©Photo: Paul Foster-Williams

©Photo: © Paul Foster-Williams

©Photo: Paul Foster-Williams

©Photo: Monika Ritterhaus

©Photo: Paul Foster-Williams

Andrew Foster-Williams

Bass-baritone

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“Andrew Foster-Williams [is] outstanding as the easily manipulated, nervy Gunther.”
(Financial Times, Hugo Shirley)

Andrew Foster-Williams possesses a vocal versatility that allows him to present repertoire ranging from the masterpieces of Bach and Handel, through the classics of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven to more recent masters such as Britten, Debussy, Wagner and Mahler on both the opera stage and concert platforms alike.

In a career initially built on strong Baroque credentials, Andrew Foster-Williams has in more recent seasons embraced a more dramatic repertoire with successes as Don Pizarro (Fidelio) at Theater an der Wien and Philharmonie de Paris, as Captain Balstrode in Christoph Loy’s striking staging of Peter Grimes also at Theater an der Wien and in two new productions at La Monnaie, as Kurnewal in Ralf Pleger’s staging of Tristan und Isolde and as Donner in Romeo Castellucci’s Das Rheingold both conducted by Alain Altinoglu. His performances highlight a dramatic capacity that has earned the respect of many stage directors as he “holds the attention of the audience with the energy of someone who has great experience, and with sensational vocal ability, which he uses with total freedom…” (Opéra).

Other recent successes as Lysiart in Christof Loy’s staging of Euryanthe at Theater an der Wien under Constantin Trinks, as Nick Shadow (The Rake’s Progress) at Opéra National de Lorraine conducted by Tito Muñoz, as Gunther (Götterdämmerung) at Opera North under the baton of Richard Farnes and, marking his house debut at Opernhaus Zürich, as the Four Villains in a new production of Les contes d’Hoffmann under Antonino Fogliani have further enhanced an already highly regarded operatic profile.

Recognised for his facility in the French operatic repertoire, he has since reprised the Four Villains in a new production at Gothenburg Opera and in Barrie Kosky’s fantastical staging at Komische Opera Berlin and has appeared as Goloud (Pelléas et Mélisande) at Theater Basel under Erik Nielsen. He sang the title role in Saint-Saens Henry VIII and L’Ombre de Virgile in Benjamin Godard’s Danté both with the Müncher Rundfunkorchester conducted by Ulf Schirmer and appeared in a specially curated performance to mark the 400^th anniversary of the death of Cervantes at Opéra National de Bordeaux with music from Ravel’s Don Quichotte à Dulcinée and Massenet’s Don Quichotte conducted by Marc Minkowski.

Performances in Andrew Foster-Williams’ 2024/25 season include Gunther (Götterdämmerung) in the final chapter of La Monnaie’s Der Ring des Nibelungen under Alain Altinoglu, a reprise of Captain Balstrode in Christoph Loy’s staging at Opéra de Lyon conducted by Wayne Marshall, and a return to Opernhaus Zürich as the Four Villains under the baton of Antonino Fogliani. Concert appearances include Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Hill.

An impressive line-up of concert invitations has taken Andrew Foster-Williams to some of the most celebrated orchestras and conductors of our day. These include the Cleveland Orchestra/Franz Welser-Möst, Salzburg Mozarteum/Ivor Bolton, San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Richard Egarr, Hong Kong Philharmonic/Edo de Waart, Gulbenkian Orchestra/Lorenzo Viotti, London Philharmonic Orchestra/Vladimir Jurowski and the Sibelius Festival/Dalia Stasevska. Foster-Williams offers a diverse concert repertoire including Bach’s St John Passion, Britten’s War Requiem, Schönberg’s Gurrelieder, Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Handel’s Messiah and Mahler’s Symphony No.8.

Boasting an extensive discography, releases include Beethoven’s Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II with San Francisco Symphony (Tilson Thomas) on SFSMedia, and The Seasons with Gabrieli Consort & Players (McCreesh), released on Signum and shortlisted for the 2017 Gramophone Awards. He features on several releases in the Opéra français series of the Palazzetto Bru Zane label, including Joncières’ Dimitri, Gounod’s Cinq-Mars, Saint-Saëns’ Proserpine, and Gounod’s Faust — winner of the Opera of the 19^th Century category at the Opus Klassik 2020 awards. Performances captured on DVD include the Gramophone Award winning The Fairy Queen with Glyndebourne Festival Opera (Christie).

