"John Treleaven has reached a level of role identification which amazes, captivates, excites and inspires" the press wrote about his Tristan after his spectacular debut in Amsterdam with Simon Rattle, a role which he has personified worldwide in more than 100 performances e.g. in the Hamburg State Opera, at the Gran Teatro del Liceu Barcelona, the Frankfurt Opera, the Brisbane Festival, at the Teatro Verdi di Verona, the Teatro Regio di Torino, in Santiago de Chile, in concert performances in Montreal, at the Luzern Festival with Maestro Claudio Abbado, as well as with the BBC Symphony Orchestra London with Donald Runnicles (published by Warner Music). He repeatedly portrayed Tristan at the Bavarian State Opera Festival in Munich and at the Summer Festival of the Bavarian State Opera. Moreover, the Cornish tenor convinced both audience and press with his Tristan interpretations at the Vienna State Opera, the Los Angeles Opera and the Opera House Zurich.
John Treleaven is one of the most sought after Heldentenors at the important international opera houses. He was celebrated as Stolzing at the Bavarian State Opera Festival in Munich, in Toulouse and in Peter Konwitschny’s production at the Hamburg State Opera. As Lohengrin he performed successfully at the Vienna State Opera, the Gran Teatro del Liceu Barcelona, the Hamburg State Opera, in Gothenburg, Basle and Amsterdam. As Tannhäuser he fascinated public and press at the Staatsoper of Hamburg and in the new production of the Opera House Graz in 2008.
John Treleaven has achieved particular success internationally as Siegfried in ‘Siegfried’ and ‘Götterdämmerung’, including Tokyo, Zurich, Helsinki, at the Gran Teatro del Liceu Barcelona (available as a DVD), at the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House London with Antonio Pappano and Keith Warner and at the Lyric Opera Chicago.
He sang Siegmund in Karlsruhe, Tokyo and Nice, in Dresden’s Semper Opera, as well as in concerts with the Bamberg Symphony and the Helsinki Radio Orchestra.
John Treleaven studied in London at the College of Music with William Lloyd Webber, among others, and at the London Opera Centre, Covent Garden as well as in Naples under Maestro Campanino. At first he sang primarily in his home country at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Welsh National Opera, the Scottish National Opera and the English National Opera, where he learned numerous roles such as the Prince in Rusalka, which is available on DVD. At the Edinburgh Festival he sang the role of Hans in The Bartered Bride, as well as Radames, Erik, Florestan and was heard in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex. Further guest performances took him to the Adelaide Festival, the Taormina Festival, to Bologna, Amsterdam, Paris, New York …
In 1991 he made his highly acclaimed German debut at the Mannheim National Theatre as Peter Grimes, a role he has since sung at the Hamburg State Opera, in Bremen, Frankfurt and Genoa, at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and at the Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg (directed by Alfred Kirchner). His repertoire also includes roles such as Bacchus in ‘Ariadne auf Naxos’, Canio in ‘I Pagliacci’, Calaf in ‘Turandot’, Dick Johnson in ‘La Fanciulla del West’ and Hermann in ‘Pique Dame’. At the Berlin State Opera he sang Pollione in ‘Norma’, at the Teatro Real Madrid he performed Menelas in ‘Die Ägyptische Helena’ and in Helsinki he sang the Emperor in ‘Die Frau ohne Schatten’.
John Treleaven continuously keeps adding new roles to his repertoire. Recently, he portrayed Idomeneo in a production of the New National Theatre Tokyo, Pedro in ‘Tiefland’ at the Opera House Frankfurt. In this very role he was subsequently trumphant at the Zurich Opera House. He was Parsifal at the Wagner Festival in Wels, sang Aeneas in ‘Les Troyens’ at the Karlsruhe State Theatre and Otello – another role from the Italian repertoire – at the Eutin Festival and the Mannheim National Theatre.
John Treleaven proves his special affinity for ‘Wagner’s heroes’ in his solo recitals ‘Wagner’s heroes’ - excerpts from the Ring - and a ‘Wagner Portrait’ (Oehmsclassics - Ivan Anguélov conducting).