Rod Nelman is one of America’s most versatile basses with a repertoire that encompasses roles by Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, and, more recently, Wagner and Strauss. He has also earned critical acclaim as Wotan in Long Beach Opera’s condensed “Ring” cycle which he repeated with Pittsburgh Opera Theater.
Basses at Encompass Arts
“The voice booms, roars, rumbles through his 6’5” frame and bellows forth when he sings, even when he speaks, a Basso Profundo” (The Washington Post). His singing is described as “Thrilling, huge, cavernous and evokes memories of Paul Robeson and Boris Christoff rolled into one” (The Italian Voice) Mr. Thompson is at home in both opera and concert. This season 2009-2010 makes his debut with Oper Kiel in Kiel, Germany where he will perform major roles in Aida, Der Meistersinger and Faust.
John Paul Huckle, Bass, is a native of Pittsburgh, PA. In the 2010-2011 season, John will be joining the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Teatro Regio in Torino as the top prize winner of the American Berlin Foundation Scholarship. This summer Mr. Huckle will be performing the role of Sparafucile at Lyrique-en-Mer/Festival of Belle-Île in France.
Italian bass Dario Russo debuted in the role of Wagner in Gounod’s Faust at the Teatro Massimo Vincenzo Bellini of Catania in February of 2010. This summer he will perform the roles of the Marchese and Doctor Grenvil in La Traviata. In the fall, Mr. Russo returns to the Teatro Bellini for the role of Colline in La Boheme. In 2011 he will make his United States debut in Barbiere di Siviglia.