Michael George

English bass-baritone Michael George, born in Thetford in 1950, began his professional singing career as a chorister in the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge under David Willcocks. It was the perfect apprenticeship for a solo career dominated by recordings of the great oratorios, and collaborations with many of the top British ensembles, including The Sixteen, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the King’s Consort. Oaky muscularity and plenty of resonance give George’s voice Old Testament stature, while his musicality and text-driven expressiveness bring that New Testament tenderness. Each are on display in his recordings of J.S. Bach’s St John Passion and B minor Mass, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. Opera, particularly Handel’s operas, have also played an important part in George’s career, and his recordings of both English song and Schubert lieder display another, more intimate, facet of this personable singer’s output.