Gallery

Andrew Foster-Williams, Monika Ritterhaus

Andrew Foster-Williams, Paul Foster-Williams

Andrew Foster-Williams, Catherine Ashmore

Andrew Foster-Williams credits to Jinki Cambronero nzo cosi fan tutte

Mendelssohn - Elijah - It is Enough

Beethoven Nine © St Paul Chamber Orchestra

The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38. Pt II - Jesu! by that shuddering dread © The Gabrieli Consort & Players

Haydn: The Seasons © The Gabrieli Consort & Players

Trailer for recording of Joncière’s Dimitri © Ediciones Singulares

Beethoven: Fidelio, Don Pizarro (Leonore), Theater an der Wien © Oesterreichischer Rundfunk

Le Comte du Lusace (Jonicère’s Dimitri) © Ediciones Singulares

Beethoven’s Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II © SFS Media

Fauré - Requiem- Hostias © Brussels Philharmonic © Brussels Philharmonic

“Andrew Foster-Williams’ warm, comforting bass-baritone, joined by the strong chorus, confident in the redemption of Gerontius’ soul… Foster-Williams reappears, this time as a genuinely compassionate, beseeching Angel of the Agony (the world of Parsifal comes very close here)”

Slipped Disc, May 2024

“Andrew Foster-Williams also cuts a powerful figure as the Priest in another stately march (‘Proficiscere, anima Christiana’) whose tempo is perfectly judged, and his impassioned, more mordant aria as the Angel of the Agony, replete with some of the most anguished chromaticism in the work, provides a powerful foil and preparation for the dramatic culmination of Gerontius’s glimpse of the Almighty.”

Gramophone, May 2024

“The bass-baritone Andrew Foster-Williams sang with wonderful embellishments”

Göttinger Tageblatt, April 2024

“Andrew Foster-Williams brought the necessary toughness to Donner”

Opera Actual, November 2023

“Andrew Foster-Williams (Donner) his bass baritone voice distinguished by a serious, profound and rounded timbre.”

Olyrix, October 2023

“Donner, bass baritone Andrew Foster-Williams sings with magnanimity and roundness.”

ResMusica, October 2023

“Andrew Foster-Williams was a wonderfully wily and manipulative Don Alfonso, in total command even before the overture begins.”

The Post, June 2023

“The production also had a sly Don Alfonso in the form of Andrew Foster-Williams, wry and world-weary but with a warmth to his tone that belied the cruelty of his actions.”

Bachtrack, June 2023

“Andrew Foster-Williams encountered no difficulties with this imposing orchestra. The bass-baritone pierced even the greatest forte with his brass-like timbre. His colossal range reveals no weakness and he performs the slightest of his interventions with a truly disarming elegance and modesty.”

Bachtrack, March 2023

“the bass-baritone Andrew Foster-Williams transcended the prevailing bathos with a richly coloured and characterised account of the Four Villains.”

Opera, April 2023

“Andrew Foster-Williams was in fine form, devious as Lindorf and Coppélius, malign and oleaginous as Dr Miracle and just plain violent as the pimp Dapertutto, bringing a solid bass-baritone underlay to all four roles”

Bachtrack, November 2022

“Andrew Foster-Williams is a vocally brilliant Balstrode.”

(Kurier, October 2021)

“Andrew Foster-Williams offered a tour de force as all the villains.”

(Opera, July 2021)

“Andrew Foster-Williams wonderfully expresses the Mephistophelian character with gruesome malice and devious charm.”

(Das Opernmagazin, 13 April 2021)

“Andrew Foster-Williams’ experienced, hectoring Pizarro made the character’s villainy evident without descending into ham”

(Hugh Canning, Opera Magazine, November 2020)

“Andrew Foster-Williams amply conveys Lysiart’s inner tensions, maintaining dramatic integrity as the embittered nobleman…in the first scene of Act 2, he gives a potent account of his conflicted aria.”

(George Hall, Opera Magazine, August 2020)

“Andrew Foster-Williams gave his Don Alfonso a standout performance with an animated voice. He was the arch manipulator inhabiting roles within the narrative as well as directing the characters and events.”

New Zealand Arts Review – June 2020

“The soloists are uniformally excellent:… Faust is well matched by Andrew Foster-Williams’ oily and sinister Mephistopheles”

(BBC Music Mag, December 2019)

“With his asides and banter, this Méphistophélès is close to that of Goethe, and Andrew Foster-Williams plays him with an infectious pleasure.”

(Sophie Bourdias, Télérama, September 2019)

“Andrew Foster-Williams ’s wittily sardonic Méphistophélès is excellent.”

(The Times, September 2019)

“Andrew Foster-Williams as Kurwenal sang as he acted, with nuance and imagination”

(Mark Valencia, Musical America, May 2019)

“Baritone Andrew Foster-Williams masters the ceremonial authority of Kurwenal and draws the character with a ringing voice, rounded and supported delivery… the voice certain and profound”

(Soline Heurtebise, Olyrix, May 2019)

“Andrew Foster-Williams gives us a Kurwenal with a beautiful stage presence and full of confidence.”

