CliveBayley
- Bass


About Clive
Born in Manchester, Clive Bayley sings regularly with major opera companies in a diverse repertoire spanning Monteverdi, Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Alban Berg, Benjamin Britten, Birtwistle, Richard Wagner and Ligeti.
Recent and forthcoming engagements include Swallow Peter Grimes at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and English National Opera, Trulove The Rake’s Progress and Doctor Carlos Conde in a new production of The Exterminating Angel at Opéra de Paris, Daland The Flying Dutchman at Opera North, Savjol Prokofjevič Dikój Kát'a Kabanová at Grange Park Opera, Somnus/Cadmus Semele at Glyndebourne, Prison Governor From the House of the Dead at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Swallow Peter Grimes and Spectre du roi défunt in Ambroise Thomas’s Hamlet at Opéra de Paris, and Basilio Il barbiere di Siviglia at The Norwegian Opera & Ballet.
Other operatic engagements include Tiresias Oedipe at Opéra de Paris; the title role in Battistelli’s Julius Caesar at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma; the Doctor Wozzeck at the Bayerische Staatsoper; Swallow Peter Grimes at Teatro Real Madrid and Oper Frankfurt; the title role in Ivan the Terrible, Capulet Romeo and Juliet and the Sacristan The Excursions of Mr Brouček at Grange Park Opera; Savjol Prokofjevič Dikój Kát'a Kabanová at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; Judge and Commissaire in Philip Glass’s Orphée, and Priest/Badger The Cunning Little Vixen at English National Opera; Claggart Billy Budd at Gothenburg Opera and in the Richard Jones production at Oper Frankfurt; Fafner Siegfried with the Hallé Orchestra; Daland Der Fliegende Holländer at the Royal Danish Theatre; Publio La clemenza di Tito for Glyndebourne Festival; and First Nazarene Salome at the Edinburgh International Festival with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner.
Contact
For availability and general enquiries:

Angelica Conner

Charlotte Bateman
Representation
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Season Highlights
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Selected Repertoire
Alfano
Cyrano de Bergerac (Carbon)
Bartók
Bluebeard’s Castle (Bluebeard)
Battistelli
Julius Caesar (Title Role)
Beethoven
Fidelio (Rocco)
Berg
Wozzeck (Doctor)
Britten
Billy Budd (Claggart) • Gloriana (Sir Walter Raleigh) • Peter Grimes (Swallow) • A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theseus)
Cavalli
La Calisto (Sylvano)
Debussy
Pelléas et Mélisande (Arkel)
Enescu
OEdipe (Tiresias)
Glass
Orphée (Judge and Commissaire)
Gluck
Iphigénie en Tauride (Thoas)
Gounod
Roméo et Juliette (Capulet)
Handel
Giulio Cesare (Achilla) • Semele (Somnus/Cadmus)
Janáček
From the House of the Dead (Prison Governor) • The Cunning Little Vixen (Priest/Badger) • The Excursions of Mr Brouček (the Sacristan) • Kát’a Kabanová (Savjol Prokofjevič Dikój)
Ligeti
Le Grand Macabre (Astradamors)
Massenet
Don Quichotte (Title Role)
Mozart
Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Osmin) • Die Zauberflöte (Sarastro) • Don Giovanni (Leporello & Il Commendatore) • La clemenza di Tito (Publio) • Le nozze di Figaro (Bartolo)
Puccini
Manon Lescaut (Geronte)
Rimsky-Korsakov
Ivan the Terrible (Title Role)
Rossini
Il barbiere di Siviglia (Basilio)
Smetana
The Bartered Bride (Kecal)
Strauss
Salome (First Nazarene)
Tchaikovsky
Eugene Onegin (Prince Gremin)
Thomas
Hamlet (Spectre du roi défunt)
Verdi
Aida (The King of Egypt & Ramfis) • Attila (title role) • Don Carlo (Il Grande Inquisitor & Philippe II) • Il trovatore (Ferrando) • Luisa Miller (Wurm) • Macbeth (Banquo)
Wagner
Das Rheingold (Fasolt) • Die Fliegende Holländer (Daland) • Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Hans Foltz) • Die Walküre (Hunding) • Parsifal (Titurel) • Siegfried (Fafner) • Tannhäuser (Biterolf) • Tristan und Isolde (König Marke)
News
Press
Peter Grimes (Swallow)
English National OperaSep 2023 - Oct 2023Simon Bailey’s Balstrode, Clive Bayley’s Swallow and John Findon’s Bob Boles provide huge vocal power and are, in the latter cases, unforgettably repellent.
- Flora Willson, The Guardian
- 22 September 2023
bass Clive Bayley was outstanding as Swallow
- Stephen Pritchard, bachtrack
- 22 September 2023
Clive Bayley is authoritative as the lawyer Swallow
- Richard Fairman, Financial Times
- 25 September 2023
Clive Bayley, with impeccable diction
- Nicholas Kenyon, The Telegraph
- 22 September 2023
Hamlet (Spectre du roi défunt)
Opéra national de ParisMar 2023 - Apr 2023Clive Bayley heard recently in Peter Grimes at Garnier is remarkable in Spectre of the deceased King
- Francois Lesueur, ConcertClassic
- 14 March 2023
Clive Bayley was very convincing in the short but dramatically important role of “the spectre of the king.
- Mauricio Villa, OperaWire
- 16 March 2023
The work of the veteran Clive Bayley as the ghost of the deceased king is impeccable, a part especially considered here in Warlikowski's production
- Alexander Martinez, Platea
- 29 March 2023
Peter Grimes (Swallow)
Opéra national de ParisJan 2023 - Feb 2023Clive Bayley shows himself to be authoritarian at first, with his well-emitted voice, limpid in the treble and voluptuous in the bass, with a round vibrato. As a good lawyer, he has a precise and rhythmic elocution
- Damien Dutilleul, Olyrix
- 27 January 2023
Clive Bayley offering a judge Swallow overtaken by the midday demon, with a smooth voice and always impressive bass.
- Laurent Bury, ConcertClassic
- 28 January 2023
Clive Bayley’s Swallow also was a showcase of both good singing and great acting. He is a pathetic man teased by the nieces, but also an abuser. His confrontation with Peter Grimes in the first scene showcased his voice and capacity of speech-delivery quite well.
- Joao Marcos Copertino, OperaWire
- 03 February 2023
Battistelli's Julius Caesar (title role)
Teatro dell'Opera di RomaNov 2021 - Nov 2021Bass Clive Bayley produced an excellent performance in the role of Julius Caesar, in which he captured his vanity, courage, and heroic demeanor. His singing was detailed, clearly articulated, and expressive.
- Alan Neilson, Operawire
- 15 December 2021