The british columbian bass Randall Jakobsh has established an international reputation appearing in important engagements with major opera companies in Europe, South America, Canada and the United States. His roles encompass a broad spectrum of the bass repertoire ranging from Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte to Nick Shadow in the Rake's Progress.
Member of the Canadian Opera Studio, he took part in several academies, (Tanglewood with Phyllis Curtin and Margo Garret; Academy of the West with Marylin Horne and Edward Zambara) and sang Lord Sydney in Viaggio a Reims at the Wolftrap Opera. Mr Jakobsh made his Salzburg debut under the baton of Kent Nagano as Pharnaces in Zemlinsky's König Kandaules, a role he reprised at the Opéra National de Lorraine - Nancy, at the Festival de Musica de Gran Canarias, in Liege and at Teatro Colon de Buenos Aires.
He debuted at Teatro Liceu in Barcelona as Le Spectre in Thomas' Hamlet conducted by Bertrand de Billy in a production by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier and returned there as L'Ombra di Nino in Rossini's Semiramide.He was heard as Giorgio in I Puritani for Festival Vancouver and was in Montreal for Nilakantha in Lakmé. Also on his schedule were performances in Nancy, Luxembourg as well as in Lille of Weill's Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (Trinity Moses). For Vancouver Opera he sang Mustafa in L'Italiana in Algeri and was in Caen and Toulon for Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream.The tall, imposing bass appeared as Alidoro in La Cenerentola with Washington Opera again in a production by Moshe Leiser /Patrice Caurier and has also been heard with the Baltimore Opera as Escamillo in Carmen. In Canada, he has appeared with l'Opéra de Montréal as Sarastro and Kaspar in Der Freischütz for the Vancouver Opera in association with Festival Vancouver.
Fluent in German and English, he has been engaged by the opera houses of Köln, Hamburg, Kassel, Kiel, Bielefeld, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart and was in a 'Fest Engagement' at the Niedersächsische Staatsoper Hannover in roles including Fasolt,Fafner and Hunding in Wagner's Ring Cycle,Nick Shadow in the Rake's Progress, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Osmin in Entführung aus dem Serail, Sarastro in Die Zauberfloete, Colline in La Bohème, Pimen in Boris Godunov, Zaccaria in Nabucco and Philip II in Don Carlo. For Opéra de Tours he was heard as the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlo and has sung Daland in Der fliegende Holländer in Santiago de Chile. His operatic repertoire scores of the 20thcentury: Pelléas et Mélisande (Arkel),Griechische Passion by Martinu(Fotis) Lulu (Athlete, Tamer), Billy Budd (Claggart), The Rake's Progress (Nick Shadow).
In Aachen, Germany, he sang Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Arkel in Pelleas et Mélisande and Gremin in Eugene Onegin ,Kotchubei in Mazeppa and the title role in Don Giovanni conducted by Marcus Bosch.He appeared at the Opernfestspiele Heidenheim as Scarpia in Tosca also conducted by Marcus Bosch and reprised the role of Sarastro at the Opéra de Rouen - Haute Normandie (production of W. Kentridge) and then appeared at the Opéra National de Lorraine - Nancy for the European premiere of Mieczyslaw Weinberg's The Portrait.
Upcoming roles at the Staatstheater Nürnberg include Pogner in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Escamillo in Carmen, Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte and the title role Der Fliegende Holländer.
