Press

Possessed of an imposing build and a rugged, perfectly articulated baritone

Opera News

"Baritone Brian Mulligan was a beautiful Golaud, a tall figure with a matching voice. Vocally excellently groomed. Within the limited space the role provides, he played a credible middle-aged man, who transforms from a naive, well-meaning husband into a suspicious, jealous potentate, who seems to value more the certainty that his young wife has not cheated on him than her survival.

Place de l'Opera
Critical Acclaim:

Golaud at Dutch National Opera

„Bariton Brian Mulligan was een prachtige Golaud, een rijzige gestalte met bijbehorende stem. Vocaal uitstekend verzorgd. Binnen de beperkte bewegingsruimte die de rol biedt, speelde hij een geloofwaardige middelbare... {...}

In Old Fashioned he performs songs made popular by the great American baritones of the 20th century, such as Nelson Eddy, Lawrence Tibbett and Leonard Warren, sailing through them from a whisper to a roar. He sounds very comfortable in this repertoire, from the ardent romanticism of d'Hardelot's Because to the goonish On the Trail of the Lonesome Pine, famously performed by Laurel and Hardy.

Opera Now
Critical Acclaim:

Review: Old Fashioned

“The home page of Brian Mulligan’s website highlights a review stating that he possesses ‘a voice that rich, secure, and really, really big’, and I am happy to concur... {...}

Mulligan’s sturdy baritone and soulful acting assured an appealing Mandryka.

Opera Warhorses
Critical Acclaim:

San Francisco Opera – Arabella

“Mulligan’s supple baritone did not tire, and his impeccable technique made his solid, salt-of-the-earth portrayal of Mandryka even and free from low to high range. We could see and... {...}

Features:

A Star, Yes, but No Hero in Arabella

Most male characters in opera are either heroes or villains. Among the rest, there is Arabella’s good-bad-good Mandryka. Baritone Brian Mulligan, memorable here in 2012 in the title role... {...}

Brian Mulligan (also Donner in Rheingold) sang Gunther with the voice of a king masked by a softness in physical presence that made him easy prey for Hagen.

Richard S. Ginell, Classical Voice America
Critical Acclaim:

San Francisco Opera – Ring Cycle

“Baritone Brian Mulligan unfurled a resplendent baritone as the thunder god Donner and returned in Götterdämmerung as a weak-willed but smoothly sung Gunther.” -Harvey Steiman, Seen and Heard International (June 19,... {...}

"The Death of Klinghoffer," by John Adams and Alice Goodman, is a controversial work... Nancy Maultsby, Brian Mulligan, Christopher Magiera, Aubrey Allicock and the rest of the cast made it come alive."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Critical Acclaim:

20 years of favorites from Opera Theatre of St. Louis

“The Death of Klinghoffer,” by John Adams and Alice Goodman, is a controversial work, dealing with the real-life 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro by Palestinian terrorists,... {...}

For me, however, the evening’s strongest performance was Brian Mulligan’s Sharpless, who cautions the headstrong and irreverent Pinkerton that it is a “great sin to … break a trusting heart”. Sharpless is moral standard, cultural interface and master of diplomacy all in one – an easy fellow to like anyway – but Mulligan sang the role with authority and bravado.

Sarah Batschelet, Bachtrack
Critical Acclaim:

Opernhaus Zürich – Madama Butterfly

“But it was American-Irish baritone Brian Mulligan who impressed me the most, as Sharpless. Amply rounded both in form and vocal tone, his warm voice was always the centre... {...}

Critical Acclaim:

A bold debut album: Brian Mulligan sings Dominick Argento

American baritone Brian Mulligan has released his debut solo album on the Naxos label, lending his voice to the music of Dominick Argento. On the album are the composer’s Pulitzer Prize-winning From the Diary of... {...}

Features:

The Power of Perseverance

The wait required for dramatic voices to mature and come into their own can be frustrating—and nobody understands this better than Brian Mulligan. And, yet, rather than dwell on... {...}

Features:

A Conversation with Brian Mulligan: “Crucible’s” John Proctor at Glimmerglass, His Tenth Role Debut in 16 Months

Wm: Since our last conversation, I’ve reviewed opera performances in Zurich and San Francisco in which you had major roles. Let me start with the San Francisco Opera’s Fall... {...}