Dominic’s first appearances for the Opera de Nancy were as Heinrich der Schreiber in Tannhäuser in May 2002 with John Treleaven, Dietrich Henschel, Elisabeth Meyer-Topsøe, Andrew Greenan, Björn Larsen, Nicolai Schukoff, Jean Phillipe Marliere, conducted by Sebastian Lang-Lessing.
Not the sort of role he usually sings, nor one that he would want to sing again, BUT things happened there that opened the door to Denmark where he has since enjoyed immense success and growing popularity.
Dominic decided to take on this minor engagement as it gave him an opportunity to work with his long-standing friend and colleague Sebastian Lang-Lessing, who had conducted Dominic’s first tenor role in Germany in 1994 - Tamino!
One day he and Sebastian were working through Des Grieux (Manon Lescaut - Puccini) whilst the rest of the cast were in the adjoining rooms busily getting made up for the stage orchestral rehearsal, unaware of what this would lead to in the fullness of time.
Only two months later Dominic jumped into the production of Madama Butterfly in Aarhus Denmark where Elisabeth Meyer-Topsøe was singing her first Cio-Cio-San. The tenor who had been engaged to sing Pinkerton broke both his legs in an unfortunate motorcycle accident in Italy days before he was due to begin rehearsals. Elisabeth recalled how impressed she had been with Dominic’s Puccinian singing which she had heard a few months earlier and suggested to the General Manager of Den Jyske Opera that they should contact him.
As you will read in these pages, Dominic has since become a regular artist in Danish Opera companies, Having appeared in 2002 with both the main companies, Den Jyske Opera in Aarhus in Madama Butterfly (which Her Majesty Queen Margrethe attended) then in December at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen where he sang Des Grieux in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut. He has also sung Rodolfo in La Boheme, Pollione in Norma, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana and Ismaele in Nabucco in Denmark. He is currently in discussions with the main companies for forthcoming seasons.
Moral of the story is that one never knows what can spin off from something that at first seems insignificant!
Other performances at Nancy have been as Graf Elemer in Arabella in 2003, and Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier in 2005.
Photos 1-4 as Heinrich der Schreiber in Tannhäuser Opera de Nancy May 2002 With John Treleaven, Dietrich Henschel, Elisabeth Meyer-Topsøe, Andrew Greenan, Björn Larsen, Nicolai Schukoff, Jean Phillipe Marliere. 5: as Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier with Martina Serafin