(Bachtrack, May 2019)

“Lysiart, the evil schemer…Andrew Foster-Williams was physically and vocally intense in this role”

(Opera Magazine, April 2019)

“His powerful, eloquent voice captured attention from the very first moment, and he was most adept at expressing the character’s emotional journey”

(Ako Imamura, Bachtrack, January 2019)

“Andrew Foster-Williams’ Lysiart especially stands out for his use of [German] text”

(Martin Gasser, Kleiner Zeitung, January 2019)

“[Andrew Foster-Williams] demonstrated creative vocal power and sensitive acting skills”

(Tiroler Tageszeitung, January 2019)

“Baritone Andrew Foster-Williams convincingly shapes his role as Golaud with the whole range of love, hate, jealousy and despair. His voice allows him to convey all facets of this demanding role”

(Marco Stücklin, Das Opernmagazin, January 2019)

“In Mephisto, Andrew Foster-Williams consoled us after so many emphatic Slavic basses. A beautiful vocal line based on the words, a jovial or disturbing tone. He perfectly undersands the style of this French devil.”

(Jacques Bonnaure - Opéra magazine)

“Highlights included a new Act I aria for Méphistophélès, ‘Maître Scarabée’, sung with artful drama by Andrew Foster-Williams”

(Opera magazine, September 2018)

“As Telramund, Andrew Foster-Williams sounded imposing”

(Opera Magazine, August 2018)

“Andrew Foster-Williams’ Telramund has in his voice the poisonous virulence of his words”

(Marie-Aude Roux, Le Monde May 2018)

“Andrew Foster-Williams stands out with his warm timbre and elegant phrasing.”

(Opera Magazine, March 2018)

“Andrew Foster-Williams is a Virgil that we would willingly follow to Hell or to Heaven”

(Laurent Bury, Forum Opera, November 2017)

“The cast cannot be faulted…Andrew Foster-Williams oozes dangerous charisma as Squarocca”

(Hugo Shirley, Opera Magazine, November 2017)

“Andrew Foster-Williams’s biting baritone makes for a splendid Squarocca”

(Gramophone Magazine, August 2017)

“the soloists – particularly Andrew Foster-Williams – relish every nuance…offering vibrant, text-alert singing throughout.”

(Presto Classical, March 2017)

“Andrew Foster-Williams, the bass-baritone who sang the part of Jesus, went the extra dramatic mile to portray a fully animated character living and feeling in the moment. Foster-Williams was a commanding and resonant figure throughout.”

(Cleveland.com, March 2017)

“The performance relied most on bass-baritone Andrew Foster-Williams. Without overacting, he turned the title role into a character: dignified, implacable, ironic, resigned, weary, peaceful, interacting with the chorus. He remained focused on his last emotion when he wasn’t singing and took up a new one when his resonant, flexible voice came into play. His exemplary diction also made clear each utterance of this doom-saying, despairing man.”

(Lawrence Toppman, Charlotte Observer, March 2017)

“Bass-baritone Andrew Foster-Williams gave a free and easy, gesture-filled opening solo, which rode effortlessly over the distance from the back of the stage.”

(David Bratman, San Francisco Classical Voice, February 2017)

“Andrew Foster-Williams makes an imposing and implacable Père Joseph [in Gounod’s Cinq-Mars]”

(Opera Magazine, November 2016)

“Our language [French] holds no secrets for Andrew Foster-Williams … His death is full of an admirable modesty, a beautiful moment of emotion” [Les Voyages de Don Quichotte, Opéra National de Bordeaux]

(Laurent Bury, Forum Opera, September 2016)

“Foster-Williams’s exquisitely chilly and self-controlled Gunther.”

(Arts Desk, July 2016)

“Andrew Foster-Williams really came into his own towards the close as a fine Donner.”

(Seen & Heard, July 2016)

“Andrew Foster-Williams [was] fabulous as the Gibichung brother…Foster-Williams giving a vivid portrayal of an utter coward.”

(Bachtrack, July 2016)

“This Balstrode becomes as interesting a figure as the title role – a challenge superbly met by Andrew Foster-Williams whose passionate and unabashed acting well compliments his effortless expressive singing.”

(Moore Parker, Opera Critic, December 2015)

“Andrew Foster-Williams brings a vigorous baritone [as Donner] when he blazes through the fog with a thunderbolt.”

(Thomas Whey, Online Musik Magazin, September 2015)

“Andrew Foster-Williams was best of all as Captain Corcoran, vigorous and clear with a beautiful vocal tone and brilliant diction, too.”

(Simon Thompson, Seen & Heard, August 2015)

“Andrew Foster-Williams opened the bass-baritone line not like a pompous oratorio singer but like a character in an opera – speaking to the audience, drawing us in, making the words mean something”

(Anne Midgette, Washington Post, January 2015)