Few countertenors have pushed the boundaries of repertoire and sound more than Andrew Watts. A dramatic voice unlike any other and extraordinary stagecraft and presence make him a unique performer not only of parts traditionally associated with the voice type, but also a pioneer of 20th and 21st-century repertoire. He is associated particularly with parts like Edgar in Reiman’s Lear, which he has performed at Staatsoper Hamburg, Opéra national de Paris, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Bayerische Staatsoper Munich and which will take him to Teatro Real Madrid next season.
As well as singing core roles of the countertenor repertoire, he has performed over 60 world premieres at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Glyndebourne Festival, La Scala, La Fenice, Staatsoper Berlin, Opera de Lyon, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Berliner Philharmoniker, and at the Salzburg, Bregenz, Lucerne, Aldeburgh and Edinburgh International Festivals, as well as the Ruhrtriennale and the BBC Proms. He has created roles in major works by Harrison Birtwistle, Olga Neuwirth, Unsuk Chin, Nuñez, Guarnieri, Raymond Yiu, Michael Finnissey, Judith Weir, Torsten Rasch, Tansy Davies, and Elena Langer.
Having performed Keyframes for a Hippogriff already with the Berlin Philharmonic and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, recent highlights also include Neuwirth’s The Outcast at the Philharmonie de Paris, Prince Go-Go in Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre for Wiener Staatsoper, at the Enescu Festival and with Orchestra national de France, and Lear at Teatro Real Madrid and Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, where he also sang Orlofsky in Barrie Kosky’s new production of Die Fledermaus. Later this season, Andrew will perform in Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland at the Concertgebouw, and in Georg Friedrich Haas’ Koma at the Salzburg Festival.
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Unsuk Chin's Alice in Wonderland (White Rabbit, March Hare, Badger)
NTR Zaterdagmatinee Concertgebouw Amsterdam, June 2024
Three true gems came from countertenor Andrew Watts as White Rabbit, March Hare and Badger, perfectly intelligible and acting with a playfulness that convinced to the furthest corners of the hall.
Paul Korenhog, Opus Klassiek
Countertenor Andrew Watts was sublimely over the top as rabbit, hare and badger
Peter van der Lint, Trouw
‘Without my glove there can be no love,’ sings the White Rabbit, a splendid role sung by countertenor Andrew Watts, who comes running as the strings pluck the rhythm of his pocket watch strumming.
Jenny Camilleri, Volkskrant
Olga Neuwirth, Keyframes for a Hippogriff
New York Philharmonic (April 2024)
"With Watts’s luscious, uncannily pan-gender countertenor leading the way, the music was as phantasmagorical as the words."
George Grella, Financial Times
"Countertenor Andrew Watts gave a bravura performance"
Rick Perdian, New York Classical Review
Le Grand Macabre (Prince Go-Go)
Wiener Staatsoper, November 2023
Prince Go Go (brilliant: Andrew Watts)
Ljubiša Tošić, Der Standard
Le Grand Macabre is not an easy opera to sing. Countertenor Andrew Watts sails through the role of Prince Go-Go with flying colours.
Manfred A. Schmid, Online Merker
Prince Gogo (sounding glorious, Countertenor Andrew Watts)
Thomas Götz, Kleine Zeitung
Andrew Watts as Prince Go-Go left a very good impression
Dominik Troger, Oper in Wien
As for the singers, who have extremely high demands placed upon them and are superb: Countertenor Andrew Watts prances [through the role] with beautiful bizarrness
Stefan Musil, Kronenzeitung
A huge achievement [from the orchestra], which is mirrored on stage. … Countertenor Andrew Watts, too, is ideal in the role of Prince Go-Go, hopelessly out of his depth politically but all the more uninhibited in his dancing.
Walter Weidringer, Die Presse
The cast is well chosen: Andrew Watts as Prince Go-Go [is] ideal.
Peter Jarolin, Kurier
And then there is Prince Go-Go – the superb countertenor Andrew Watts – who is being pushed about by by the corrupt ministers.
Ernst P. Strobel, Salzburger Nachrichten
Neuwirth: Keyframes for a Hippogriff
Berliner Philharmoniker, September 2021
"With... countertenor Watts, Neuwirth has the very best performing forces you could dream of."
Shirley Apthorp, Financial Times
Lear (Edgar)
Bayerische Staatsoper, May 2021
Andrew Watts was tremendous as Edgar, bringing considerable experience and emotional maturity to the role, his take on the tricky “Habe ich mein Leben retten können” truly breathtaking.
Elodie Olson-Coons, Bachtrack
CD Review: The World Was Once All Miracle
February, 2021
...with a glorious performance here from countertenor Andrew Watts.
Paul Riley, BBC Music Magazine
...[they] respond so imaginatively to the texts, as does Andrew Watts’s crystal-clear countertenor.
Presto Classical, Editor's Choice (February 2021)
CD Review: A Countertenor Songbook
October, 2018
…Watts not only succeeds in negotiating a very wide variety of styles, moods and approaches but also imparts each song with a keen sense of its own identity... A songbook for all seasons.
Pwyll ap Siôn, Gramophone Magazine
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