effect for the light, high, flexible lyric tenor voice. This in turn reminds us that the recital can also be regarded as the rondo movement of an (as yet) unfinished symphony: a symphony of singers, the ‘Great Operatic Arias’ series being designed to present, in each issue, not only the art of an individual singer but also an exposition of a representative voice-type and of the repertoire that goes with it. Two tenors have figured so far, Dennis O’Neill and Bruce Ford, both of whom, incidentally, can be heard, with Barry Banks, in this latest addition. They too would generally be categorised as lyric tenors though of different kinds, Ford having the special qualities that enable him to undertake the heroic roles in Rossini, and O’Neill developing in the latter part of his career the weightier tone called for in the robust or heroic repertoire of the later nineteenth-century Italian composers, especially Verdi. In this present recital we hear the lyric voice in its purest form, without any baritonal element, light in colour, precise in definition and moving easily in those high ranges of the voice which Rossini particularly loved to exploit.

A graduate of The Royal Northern College of Music, Barry Banks has established himself as one of the finest tenors of his generation for his outstanding appearances in opera and concert, particularly in the bel canto repertoire. In much demand on the international opera platform, he has sung for many of the world’s most prestigious opera houses, under some of the world’s most illustrious conductors

'It is a light, well-defined tenor with exceptional ease in the high resgister and an extensive range in terms of compass' On the few occasions I have heard him in the theatre, his light, compact tone has had a shine to it, and, in return, the audience have taken a shine to him.'
'On this release he [Banks] plays to his strengths in the bel canto repertory, highlighting his delicacy, and his skill in moving his instrument around the trickier passages of Rossini' Banks is a fine Donizetti exponent too''
'Pocket-sized tenor Barry Banks packs a powerful punch, wrapped up here with consummate skill and genuine bel canto artistry. Atractive arias in clear English.'


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