JULIAN CLOSE
BASS
BIOGRAPHY
Noted as having “a rich voice that appears to come from the centre of the earth,” as well as, simply, “a voice to die for,” Julian Close stands as one of the most critically acclaimed basses in the UK, having performed at several esteemed opera houses and venues throughout his career including The Metropolitan Opera, The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, The Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Centre, The Bridgewater Hall, Opera North UK, Scottish Opera and the Wexford, Buxton, Longborough, and English Bach Festivals in a wide range of roles. He has also made numerous television and radio broadcasts for the BBC.
Last season, Julian returned to The Metropolitan Opera to cover Sparafucile in Rigoletto, and he returned to Irish National Opera and débuted at Dorset Opera Festival to sing the same role. In addition, he recently made his company début at Irish National Opera to sing the First Soldier in Salome, returned to The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden for their production of Das Rheingold, and returned to Longborough Festival Opera for Wagner’s Ring Cycle and Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande. This season, Mr. Close returns to Irish National Opera for their production of The Bartered Bride and makes his highly anticipated début at Grange Park Opera as the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo and Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia.
In recent seasons, Julian returned to The Metropolitan Opera for Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Rigoletto, and Don Carlo. Additionally, he returned to both the Scottish Opera as Simone/Talpa in Il trittico and the Longborough Festival for their long-awaited Götterdämmerung, and he was seen with his wife Rebecca Afonwy-Jones in the Kent, UK’s JAM on the Marsh Festival.
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Previously, Close performed in Rosenkavalier for Garsington Opera Festival and in Holst’ Savitri as Death with the Leeds Opera Festival. 2020 and 2021 engagements were to include returns to The Metropolitan Opera for Tristan und Isolde, Fidelio, and Lulu, returns to the Longborough Festival and English National Opera for their productions of Die Walküre, and Wagner’s Ring Cycle with the Lyric Opera Chicago. Mr. Close made his long-awaited house début at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden in The Magic Flute, he joined The Metropolitan Opera for their productions of Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung, Otello, Pelleas et Melisande, and Rigoletto, and he made his house début at Opéra de Montréal as Fasolt in Das Rheingold. He also performed the role of Don Juan in From the House of the Dead with Welsh National Opera and the role of Wotan in the third act of Die Walküre with New Palace Opera. Additionally, Mr. Close performed the role of Hunding in Die Walküre with Saffron Opera Group, Fafner in Das Rheingold with Minnesota Opera, and Ramfis in Aida with Pacific Symphony. He first joined the roster of The Metropolitan Opera in 2011 for their production of Der Ring des Nibelungen and has returned as a performer subsequently every season. Additional recent engagements include Hunding in a concert performance of Die Walküre with The Chandos Orchestra; Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Longborough Festival; Verdi’s Requiem with the Eaton Christchurch Choir in Norwich; and a return to Welsh National Opera for Moses und Aron and Nabucco. He also returned to Opera Project for Madama Butterfly and joined Opera Rara for Donizetti’s Les Martyrs at Royal Festival Hall.
Prior engagements include Angelotti in Tosca, Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos, Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Athlete in Lulu, and Bonze in Madama Butterfly, all with Welsh National Opera; Lodovico in Otello for the BBC Philharmonic; Bonze in Madama Butterfly and Commendatore in Don Giovanni with Opera Project UK; King Marke in Tristan und Isolde and Landgraf in Tannhaüser with the Northern Wagner Orchestra; Fafner in both Das Rheingold and Siegfried with the Longborough Wagner Festival, a role he also covered with The Metropolitan Opera. He also covered Lord Fortune in Miss Fortune for the Royal Opera, Covent Garden.
Favorite engagements from past seasons include: Wotan in Das Rheingold, Hagen in Götterdämmerung, Pogner in Die Meistersinger, Titurel in Parsifal, Steffano Colonna in Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen, Dosifey in Mussorgsky’s Khovanschina, Vodník in Rusalka, Il Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo, Penios in Daphne, Pistola in Falstaff, Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Zuniga in Carmen, Mayor in Jenůfa, Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia, Timur in Turandot, Colline in La bohème, Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin, Luther and Crespel in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Ramfis in Aida, Loredano in I due Foscari, Nourabad in Les pêcheurs de perles, and Black Bob and Tom in Let’s Make an Opera.
