Matthew Brook is known for his honest and open portrayal of characters whether on the opera or concert stage. He has developed a world-wide reputation for his interpretation of the music of J.S Bach and George Frederic Handel but his musical tastes stretch far beyond this, often performing new commissions, and has appeared as a soloist throughout Europe, Australia, North and South America and the Far East.

Further concert repertoire he performs regularly include pieces such as Beethoven Ninth Symphony and Missa Solemnis, Berlioz L’Enfance du Christ, Brahms’ Requiem, Elgar Dream of Gerontius, Haydn Die Schöpfung and Die Jahreszeiten, Mendelssohn Elijah, Tippett A Child of Our Time and Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast.

This season, Matthew returns to Opera North to sing ChelsiasSusanna and ClaudioAgrippina at Opera de Rouen. He gives performances with the Bachakademie Stuttgart, Concergebouw-orkest Amsterdam, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Nederlandse Bachvereniging, and George Enescu Philharmonic, to name a few.

In 2023 Matthew made his Opéra national de Paris debut performing the role of Il Re di Scozia in a new Robert Carsen production of Ariodante under Harry Bicket, and also his debut with Opera North in David Poutney’s “Masque of Might”, music by Purcell, conducted by Harry Bicket. He has performed roles at Staatstheater Stuttgart, Opera Comique, Göttingen International Handel Festival, The Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg and at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Some of Matthew’s roles have included PolyphemusAcis and Galatea, AeneasDido and Aeneas, PapagenoDie Zauberflöte, FigaroLe nozze di Figaro, LeporelloDon Giovanni, Kouno Der Freischütz,GaribaldoRodelinda,Ned KeenePeter Grimes, VicarAlbert Herring, NoyeNoye's Fludde, Aeneas in Errollyn Wallen's Dido's Ghost, John Bunyan and Lord Hategood in Vaughan Williams's The Pilgrim’s Progress, Melchior in Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, Jupiter in Rameau’s Castor et Pollux, Starek and MayorJenufa, Antenor and Calkas in Walton’s Troilus and Cressida,ZunigaCarmen, Argenio Imeneo, Claudio Agrippina, Seneca in L’incoronazione di Poppea, and Simone Gianni Schicchi alongside Bryn Terfel. He assumed the roles of Don Alfonso and Bartolo under Sir John Elliott Gardiner as part of a big European tour including at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Salle Pleyel, Paris, Teatro Real, Madrid and Giuseppe Verdi Opera House, Pisa.

Matthew has an extensive discography resulting in many nominations and awards including several Gramophone awards for the music of Handel and Bach and a Grammy nomination for the Mozart Requiem. His recording Bach: Ich habe genug with the Dunedin Consort for the Linn label won the choral award in the 2022 BBC Music Magazine Awards. Some other recording highlights include Handel’s Messiah with John Nelson and the English Concert and Choir, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with David Bates and La Nuova Musica, Handel’s Ariodante with Joyce DiDonato and Il Complesso Barocco for the Erato label under Alan Curtis, Idomeneo with the late Sir Charles Mackerras for EMI, and CounselTrial By Jury and Friar Tuck in Sullivan’s Ivanhoe with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales for Chandos records. He is also soloist for a BBC television recording of Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ under the late Richard Hickox.

Matthew has enjoyed long collaborations with conductors including Sir Andrew Davis, Harry Bicket, Bernhard Labadie, Christophe Rousset, John Nelson, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Herreweghe, John Butt, Harry Christophers, Paul McCreesh and the late Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Roger Norrington and Richard Hickox. He has also collaborated with Richard Tognetti, Sir Mark Elder, Emmanuelle Haïm, Laurence Equilbey, Maxim Emelyanchev, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Laurence Cummings and Christian Curnyn.

Photo credit: Gerard Collett