BIOGRAPHY
“Of the singers, Mark Saberton as Bottom was easily the most dominant...” Michael Kennedy, Opera, Bottom, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Longborough Festival
Mark studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where he was awarded the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama Trust to study in the Opera School.
He has sung with many opera companies including Royal Opera, English National Opera, Opera North, Raymond Gubbay, Scottish Opera, Garsington Opera, Longborough Festival Opera, Opera Holland Park, Mid Wales Opera and Savoy Opera.
Roles include Rigoletto and Escamillo (Carmen) for Kentish Opera and Heritage Opera; Bottom (Midsummer Night's Dream) for Longborough Festival Opera; Figaro (Barber of Seville and Marriage of Figaro), Scarpia (Tosca), Don Giovanni and Sharpless (Madame Butterfly) for Heritage Opera; Ben Budge/Wat Dreary (Beggars Opera) for Royal Opera; Antonio (Marriage of Figaro) for Garsington Opera at the Barbican conducted by Jane Glover; Narumov (Queen of Spades) for Opera Holland Park; Krusina (Bartered Bride) for Mid Wales Opera, and the Hotel Waiter/Boatman (Death in Venice) for the Aldeburgh and Bregenz Festivals conducted by Paul Daniel.
Mark works with David Owen Norris. He played the character of Salieri in David’s comic radio opera Die Sober Flirter! in Norway and the UK. With Bampton Classical Opera he has helped to introduce several lesser known classical works to a UK audience notably Salieri’s Falstaff.
Mark is involved in several ongoing projects with accompanist Micheila Brigginshaw. With Joe Richardson he is working on a programme of 19th century parlour songs and Arthur Sullivan works.
He has been heard several times on BBC Radio 3 and has sung in a variety of oratorios and recitals including Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Brahms’ Requiem (at Birmingham Symphony Hall), Handel’s Messiah, Orff’s Carmina Burana (at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall) and Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony (in Rochester Cathedral).
He has recorded the role of Ben Budge (Beggars Opera) with the City of London Sinfonia and Royal Opera conducted by Christian Curnyn.
Recent acting engagements include Cornwall’s Servant/Knight/Officer in King Lear at the Grange Festival with Sir John Tomlinson in the title role, Sir Thomas Allen as Gloucester and Keith Warner directing.
Recent opera engagements include Shoulder to Shoulder by Lenny Sayers with Swansea City Opera, commissioned to highlight the Men’s Sheds organisation.