Also a successful concert artist, Mr. Close’s orchestral repertoire includes Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, Magnificat, and Lutheran Mass; Beethoven’s Mass in C; Dyson’s Canterbury Pilgrims; Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius and Caractacus; Judas in The Apostles; Fauré’s Requiem; Haydn’s Creation; Mahler’s Symphony No. 8; Mozart’s Requiem, C Minor Mass, and Vesperae Solennes; Puccini’s Messa di Gloria; Rossini’s Stabat Mater; Verdi’s Requiem; as well as Weber’s Second Mass in G Minor and Stravinsky’s Les Noces with the Michael Clarke Dance Company (Barbican Centre & The Lincoln Center, New York).
Current as of September 18, 2025
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"...He gave a truly believable and moving performance..." – Great British Life
Götterdämmerung – "As you’d expect for an LFO production, every single performer in this production were of world-class standard, and, just as you think the bar can’t possibly be raised, there are some truly outstanding performances. Firstly, Julian Close as Hagen shone for both his deep, rich bass vocal performance and his capacity as an actor to portray such a complex, melancholic and troubled character. He gave a truly believable and moving performance, which provided a certain gravitas to the overall production that had you questioning your allegiances.”
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"...remarkable voice..." – The Article
Götterdämmerung – "The one person who knows exactly what is going on is Hagen, and Julian Close, whose remarkable voice has taken him to the Met in New York for various roles (including Sparafucile this season), was outstanding in this part. Knowing and determined in his quest to regain the Ring, his interaction with his father Alberich (Freddie Tong) gives the appearance that it occurs in an inebriated dream of Hagen. With Lee Bisset singing a fine and intelligent looking Brünnhilde, unlike the standard delivery of this powerful role, we had the ingredients for an excellent performance."
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"...Close sang with huge, effortless voice..." – Classical Source
Götterdämmerung – “Julian Close's superb Hagen is one of the two roles anchoring the psychological complexity. Close sang with huge, effortless voice, and from his first appearance, manipulating the marital prospects of Gunther and Gutrune, you never doubted that calamity had entered the Gibichung court. This Hagen embodied wickedness and was magnificent.”
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"His powerful bass captivates the listener with its darkness, strength and security..." – Music OMH
Götterdämmerung – “If Hagen feels the dominant force in the opera, it is also because Julian Close’s portrayal of him is so commanding. His powerful bass captivates the listener with its darkness, strength and security, and he skilfully presents Hagen as a figure who has been totally numbed by being born with no love, and with the sole aim of obtaining the ring.”
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"...always invested in meaning..." – Opera Today
Die Walküre – "...a menacing Julian Close whose spare movements are always invested in meaning."
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"...godlike authority...” – Harmony
Die Walküre – “Julian Close, a habitual Hagen and Fafner, was making his debut as Wotan, and it was a stunner. His huge, black marble voice ruled the platform and had an edge like a spear. Every word was effortlessly audible. Already this was an assumption with godlike authority.”
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"...Julian Close was stupendous..." – The Irish Times
Don Giovanni – “As the Commendatore, Julian Close was stupendous, the sort of bass who could sing Fafner the Dragon without the amplifying megaphone dictated by Wagner.” –
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"...an immensely moving and dignified performance...“ – Seen and Heard International
Tristan und Isolde – “King Marke’s monologue often seems to halt the progress of the drama, but as sung by the vastly experienced Julian Close it proved the emotional highpoint of all we heard. His deep voice was extraordinarily handsome, and the abiding decency of the character he created – and his obvious engagement with the King’s innate decency – elicited sympathy for Marke’s despair. The tenderness Close brought to describing Isolde as ‘Dies wundervolle Weib’ was heartbreaking and throughout he gave an immensely moving and dignified performance“
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"...musically rich...” – The Arts Desk
Lulu – “The enormous cast has hardly a weakness. Especially memorable are Julian Close’s Acrobat, a role hard to define but musically rich.”
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"...voice that appeared to come from the centre of the earth...” – Harry Mottram
Eugene Onegin – “Julian Close as Prince Gremin and his voice that appeared to come from the centre of the earth.”
REPRESENTATIVES
General