Ian Belsey
Encyclopedia
Ian Belsey is a lyric baritone
specializing in opera of the bel canto period, but is best known for his performances in light music and operetta, particularly the works of Gilbert and Sullivan
.
, making his stage debut in 1970 at the age of 8 at the Pier Theatre, Bournemouth
in The Sooty Show
. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dancing, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and at the Royal College of Music
, both in the Opera School and as a post-graduate.
and the works of Gilbert and Sullivan
at major theatres and concert halls throughout the United Kingdom and in France, Germany, Holland, Spain, New York, Bermuda, the Far East and aboard the QE2
on the World Cruise.
He was a principal baritone with the Regency Opera Company in Tosca
and The Marriage of Figaro
(1986), English Festival Opera's La boheme
(1995) and Pimlico Opera's tour of La Traviata
, as well as baritone soloist in the Magic of Broadway in Yarmouth and Iolanthe
for Opera Options at Hever Castle
. He also performed Mountararat in Iolanthe and Mentchikoff in The Count of Luxembourg
in the 1990s for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
. He has been a guest artist for the Welsh National Opera
and the Northern Sinfonia
, and has given vocal master classes at most of the leading drama schools in England. He has also appeared in all of the International Covent Garden
Festival’s productions of Trial by Jury
.
His musical theatre
work includes productions of Evita (Opera House Manchester), Cats
(Opera House Blackpool), the national and international tour of Chess
, Passarino & Mousieur Andre in The Phantom of the Opera
(Her Majesty's Theatre
, London 1998) and an extensive national tour of King's Rhapsody
. His other work includes Stairway to the Stars, Hello, Dolly!
, My One and Only
(all at the London Palladium
), the Cole Porter
Centennial Gala at the Prince Edward Theatre
, Mr Wonderful at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
, and the Italian Singer in Around the World in Eighty Minutes at the Royal Albert Hall
, all of which have been recorded for radio and on CD.
He was a baritone soloist with Hinge and Bracket
, appearing at their famous Prom Nights, culminating in their 21st Anniversary Gala at The Royal Festival Hall
in 1995.
as Captain Corcoran in several of their productions of H.M.S. Pinafore
since 2001. Since 2004, he has appeared as the Sergeant of Police in Opera della Luna's productions of The Parson's Pirates
, as the title role in The Mikado
, as Sir Roderic Murgatroyd in The Ghosts of Ruddigore
, La Belle Helene
, and The Tales of Hoffmann. He appeared in the company's 2008 productions of Moonstruck and The Amorous Goldfish.
He has also played Major General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance
, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus and The Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe
at The Sevenoaks Festival. He was Papageno in The Magic Flute
with New Devon Opera in 2005 ("quite superb throughout"). He made his début at the Wigmore Hall
in the children’s entertainment, The Magic Flute & The Broomstick, which was written by Simon Butteriss. In 2008, Belsey played Apollo in the reconstruction of Thespis
at the Normansfield Theatre, Teddington
, which was the first professional British production since 1872.
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
specializing in opera of the bel canto period, but is best known for his performances in light music and operetta, particularly the works of Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
.
Biography
Belsey was born in BromleyBromley
Bromley is a large suburban town in south east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Bromley. It was historically a market town, and prior to 1963 was in the county of Kent and formed the administrative centre of the Municipal Borough of Bromley...
, making his stage debut in 1970 at the age of 8 at the Pier Theatre, Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
in The Sooty Show
The Sooty Show
The Sooty Show is a British children's television series that aired on the BBC from 1955 to 1967 when the BBC eventually cancelled The Sooty Show after Paul Fox, the controller of BBC1 at the time, cleared out some of the long running shows. After it was cancelled from the BBC that year, The Sooty...
. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dancing, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and at the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
, both in the Opera School and as a post-graduate.
Career
Belsey has appeared in operaOpera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and the works of Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
at major theatres and concert halls throughout the United Kingdom and in France, Germany, Holland, Spain, New York, Bermuda, the Far East and aboard the QE2
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2
Queen Elizabeth 2, often referred to simply as the QE2, is an ocean liner that was operated by Cunard from 1969 to 2008. Following her retirement from cruising, she is now owned by Istithmar...
on the World Cruise.
He was a principal baritone with the Regency Opera Company in Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
and The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
(1986), English Festival Opera's La boheme
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
(1995) and Pimlico Opera's tour of La Traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
, as well as baritone soloist in the Magic of Broadway in Yarmouth and Iolanthe
Iolanthe
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....
for Opera Options at Hever Castle
Hever Castle
Hever Castle is located in the village of Hever near Edenbridge, Kent, south-east of London, England. It began as a country house, built in the 13th century...
. He also performed Mountararat in Iolanthe and Mentchikoff in The Count of Luxembourg
The Count of Luxembourg
The Count of Luxembourg is an operetta in two acts with English lyrics and libretto by Basil Hood and Adrian Ross, music by Franz Lehár, based loosely on the German original, entitled "Der Graf von Luxemburg", which had premiered in Vienna in 1909....
in the 1990s for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere, from the 1870s until it closed in 1982. It was revived in 1988 and...
