For almost three decades, Samuel Ramey has reigned as one of the music world’s foremost interpreters of bass and bass-baritone operatic and concert repertoire. With astounding versatility he commands an impressive breadth of repertoire encompassing virtually every musical style from the fioratura of Argante in Handel’s Rinaldo, which was the vehicle of his acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut in 1984, to the dramatic proclamations of the title role in Bartok’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, which he sang in a new production at the Metropolitan Opera televised by PBS. The 2012-2013 season sees his return to the Metropolitan Opera as Timur in Turandot. Recent engagements include Don Basilio (The Barber of Seville), Rambaldo (La Rondine) and Leone in Attila at the Met; Claudius (Hamlet) with Washington National Opera; Scarpia (Tosca) at Deutsche Oper Berlin; Méphistophélès in Nice; and the Grand Inquisitore (Don Carlos) with Houston Grand Opera. (www.SamuelRamey.com)