South African-born tenor, Colin Lee has rapidly established himself as one of Britain’s leading tenors in the bel canto repertoire. Since his début just over a decade ago, he has worked with most of the major houses around the world.<
Born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa, Colin attended the world renowned Drakensberg Boys’ Choir School as a young boy. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, Colin came to London in 1994 and commenced private vocal studies with the Welsh tenor, Jeffrey Talbot.
Colin’s international career has so far been defined by certain bel canto roles which have brought him to the attention of opera houses and the opera public around the world. In particular he has made his own the role of TONIO in La fille du Regiment. Since his participation in Laurent Pelly’s new production in 2007, Colin has performed the role to critical acclaim in both revivals in 2010 and 2012 at the Royal Opera House (ROH). Another role in which Colin has excelled in the past decade is ALMAVIVA in Rossini’s ever-popular Il barbiere di Siviglia. Since his role début in this opera as a young artist at English National Opera (ENO) in 2003, he has gone on to sing the role over 80 times in opera houses around the world, most notably ROH, Metropolitan Opera House, Opéra de Paris, Vienna State Opera, Berlin State Opera.
After his initial successes in the lighter Rossini roles, Colin has tackled more recently the dramatic Rossini repertoire. In 2009 he sang the role of ORESTE inErmione, recording and performing it in concert for Opera Rara. This led to collaboration with René Jacobs in 2010 at the Theater an der Wien where he performed the role of ARGIRIO in Tancredi. Following on from this success he made his début in the role of RODRIGO in La donna del lago at Paris Garnier, alongside Joyce Di Donato in the role of ELENA and Juan Diego Floréz as GIACOMO V. Together with the same Paris cast he will reprise the role of RODRIGO in 2013 at ROH in their new production directed by John Fulljames. In March 2013 he sings the role of ELVINO in La sonnambula at the Bolshoi Opera.
Colin has also sought opportunities to explore roles outside the mainstream tenore leggiero bel canto repertoire. In 2011, with the encouragement of René Jacobs, Colin ventured into French Baroque repertoire for the first time when he sang, to great acclaim, the challenging travesty title role in Rameau’s Platéefor De Nederlandse Opera. In the same year Colin returned to his city of birth and made his house début as ALFREDO in Cape Town Opera’s production of Verdi’s La traviata. During this time Colin had the pleasure of singing his first song recital in over 10 years accompanied by the outstanding South African pianist Albie van Schalkwyk. He will also be returning to Cape Town in 2013 to sing in concert, the role of EDGARDO in Lucia di Lammermoor under the baton of Maestro Richard Bonynge, with his South African opera colleagues Pretty Yende and George Stevens.
Colin has enjoyed a decade-long relationship with the recording label Opera Rara during which time he has participated in 11 recordings for the label. Most recently he has recorded the role of GERARDO in Donizetti’s Caterina Cornaro. Opera Rara’s recording of Rossini’s Ermione released in 2011, in which Colin sang the role of ORESTE, was awarded the prestigious Gramophone Award for Best Opera Recording 2011. Future projects include Donizetti’s Les Martyrs andAdelson e Salvini by Bellini.
Colin is a Trustee of the Concordia Foundation, which supports and develops young musicians around the world.