![Critical Acclaim:
"The most delightfully surprising and truly brilliant performance, however, came from baritone Steven Condy as Don Bartolo. This character is often played either as a doddering fool or just a mean old guy, resulting in a mono-dimensional secondo role. Condy’s approach, however, was musico-comedic genius. It was as if Walter Barry were singing Peter Boyle playing the Godfather. The agility of his voice, not only in negotiating the vocal roller-coasters, but also in creating comically nuanced coloring, combined with his clumsily agile physicality and an edgy-but-not-threatening delivery of the role as a whole, stole the show. Based on his performance, the opera might well be re-titled Don Bartolo."
- The Boston Musical Intelligencer
“Steven Condy as Dr Bartolo stole the show, however, and delivered a solid vocal performance. His acting was outstanding. He is an artist willing to go the extra mile for the character and it shows.”
– OperaOnline.us
“Steven Condy played Dr. Bartolo with unusual dignity; he seemed the most reasonable and sympathetic character onstage. Condy really sang the role, whether in his natural baritone or in a falsetto imitation of the castrato Caffarelli [sic].”
– Opera News
“Steven Condy portrayed Dr. Bartolo as a befuddled human being who even shook hands with those who outsmarted him, rather than the stereotyped buffoon opera-goers often see. Condy also sang boldly and clearly”.
– Memphis Commercial Appeal
“And with Steven Condy in the title role, this is a rollicking and fast paced evening of merriment. Condy, for whom this is his ninth outing in the role, made the most of his character. At Monday’s performance he captured the essence of Falstaff by bringing a self-assuredness to the role that was wonderfully credible. He made the audience believe in his pompous arrogance, but he also brought poignancy to his monologue in Act II when he realizes he’s gotten too old and big to be the womanizer of his youth. The manner in which Condy played it brought some needed vulnerability to his character that made him very human. Vocally, Condy was also every bit up to his role. Possessing a strong and resonant voice, he brought lyricism and subtle nuances to his singing, and he blended in wonderfully with the other voices in the ensemble numbers.”
– Reichel Recommends
“While we may have missed Indianapolis Opera veteran Timothy Noble’s Sir John Falstaff at last Friday’s IO production of Verdi’s Falstaff, Steven Condy stepped into the title role and delivered a near knockout performance of Shakespeare’s fat funny-man, the story adapted mostly from his Merry Wives of Windsor…. Thus the technical demands placed upon all the principals — Condy as that portly rascal Sir John… — were challenging in the extreme. And, as alluded above, Condy surmounted his difficulties the best, his vocal equipment maintaining much elegant beauty and control throughout his continuous challenges, nicely defined by his aria on ‘honor’ at the end of Act 1’s first scene.”
– Nuvo Newsweekly
“Dominating the proceedings was Steven Condy’s hilariously larger-than-life yet totally believable and sympathetic Sir John. Condy never let his skillful embodiment of the fat knight’s physical and behavioral grotesqueries affect the inherent beauty of his singing; his warm, manly tone, fine legato and ready mezza voce reminded one just how squarely within the bel canto tradition the role of Falstaff lies.”
- Opera News
“As Falstaff Thursday night, Condy was vital and vivid without devolving into vulgar caricature. His voice, a true Verdi baritone, was unusually sweet (some dulcet and ringing high notes) and he always sang the role, rather than merely acting his way through it. Unlike many of his elders, Condy has recognized that Falstaff cannot live on gruff charm alone.”
- The Washington Post
“Steven Condy dug deeply into the psyche of Sir John, swaggering through the part with elan, singing incisively with a ripe, firm bass-baritone”
- Opera News
“The ursine baritone Steven Condy sang and acted the role of Dr. Dulcamara, the dispenser of the mysterious elixir of love, with just the right combination of oleaginous hustle and broad comedic vigor. Look up the term "snake oil salesman" in the dictionary and you might just find Condy's picture."
- The Washington Post
“Boffo buffo bass Steven Condy, a local favorite who perfected his singing not too long ago with the Wolf Trap Opera company, combined his heft and his uncanny skill in comic ‘patter’ songs to create a broadly drawn and eminently funny Dulcamara.”
- The Washington Times
“Dulcamara was sung with resplendent Falstaffian vigor by Steven Condy....”
