Nathan Berg

Bass-Baritone

Biography

A “tall, majestic bass” with “impeccable technique” and “a palpable presence on stage,” Canadian bass-baritone Nathan Berg’s career has spanned a vast range of repertoire on the concert and operatic stage. In the 2023-2024 season, Nathan Berg returns to sing his first Wotan in Wagner’s Ring cycle, specifically Das Rheingold and Die Walküre with Theater Basel, a new production by Benedikt von Peter. He will also sing Count Capulet in Roméo and Juliette at the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and sings and records Alcide in Alceste with Stéphane Fuget’s ensemble Les Epopées in Paris. Finally, in concert, he joins the Colorado Symphony for Messiah.

In recent seasons, Nathan Berg made his Metropolitan Opera stage debut as The Father in the New York premiere of Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, returned to Theater Basel for his first King Philippe in Don Carlos, and debuted the role of Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde with the Taiwan Philharmonic. He returned to the LA Philharmonic, Melbourne Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic and Edmonton Symphony for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, debuted the role of Melisso in Alcina with Les Violons du Roy, joined Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Orchestre de Metropolitain for Bach’s Mass in b minor, as well as the New Jersey Symphony for Bruckner’s Te Deum and Grant Park Music Festival for Vaughan-Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem. Mr. Berg also returned to the Metropolitan Opera to undersudy the roles of Balstrode in Peter Grimes, Filippo in Verdi’s Don Carlos and the Marquis de la Force in Dialogues des carmélites.

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Reviews

“What would this opera be without the sly Alberich? Berg’s performance recalls the almost unparalleled power and vitality of baritone Dietrich Fischer Dieskau, probably the most prominent opera artist of his generation. This comparison is not extravagant: Berg’s interpretation is marked by a pronunciation and a tonic repertoire able to give his presence on stage a shady pedigree. If the ring exerts its charm on its wearer, the performances of Nathan Berg (Alberich) and Roger Honeywell (Loge) were the lyrical gifts of a completely different charm. “

Simon Tardif

LeDélit

“… a very remarkable level on the part of Nathan Berg (Alberich), the winner of the evening”

Christophe Huss

Le Devoir

“Wearing an eye patch and red leather cape Nathan Berg cut a dashing, pirate-like figure in the title role. His firm, dark, powerful baritone was ideal for conveying the bitterness of the Dutchman, and an ominous undercurrent was evident from his first narrative, ‘Die Frist ist um’ (the term is up). His tormented tone changed little, even in the Act II love duet with Senta, the woman who offers him the possibility of undying love.”

 

Janelle Gelfand

Cincinnati Business Courier

More Reviews

A far more natural approach. . . works especially well for Nathan Berg’s Alberich. As the dwarf who drives the story with his lust, greed and spite, Berg is complex, believable and of magnificent voice. So passionate is his portrayal that the usually scene-stealing Greer Grimsley is left to look on and exude nobility as his rival for the gold, the god Wotan.”

Rob Hubbard, TwinCities Pioneer Press

“Nathan Berg makes a star turn, from beginning to end, as a grumpy and grizzled Alberich”

Lydia Lunning, Twin Cities Arts Reader

“Staufenbiel’s cast is strong. As he usually does, Greer Grimsley dominated the stage as Wotan, king of the gods. With his powerful baritone, Grimsley vividly charted the character’s obsessive but increasingly uncertain lust for power. The same could be said for Nathan Berg’s Alberich, the tortured troll who trades love for world domination and whose final curse was the evening’s most compelling moment.”
Michael Anthony, StarTribune Nov 13th 2016

“Nathan Berg sang the role of Alberich powerfully. . . Berg conveyed perfectly the dual nature of Alberich’s swagger and desperation. The scene in which he makes his curse on the ring was spine-tingling”
Phillip Jones, Bachtrack – Nov 20th 2016

“It has to be said that theatrically Nathan Berg’s Huascar had a terrifying brutality, and his voice is immense. . . his incarnation is quasi-cinematic. The voice is large and the vocal production solidly in place.”

ClassiqueNews

“Nathan Berg proved convincing as Pontius Pilate, his resonant bass voice filling the concert hall. . . Berg . . . sang with expressivity and refinement in solo arias throughout the work.”

Terry McQuilkin, The Register Guard

“A far more natural approach. . . works especially well for Nathan Berg’s Alberich. As the dwarf who drives the story with his lust, greed and spite, Berg is complex, believable and of magnificent voice. So passionate is his portrayal that the usually scene-stealing Greer Grimsley is left to look on and exude nobility as his rival for the gold, the god Wotan.”

Rob Hubbard, TwinCities Pioneer Press 

“Nathan Berg makes a star turn, from beginning to end, as a grumpy and grizzled Alberich”

Lydia Lunning, Twin Cities Arts Reader 

“It has to be said that theatrically Nathan Berg’s Huascar had a terrifying brutality, and his voice is immense. . . his incarnation is quasi-cinematic. The voice is large and the vocal production solidly in place.”

ClassiqueNews

“Nathan Berg proved convincing as Pontius Pilate, his resonant bass voice filling the concert hall. . . Berg . . . sang with expressivity and refinement in solo arias throughout the work.”

Terry McQuilkin, The Register Guard 

“. . . this tall majestic bass is a brilliant actor and a palpable presence on stage””

Financial Times

“. . . bass baritone Nathan Berg was superb as the desperate and furious Sam.”

Lev Bratishenko, The Gazette

“. . .baritone Nathan Berg as Pater ecstaticus, “soared””

Susan Nickalls, The Scottsman

“We happily find once again the Huascar of Nathan Berg, an extra-ordinary actor, who transfigures his character, plying his resonant voice at the direction of Laura Scozzi, the hymns to the sun become compliments to Phani.”

Laurent Bury, Forumopera

“The most eloquent music is heard in the final movement, ‘The Mournful Iron Bells’. . . Baritone Nathan Berg looked and sounded the part and his singing had excellent presence and intensity.”

John Quinn, Seen and Heard International

“Nathan Berg, bass-baritone, sang the role of Elijah. He has an enormous voice and his diction was absolutely consistent and superb … Meg Bragle was the mezzo-soprano Friday evening … she and Nathan Berg shared one outstanding characteristic: both of them have the ability to change the quality of their voice to emphasize the drama and the emotion of the particular verse they are singing. Both of them had seemingly infinite control over dynamics.”

Robin McNeil, OpusColorado.com