Music Makers: with Matthew Rose, Bass

By Audition Oracle – Wed 17 Jun 2026 @ 0:55

Arias we love and live with

We are delighted to welcome bass Matthew Rose, acclaimed for the depth, authority, and dramatic conviction of his performances on the world’s leading opera and concert stages. Renowned for his interpretations of Mozart, Wagner, and the great choral repertoire, he brings a compelling combination of vocal power, musical insight, and commanding stage presence to every performance.

Bass Matthew Best stands on an ornate staircase in a concert hall, looking into the distance, wearing a grey suit jacket and open-collar white shirt.

1. Aria you hum round the house / sing in the shower

Whatever is being cooked up… at the moment I have the great pleasure of learning Don Carlo in Italian (have done before at Met in French). Some rather good tunes in that one!

 

2. First aria you remember learning

“O Isis und Osiris” (Mozart, Die Zauberflöte). Young bass. Enough said. 

 

3. Aria you rely on professionally

A Midsummer Night’s Dream was the opera that opened all the doors to me at the beginning of my career, especially at Glyndebourne where they were brave enough to give the amazing role of Bottom to me, a then 26 year old recent graduate, so “Bottom’s Dream” is the aria I am most grateful to.

 

4. Last piece of music you deliberately chose to listen to

I just returned home to find Raphael Pichon’s St John Passion sitting on my doorstep (yes I still buy CDs) so I have that on right now. Utterly amazing. What brilliant singing colleagues I have.

 

5. Aria you feel most emotionally connected to

“Ella giammai m’amo” from Don Carlo Act 3 (or 4 on 5 act version): just the most amazing act in the opera. This aria (and then duet for 2 basses after) the greatest gift, and Verdi writing at his most tender about the most powerful man in the world, who cannot have the one thing he truly desires, the love of his wife.

 

6. Aria you wish you could sing / would love to learn next

Parsifal is the opera I most want to sing; it’s first act is just the best musical experience I know… so Gurnemanz is the role I would love to do, and I guess some of his passages could be considered arias. I do lots of teaching, and “Deh, per questo istante solo” from La clemenza di Tito is the one I wish to hear the most… so maybe that’s on my wish list somehow.


Explore more of Matthew Rose’s work https://askonasholt.com/artist/matthew-rose