- The Arizona Republic](Welcome_files/shapeimage_2.png)
Steven Condy enjoys a career filled with notoriety and acclaim for his creative portrayals of the great “buffo” roles and is admired not only for his robust and nuanced voice, but also for his natural acting ability. The Washington Times enthused that he has “the comic timing of John Candy and a voice that remains flexible, rich and true through every intricacy,” and Anthony Tomassini of the New York Times offered that he would “vote the prize for the most naturally clear diction of the cast to the hardy baritone Steven Condy.” This year, Mr. Condy will perform as a soloist in Carmina Burana with the Pennsbury Community Chorus, and Messiah with the Chester County Christian Chorale. Operatic performances include Scarpia in Tosca with Opera Carolina and Major-General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance with Opera Grand Rapids.
Recently, Mr. Condy spent two seasons on illustrious roster of the Metropolitan Opera for their productions of Gianni Schicchi and La bohéme. Renowned for his interpretation of Dr. Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia, the Boston Music Intelligencer raved of his “most delightfully surprising and truly brilliant performance…the agility of his voice, not only in negotiating the vocal roller-coasters, but also in creating comically nuanced coloring, combined with his clumsily agile physicality and an edgy-but-not-threatening delivery of the role as a whole, stole the show. Based on his performance, the opera might well be re-titled Don Bartolo.” He performed the role over 100 times with companies such as Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Toledo Opera, Portland Opera, Madison Opera, Opera Memphis, Virginia Opera, Sarasota Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, and Lyric Opera Baltimore, Manitoba Opera, Calgary Opera, and many others. Most recently, he performed the role in his house début at Opera Carolina.
The title role in Verdi’s Falstaff is another signature role in Mr. Condy’s repertoire, which he performed at companies such as Utah Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Kentucky Opera, Opera San José, and most recently, Opera Delaware. Of his Falstaff, Opera News hailed: “Dominating the proceedings was Steven Condy’s hilariously larger-than-life yet totally believable and sympathetic Sir John. Condy never let his skillful embodiment of the fat knight’s physical and behavioral grotesqueries affect the inherent beauty of his singing; his warm, manly tone, fine legato and ready mezza [stet] voce reminded one just how squarely within the bel canto tradition the role of Falstaff lies.” He is also in demand as Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola, a role he performed at Madison Opera, Portland Opera, Opera Delaware Utah Opera, Memphis Opera, Florentine Opera, Lyric Opera Kansas City, and Austin Lyric Opera.
Other notable engagements from his extensive career include: Sacristan in a new production of Tosca with the Houston Grand Opera; Betto in Gianni Schicchi in a new production with Los Angeles Opera directed by Woody Allen, followed by his European opera debut in the same production with the Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi; the title role in Don Pasquale with Opera New Jersey, Utah Opera, Calgary Opera, Opera on the James, Opera Naples, and Edmonton Opera; Benoit/Alcindoro in La bohème with Dallas Opera and Opera Company of Philadelphia; Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore with Chautauqua Opera, Washington National Opera, Arizona Opera, and Lyric Opera of Guatemala among others; Baron Zeta in The Merry Widow with Washington National Opera; Sulpice in La fille du régiment with the San Francisco Opera and Opera Lyra Ottawa; Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte with Arizona Opera and Hawaii Opera Theater; Tevya, the lead role of Fiddler on the Roof with Shreveport Opera; and Major General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance with Arizona Opera.
As a concert artist, Condy graces stages throughout the country earning critical acclaim. From his recent appearance as a soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Lincoln Symphony, The Lincoln Journal Star wrote: “Baritone Steven Condy… began the poem that inspired the Ninth, his powerful voice booming through the hall.” He later performed the bass solo again with Asheville Symphony.
Additional highlights of concert appearances include Händel’s Messiah with the Columbus Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, Masterworks Chorus at Carnegie Hall, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, and La Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias in Oviedo, Spain; the role of Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro with the Minnesota Orchestra, conducted by Jeffrey Tate; Belshazzar’s Feast and Gordon Getty’s Plump Jack with New Mexico Symphony Orchestra; and gala concerts with the Indianapolis Symphony and the Orquesta Sinfónica Sinaloa de las Artes in Mazatlan, Mexico.
Mr. Condy earned accolades and awards from some of the industry’s most prestigious organizations including: The Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition, The Sullivan Foundation, The Richard Tucker Music Foundation competition, Pope Foundation competition, MacAllister Award competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, and the Mario Lanza Institute Scholarship competition. Mr. Condy holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Hartford and a Master of Music degree from Yale University’s School of Music. He holds the position of Music Recruitment and Events Coordinator at Cairn University in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, where he also serves as adjunct faculty of voice and co-director of Opera Theater.