. He has been a guest artist for the Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera is an opera company founded in Cardiff, Wales in 1943. The WNO tours Wales, the United Kingdom and the rest of the world extensively. Annually, it gives more than 120 performances of eight main stage operas to a combined audience of around 150,000 people...
and the Northern Sinfonia
Northern Sinfonia
The Northern Sinfonia is a British chamber orchestra, based initially in Newcastle upon Tyne, and currently in Gateshead. For the first 46 years of its history, the orchestra gave the bulk of its concerts at the City Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne. Since 2004, the orchestra has been resident at The...
, and has given vocal master classes at most of the leading drama schools in England. He has also appeared in all of the International Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
Festival’s productions of Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its...
.
His musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
work includes productions of Evita (Opera House Manchester), Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
(Opera House Blackpool), the national and international tour of Chess
Chess (musical)
Chess is a musical with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, formerly of ABBA, and with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story involves a romantic triangle between two top players, an American and a Russian, in a world chess championship, and a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other;...
, Passarino & Mousieur Andre in The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
(Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
, London 1998) and an extensive national tour of King's Rhapsody
King's Rhapsody
King's Rhapsody is a musical with book and music by Ivor Novello and lyrics by Christopher Hassall.The musical was first produced at the Palace Theatre, London, on 15 September 1949 and ran for 841 performances, surviving its author, who died in 1951...
. His other work includes Stairway to the Stars, Hello, Dolly!
Hello, Dolly! (musical)
Hello, Dolly! is a musical with lyrics and music by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart, based on Thornton Wilder's 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The Matchmaker in 1955....
, My One and Only
My One and Only
My One and Only is a musical with a book by Peter Stone and Timothy S. Mayer and music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin.Written to incorporate classic Gershwin tunes from Funny Face and other popular shows into one evening of entertainment, the plot, set in 1927 America, revolves around Capt...
(all at the London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
), the Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
Centennial Gala at the Prince Edward Theatre
Prince Edward Theatre
The Prince Edward Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Old Compton Street, just north of Leicester Square, in the City of Westminster.The theatre was designed in 1930 by Edward A. Stone, with an interior designed by Marc-Henri Levy and Gaston Laverdet...
, Mr Wonderful at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
, and the Italian Singer in Around the World in Eighty Minutes at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
, all of which have been recorded for radio and on CD.
He was a baritone soloist with Hinge and Bracket
Hinge and Bracket
Dr. Evadne Hinge and Dame Hilda Bracket were the stage personae of the musical performance and female impersonation artists George Logan and Patrick Fyffe...
, appearing at their famous Prom Nights, culminating in their 21st Anniversary Gala at The Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
in 1995.
Recent projects
Belsey has appeared with Opera della LunaOpera della Luna
Opera della Luna, founded in 1994, is a British touring theatre troupe of actor-singers focusing on comic works. Led by artistic director Jeff Clarke, it takes its name from Haydn's operatic setting of Goldoni's farce Il mondo della luna...
as Captain Corcoran in several of their productions of H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore
H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...
since 2001. Since 2004, he has appeared as the Sergeant of Police in Opera della Luna's productions of The Parson's Pirates
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
, as the title role in The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
, as Sir Roderic Murgatroyd in The Ghosts of Ruddigore
Ruddigore
Ruddigore; or, The Witch's Curse, originally called Ruddygore, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas and the tenth of fourteen comic operas written together by Gilbert and Sullivan...
, La Belle Helene
La belle Hélène
La belle Hélène , opéra bouffe in three acts, is an operetta by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy...
, and The Tales of Hoffmann. He appeared in the company's 2008 productions of Moonstruck and The Amorous Goldfish.
He has also played Major General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus and The Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe
Iolanthe
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....
at The Sevenoaks Festival. He was Papageno in The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
with New Devon Opera in 2005 ("quite superb throughout"). He made his début at the Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall is a leading international recital venue that specialises in hosting performances of chamber music and is best known for classical recitals of piano, song and instrumental music. It is located at 36 Wigmore Street, London, UK and was built to provide London with a venue that was both...
in the children’s entertainment, The Magic Flute & The Broomstick, which was written by Simon Butteriss. In 2008, Belsey played Apollo in the reconstruction of Thespis
Thespis (opera)
Thespis, or The Gods Grown Old, is an operatic extravaganza that was the first collaboration between dramatist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan. No musical score of Thespis was ever published, and most of the music has been lost...
at the Normansfield Theatre, Teddington
Teddington
Teddington is a suburban area in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London, on the north bank of the River Thames, between Hampton Wick and Twickenham. It stretches inland from the River Thames to Bushy Park...
, which was the first professional British production since 1872.
External links
- Belsey's Official Website
- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2438691/Belsey on the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
website] - http://www.operadellaluna.org/repertoire_mikado.aspBelsey in The MikadoThe MikadoThe Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
with Opera della LunaOpera della LunaOpera della Luna, founded in 1994, is a British touring theatre troupe of actor-singers focusing on comic works. Led by artistic director Jeff Clarke, it takes its name from Haydn's operatic setting of Goldoni's farce Il mondo della luna...
]