Brad Cooper - tenor

Casually noticing Brünnhilde slumbering on her fire surrounded rock during Sunday’s performance of Siegfried with at the

This chilly Glasgow lunchtime I couldn’t resist the promise of a hot Polish sausage! I took the Cheese Krakauer. Delicious! 🤤
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Tonight’s the night !!! …and then again tomorrow too… Siegfried with Anthony Negus and Sir John Tomlinson - can’t wait !!!

Gearing up to be ‘mördered’ by singing in by for the final time this year at … 🔪 😵

Siegfried orchestral rehearsal with lovely as Brünnhilde and under Anthony Negus & . Can’t wait for our performances this coming weekend.

-2 Celsius in Inverness and off to sing some 9:30am Siegfried. About as far as you can get from bursting through a ring of fire to find Brünnhilde!
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Last night I transformed into this guy for the final time, with the help of the beautiful Laura in makeup. I have really enjoyed playing Gregor in Makropulos and will miss his enthusiastic naïveté and mopey ‘lost boy’ charm. I mean, how else do you portray a character who falls for his own 300 year old Great, Great, Great Grandmother!?

Another fab performance of Elektra last night for . So happy my friend and colleague from was a surprise audience member too. Celebratory beers were enjoyed!

Happy to be getting my Albert Gregor back on for some further performances of ‚Die Sache Makropulos‘ at Würzburg.

This engagement as Siegfried (opposite the great Sir John Tomlinson) makes me extremely happy!
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That’s the first week of Elektra shows done! Off on a last minute adventure to London and looking forward to getting back into ‘Vec Makropulos’ rehearsals next week.

Show #2 as Aegisth in Elektra for Würzburg. I’m having so much FUN playing a baddie!

Post show pout with .vilsone who had a fabulous success as Chrysothemis in our Elektra for Würzburg.

Tonight’s the night for another Greek Tragedy! Having so much fun being a baddie!!! 🪓

Premiere ELEKTRA at the Mainfranken Theater Würzburg on October 8; 2023
KOSMA RANUER is OREST and BRAD COOPER is AEGISTH.

With my lovely friend .vilsone who is quite spectacularly jumping in this week as Chrysothemis in our Elektra at , a role she already conquered at before the summer. She also played my daughter (Elektra) in ‚Leben des Orest’ last Season. What a star!! 🤩

Back in Würzburg preparing my 7th role for the year, Aegisth in Elektra by R. Strauss. This role is (finally) a small one, but still energy packed and a lot of fun (I get quite spectacularly murdered by onstage!) so I can finally treat myself to a divine glass of ‚Weißer Burgunder‘ and tasty plate of ‚Fränkisches Hochzeitsessen‘ on this perfect late summer’s day. Cheers!! 🍇

With members of the ‚Wagner-Verbandes Münster‘ (Münster Wagner Society) following our final Walküre. They we’re celebrating their 50th year and happily I met their local President, as well as the International President, Rainer Fineske.

I’m happy to report (ie. blow my own trumpet 😉) they were highly enthusiastic about my performance and the preparation I’d put into perfecting language and word pointing. They are by far the most knowledgeable audience members and I am so happy they’re happy… phew!!

Together with my gorgeous colleague whose Sieglinde I had the pleasure to perform alongside this week. These performances of Walküre have been a dream come true and I can’t wait for the next time I’m fortunate enough to perform Wagner!

Wandering through Münster (clutching Christian’s beautiful flowers), still heady from our performance of Walküre this evening. It’s been an absolute dream preparing and now performing Siegmund. Can’t wait to do it two more times! 🙂

With my best new ‘frenemy’, who performed a fabulous black voiced Hunding to my Siegmund in tonight’s Walküre premiere at . Happy to report it was a triumph!!

Orchestral rehearsals for Siegmund in Die Walküre in concert at Theater Münster. A glorious day of music making with gorgeous colleagues and another dream role! 😃

It’s finally time for a ‘smoko’… 🚬
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After a whirlwind 7 days straight rehearsal period and the first 2 of our Scottish Opera Daphne ‘concerts’ done, we now take a well deserved break until our Edinburgh outing on December 10.
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For playing Apollo our ‘Daphne’ director Emma Jenkins asked me to channel Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds. suffice to say, I had the most fun blocking week!
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Photos from our Daphne at Scottish Opera 🤩

A fabulous opening night of Daphne for - Apollo is officially rehearsed, opened and under my artistic belt! What an intensely huge week!

Flying away to sing and play dress-ups again. So happy to have Christian’s enthusiastic support in all this. Thank goodness for video messaging!

So happy seeing this face again last night!! He even found fabulous Asian food near the airport, knowing that it’s impossible to find in Europe. 🤩

Another fun new look… 😏

Opening Night of Vec Makropulos (aka: Die Sache Makropulos) was a hit! I’m happy (relieved!) to report my own contribution as Albert Gregor went really well, acting my my poor dejected heart out, High Cs blazing and everything.
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Learning the role of Albert Gregor in a few short weeks to jump into the already established cast was, in hindsight, perhaps a ‘fool’s errand’ (this is fiendishly difficult music, thank you Janacek!), but with the help of music staff here, Tony Legge in London and the psychological soothing of Christian from Sydney I made it, my boss sending me a message: “it was FABULOUS!! REALLY! Well done indeed!”
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It’s official! Blondes really DO have more fun!! Today as Albert Gregor KHP (piano dress) for Vec Makropulos at Theater Münster.
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I’m incredibly thrilled I’ll join Scottish Opera as APOLLO in Richard Strauss’ DAPHNE in September and December this year.
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As Tony Legge so aptly observed: “Apollo usually wears very little, so that will save on the costume budget” - note: despite being ‘in concert’ we will be in costumes and ‘off book’. So, Scotland, we’re in for a thrill!
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BTW… the audition was epic! About 40 mins of Siegfried (Forging scene, Forest Murmers and Siegfrieds final narration and death scene.
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Full details: https://www.scottishopera.org.uk/shows/daphne/

Hard at work this week on my next role, Albert Gregor in Vec Makropulos by for Würzburg. It’s quite the challenge musically/rhythmically and all those Eurythmics classes with Mr Willey at .school are finally coming in very useful!
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Getting back into Agamemnon in Münster this month !
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“I’m so proud of you!” cried Siegfried Jerusalem when I saw him in the foyer following our final Götterdämmerung performance. This moment, I must say, made all the hard work poured into preparing this role worth it.
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Naturally, as a teacher, he went on later to clarify all the improvements we can work on… still, to make him happy felt wonderfully gratifying. 🤩
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📸 captured as Siegfried by all round stage management superstar, Bram Harris 🤩
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Act One Siegfried done! Sword forged successfully and now we’re off to slay a dragon and kiss Brünnhilde awake! 🗡️ 🐉 👸

Together with Petra & Hans Henkell and Siegfried Jerusalem, with whom I start preparing the role of Siegfried again this coming week.
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Costume fitting fun. Can’t wait to try on my other looks next weekend. Just a fortnight until I sing Siegfried!

Side-stage with Nothung (Siegfried and Sword). 🗡️ Had a lot of fun rehearsing the death scene tonight.
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