CliveBayley

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  • 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.

Roles in the 2026/27 season include Doktor Wozzeck at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Edward Teller Doctor Atomic at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Dikoj Kátya Kabanová at the Royal Ballet and Opera, Covent Garden and Doctor Carlos Conde The Exterminating Angel at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona.

Recent engagements include Heinrich Lohengrin at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Bottom A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Teatro Real in Madrid, Swallow Peter Grimes at the Royal Ballet and Opera in Covent Garden, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and English National Opera, Dansker Billy Budd and Somnus/Cadmus Semele at Glyndebourne Festival, Trulove The Rake’s Progress and Doctor Carlos Conde in a new production of The Exterminating Angel, Swallow Peter Grimes and Spectre du roi défunt in Ambroise Thomas’s Hamlet at Opéra National de Paris, Daland The Flying Dutchman at Opera North, Savjol Prokofjevič Dikój Kát'a Kabanová at Grange Park Opera, Prison Governor From the House of the Dead at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and Basilio Il barbiere di Siviglia at The Norwegian Opera & Ballet.

Clive is based in Leicester

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Contact

For availability and general enquiries:

Angelica Conner

Angelica Conner

Senior Artist Manager
Charlotte Bateman

Charlotte Bateman

Assistant Artist Manager

Representation

Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt

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Season Highlights

Sep 2026 - Oct 2026
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Doktor (Wozzeck)
Feb 2027
Bayerische Staatsoper
Doctor Atomic (Edward Teller)
Mar 2027 - Apr 2027
Royal Ballet and Opera, Covent Garden
Káťa Kabanová (Dikoj)
Apr 2027
Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona
The Exterminating Angel (Doctor Carlos Conde)

Video

Photos

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

  • A Midsummer Night's Dream (Bottom)

    Teatro Real, Madrid
    Mar 2026

    • Clive Bayley's spectacular Bottom stood out, both on stage and vocally; for me, he was the most complete singer of the evening.

    • ... an irresistibly unleashed Clive Bayley as Bottom...

    • Clive Bayley’s theatrical nous and vocal intelligence as Bottom also deserves a mention.

    • ... the veteran British bass-baritone Clive Bayley particularly stood out. With a powerful, well-articulated voice and textbook declamation, he created a magnificent Bottom, the craftsman transformed into a donkey.

  • Lohengrin (Heinrich der Vogler)

    Opera di Roma
    Nov 2025

    • Clive Bayley was impressive as King Heinrich...

    • Bass Clive Bayley (Heinrich der Vogler) is as effective as ever...

    • Clive Bayley brings noble gravity to King Heinrich.

    • Clive Bayley 's performance as King Henry is commendable. His vocal line is firm, his timbre noble; with his long career and experience behind him, he impeccably fits the role of an elderly and wise sovereign.

    • Bayley, an excellent bass, performed well as the king: highly experienced, with a long career behind him, he achieved excellent results with minimal effort.

  • Don Giovanni (Commendatore)

    Festival d'Aix-en-Provence
    Jul 2025

    • Clive Bayley's Commendatore perfectly fills his dual identity, also vocally.

    • Bass Clive Bayley performs this role with restraint and spectral power, somewhere between the here and the hereafter. Without over-singing, he addresses Don Giovanni as if hand in hand, with a compassion that yields nothing to righteousness.

    • Clive Bayley is perfect as the Commander, both in his acting and in the suitability of his bass voice for the role...

    • Clive Bayley as the Commendatore displays implacable authority...

    • Clive Bayley gives allure to the marble Commendatore.

  • Peter Grimes (Swallow)

    English National Opera
    Sep 2023 - Oct 2023

  • Hamlet (Spectre du roi défunt)

    Opéra national de Paris
    Mar 2023 - Apr 2023

    • Clive Bayley heard recently in Peter Grimes at Garnier is remarkable in Spectre of the deceased King

    • Clive Bayley was very convincing in the short but dramatically important role of “the spectre of the king.

    • 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

  • Peter Grimes (Swallow)

    Opéra national de Paris
    Jan 2023 - Feb 2023

    • Clive 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

    • Clive Bayley offering a judge Swallow overtaken by the midday demon, with a smooth voice and always impressive bass.

    • 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.

  • Battistelli's Julius Caesar (title role)

    Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
    Nov 2021 - Nov 2021

    • Bass 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.

Discography