Richard Lippold

Baritone



Richard Lippold, baritone, has enjoyed a multi-faceted career, begun in his native Portland, Oregon, that continues to thrive since he made New York City his home in 2000. He has received acclaim from The New York Times (…sang the role with an attractive fluidity… –Allan Kozinn, …sang very well. –Bernard Holland), The Wall Street Journal (…sang poignantly, –Heidi Waleson), from NY web reviewers (…strong singer…clearly having fun displaying [his] characters’ charms. …the swaggering baritone… –Paul J. Pelkonen, superconductor.com), and from publications and blogs in regional opera towns (…the firm sonority… …[one] of the city’s best voices… –James McQuillen, Portland; …offered superb balance and style. –Grant Menzies, Portland; …dashing baritone [as Schaunard] …top-flight vocalist and convincing actor, imparting a sympathetic personality to [his] character. –Mel R.Wilhoitas, Chatanooga; …[his]voice brought a narrative quality to the work. His lyrical lines and warm timbre were like a firm hand on the shoulder… –Patrick McCoy, DC; …outstanding… engagement with the character of each of his arias… His coloratura rivaled [the soprano], which is no mean feat…. “Why do the nations rage” was as exciting as it should be, and that [he] inspired the superb trumpeter is testimony enough of his technique and expressiveness. –Scott Williamson, Roanoke).

An engaging interpreter of a diversity of styles and historical periods, Mr. Lippold embraces operatic, sacred, and concert works, from the Baroque to those of today’s composers. Mr. Lippold has been a featured soloist in NYC and the Tri-State area, in several prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Le Poisson Rouge, and The Baryshnikov Arts Center. He has sung in Paris, Athens, Köln, Brussels, Italy, Scotland, England, Moscow, and throughout the US. Career highlights include playing Joseph De Rocher opposite Joyce DiDonato and Frederica von Stade in an evening of scenes from Dead Man Walking with the composer, Jake Heggie at the piano, and with author, Sister Helen Prejean as commentator; Antinous in Ulysses and Littore/Soldier/Student in Poppea with Opera Omnia; and Jesus in Arvo Pärt’s Passio (combined with Paolo Cherchi Usai’s film) for the Tribeca Film Festival. In regional opera, he has appeared as a principal artist for Oregon Lyric, Chattanooga, Utah, Waco, Idaho, Eugene, Rogue Valley, Townsend, Kitsap, Corvallis, and the Center for Contemporary Opera in Manhattan. He presented numerous young artist, comprimario, and outreach performances for Portland Opera, Utah Opera, and Rogue Valley Opera in Ashland, OR. His roles on the opera stage include Rossini’s Figaro, Valentin in Gounod’s Faust, Puccini’s Marcello and Schaunard in La Bohème, Guglielmo in Le Villi and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly; Danilo & Cascada in The Merry Widow, Falke in Die Fledermaus, Silvio in Pagliacci, Verdi’s Ford in Falstaff and Germont in La Traviata, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze fi Figaro, and Papageno in The Magic Flute; Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore, Morales in Carmen, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette, Dr. Malatesta in Don Pasquale, the title role in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, the Venetian Merchant in Sadko by Rimsky-Korsakov, Britten’s Noah in Noyes Fludde, principal roles in Mollicone’s Face on the Barroom Floor and Barab’s La Pizza con Funghi, The Lamplighter in Sweeney Todd, premieres of Gordon Getty’s Joan and the Bells, Salvador Brotons’ Reverend Everyman, and as Lucius Harney in the NY premiere of Summer by Stephen Paulus.  His concert appearances include the Symphony Orchestras of Oregon, Rogue Valley, Bend, Willamette, Vancouver, Netherlands Youth; The American Composers Orchestra, Westchester Oratorio Society, Riverside Choral Society, New York Early Music Festivals, Gotham Early Music Scene, and others in repertoire including Britten’s Cantata Misericordium, Vaughan Williams’ 5 Mystical Songs, masterworks such as Carmina Burana, J.S. Bach’s Coffee Cantata, Cantatas 106 and 69, St. Matthew and St. John Passions, and his Christmas Oratorio; Telemann’s Der Tag des Gerichts, the Requiem Masses of Brahms, Fauré and Duruflé; Dvorák’s Te Deum, Haydn’s Masses (recorded on Naxos) and Creation, Handel’s Israel in Egypt and Messiah, Saint-Saens’ Christmas Oratorio, and others. Broadcasts include performances on WQXR, WNYC, WWFM, and for NPR, the west coast premiere of Arvo Pärt’s Passio conducted by Paul Hillier. Additional notable conductors include Jane Glover, Andrew Parrott, Simon Carrington, Mark Morris (cover for Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in Moscow), John Scott, Julian Wachner, Eric Milnes, Stefan Parkman, and Andrew Megill.

Also in demand as a choral singer, Mr. Lippold credits time spent in Portland choral ensembles such as The Portland Opera Chorus, Cappella Romana, Choral Cross Ties, and Cantores in Ecclesia (among many others in a city rich in choral excellence), as being immensely valuable in developing his career, and allowing him to move to NY. He remains active as a soloist and ensemble singer at several of the major churches and cathedrals in Manhattan, and on their concert series, including his current position of 14 years with The Choir of Gentlemen and Boys at St. Thomas Fifth Avenue, his various roles in a decade at Trinity Wall Street, as a singer and as Administrator for Music at the Arts; in other prestigious NY ensembles (especially thrilling was singing the live soundtrack for the Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey with the NY Philharmonic, of which The New Yorker said …a thrill of silent awe ran through the audience… –Richard Brody), and, since 2009, he has been an Extra Chorister in The Metropolitan Opera Chorus.

A GRAMMY® nominee with Trinity Wall Street, and a GRAMMY® winner with The Metropolitan Opera in their DVD of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Mr. Lippold has also been a district winner, northwest regional finalist, and encouragement award recipient in the Metropolitan Opera competitions, a regional finalist in the NATSAA competition, and a finalist in the Ellen Faull-Gordon and Eleanor Lieber-Portland Opera competitions. An avid runner and a mediocre poker player, he enjoys living in Jackson Heights, Queens, with his lovely wife, the stunning contralto, Kirsten Sollek.