(Credit: Chris Gloag)

On May 10, 2025, English bass Matthew Best died at the age of 68.

Born on Feb. 6, 1957 performed for 35-year as an opera singer, taking on over 100 operatic roles including Wotan in “Der Ring des Nibelungen,” the title role in “Der fliegende Holländer,” Heinrich in “Lohengrin,” both Kurwenal and Marke in “Tristan und Isolde,” Amfortas in “Parsifal,” Scarpia in Puccini’s “Tosca” and Jochanaan in “Salome.”

He went on to perform at major opera houses in the United Kingdom, including the Royal Opera, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera North, for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and Glyndebourne Touring Opera. He also performed at the Oper Leipzig, Théâtre de la Monnaie (Brussels), Vlaamse Opera, Netherlands Opera, Royal Swedish Opera, Santa Fé Opera, and Florida Grand Opera.

Throughout his career, Best collaborated with Riccardo Muti, Bernard Haitink, Colin Davis, Andrew Davis, Zubin Mehta, Charles Mackerras, and Sir Donald Runnicles, among others. In 1979, he conducted the premiere of his original operetta “Alice.”

In addition to his career as a singer, best was a well-known conductor who founded the Corydon Orchestra and the Corydon Singers.

After his stage career, Best became a beloved teacher at the Royal Northern College of Music and was recently recognized with the Fellowship of the ⁩Royal Northern College of Music. He also served as Music Director of the Academy Choir Wimbledon and the Academy Baroque Players.

Best left several recordings with the Corydon Singers, including Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Serenade to Music” and Rachmaninov’s “Vespers.”