RANDALL SCOTTING
COUNTERTENOR
BIOGRAPHY
Countertenor Randall Scotting has become a sought-after artist by some of the world’s most esteemed opera houses. He recently made spectacular débuts at The Royal Opera House, Bayerische Staatsoper, and Staatsoper Hamburg, and future engagements include leading roles on stage with Seattle Opera and Frankfurt Opera and in Sydney, Australia and Houston.
Randall’s breakout moment came in 2019 when he stepped in last minute at the Royal Opera House to perform Apollo in Sir David McVicar’s acclaimed production of Britten’s Death in Venice. Randall sang all performances after opening night, thrilling their sold-out audiences. He then joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera the following month to cover performances of Handel’s Agrippina and has been consistently working at top-level houses since. [read more...]
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
“…an athletic body and luminous singing…” – Ópera Actual (Spain)
Venere e Adone – “El contratenor Randall Scotting aportó un cuerpo atlético y un canto luminoso a su apropiadamente petulante Adone” [tr.] Countertenor Randall Scotting brought an athletic body and luminous singing to his appropriately smug Adone”
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"…ravishing vocalism…" - BBC Music Magazine (United Kingdom)
The Crown, Heroic Arias for Senesino – “★★★★ In this debut solo album, countertenor Randall Scotting lets loose a ravishing vocalism… Scotting applies deep colours, muscular core, and baritonal chest register to probe a huge range of feelings. In bravura numbers he pushes tempos to fever pitch, egging the other performers on, often through thrilling roulades. On slower tracks, Scotting’s messa da voce is mesmerising in music about love and despair alike. Scotting’s sensational 2019 Covent Garden debut showed off his superb acting, and this recording captures his dramatic artistry.”
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"… full, darkly mellifluous voice…" - Gramophone, United Kingdom
The Crown, Heroic Arias for Senesino – “Scotting’s full, darkly mellifluous voice – smooth and even throughout its range, with a resonant lower register – is well suited to these elegies, meditations and amorous outpourings… [He] shapes each aria with a feeling for the character’s predicament.”
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“…vocally and physically muscular…” – The New Yorker
Venere e Adone – “Randall Scotting is a vocally and physically muscular Adonis.”
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"… impressively even and agile, with a warm, natural vibrato and beguiling timbre…” – Limelight (Australia)
The Crown, Heroic Arias for Senesino – “★★★★ [Scotting’s] impressively even and agile instrument, with its warm, natural vibrato and particularly beguiling timbre in the lower range. Here, as indeed throughout the program, Scotting’s cadenzas and da capo ornaments are, like the man, both confident and stylish… If charismatically sung baroque opera arias are your thing, Randall Scotting is your man.”
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"… Not only beautifully sung, but “lived…" - Opera Charm Magazine
Lovesick, songs on heartbreak and solitude – “Not only beautifully sung, but “lived” by Scotting… The expressivity of his vocal inflections is of an august individuality. There is a genuineness which makes the listener’s perception of melancholy ever so present and visceral… He sings passionately, immersing the listener… Lovesick is an album that will stir up any music lover’s sense of emotion, and it will carry them through a whirlwind of feelings”
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"...Scotting is marvelous... compelling actor..." – Musical America
Flight – “American countertenor Randall Scotting is marvelous as the Refugee, his plangent, rich-toned instrument possessing just the right degree of otherworldliness to suggest his mysterious origins and the complexities of his unique dilemma. He’s a compelling actor as well, which ensures that his final aria and its dramatic reveal (no spoilers) lands with due pathos.”
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"...sung brilliantly..." – Le Salon Musical
Death in Venice – “Apollo è cantato brillantemente dal controtenore Randall Scotting.” |tr| “Apollo is sung brilliantly by countertenor Randall Scotting.”
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"...there can surely only be a handful of singers on the planet that can carry this off..." – The Christchurch Mail
Oresteia – “Scotting was absolutely amazing, commanding the stage for two long periods of demanding extremes […] There can surely only be a handful of singers on the planet that can carry this off and with his strong physical presence he really was remarkable.”
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"...his vocal choices are imaginative and always stylish..." – Limelight Magazine
Orlando – “Randall Scotting’s Orlando is highly watchable. He delivers a most convincing dramatic and musical performance… his vocal choices are imaginative and always stylish – ‘Fammi combattere’ is terrifically decorated – and he grows in intensity as the evening progresses, delivering an excellent mad scene.”
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"...he made it feel like a showpiece, as though we’ve been listening to it forever…" – Allegri con fuoco
Rinaldo – “Randall Scotting in the role of Rinaldo lent this aria [“Cara sposa, amante cara”] an emotionality that burst out into the space and pushed against the ceiling. Imbuing it with the confidence of familiarity, he made it feel like a showpiece, as though we’ve been listening to it forever… Scotting showed that it was his night. He really shined as Rinaldo.”
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"...a very clear, sweet tone that captivates the audience..." – TheaterJones
Giulio Cesare – “Scotting handles the complex technical demands of the music well, but his greatest strength lies in his intensely lyrical musical ability. He has a very clear, sweet tone that captivates the audience in many of his arias… he exudes the idea of a man’s man – a masculine hero who makes women swoon… the performances are world class.”