"A born storyteller"
The Arts Desk
News
William returns to ENO for The Pirates of Penzance
"It is William Morgan, though, who gives the star performance: he's genuinely funny as Frederic, the naive apprentice pirate who returns in Act 2 as a dashing man of the world before finding himself duty-bound to return to piracy, and sings it all in a soaring tenor that cuts through everything elegantly." The Guardian "the tenor William Morgan, as an energetic and vocally strong Frederic" The Telegraph The stand-out is William Morgan's Frederic, his singing spanning youthful heroism and - in his Act 2 duet with Mabel as he decides he must leave her to rejoin the pirates - touching tenderness" The Stage |
Above: in ENO's Pirates of Penzance. Photo: Fiona Rich, @fionarichpics
"William Morgan sets the energetic tone right at the start - the dialogue zings - but also phrases beautifully"
The Arts Desk |
Opera Nova festival, Prague 2024
William performs with Prague's State Opera in the premiere of Šimon Voseček's opera-oratorio Ogres, conducted by Stephanie Childress.
William performs with Prague's State Opera in the premiere of Šimon Voseček's opera-oratorio Ogres, conducted by Stephanie Childress.
Judith Weir's Blond Eckbert
at the Aldeburgh Festival 2024
William performs the triple role of Walther / Hugo / An Old Woman in Weir's dark fairytale opera.
The cast showcased vocal prowess with impeccable musicality and intonation ... Walter, William Morgan – later becoming Hugo, then the Old Woman – brought a clear tenor voice to all three roles with striking resonance - Gramophone / Opera Now
A terrific sense of unease in this psychological thriller ... The subtly nuanced acting and expressive singing of a fine cast (Simon Wallfisch, Flora McIntosh, William Morgan, Aoife Miskelly) adds to the unease ... You get a vivid feeling of traumas barely suppressed - The Times
Photo above/left: William Morgan as Hugo with Simon Wallfisch as Blond Eckbert
Credit: Richard Hubert-Smith
at the Aldeburgh Festival 2024
William performs the triple role of Walther / Hugo / An Old Woman in Weir's dark fairytale opera.
The cast showcased vocal prowess with impeccable musicality and intonation ... Walter, William Morgan – later becoming Hugo, then the Old Woman – brought a clear tenor voice to all three roles with striking resonance - Gramophone / Opera Now
A terrific sense of unease in this psychological thriller ... The subtly nuanced acting and expressive singing of a fine cast (Simon Wallfisch, Flora McIntosh, William Morgan, Aoife Miskelly) adds to the unease ... You get a vivid feeling of traumas barely suppressed - The Times
Photo above/left: William Morgan as Hugo with Simon Wallfisch as Blond Eckbert
Credit: Richard Hubert-Smith
Past Productions & Press
"William Morgan made Don Ottavio less supine and reactive than is often the case and he sang both arias with impressive lyricism and urgency, with a lovely result in his lightly virile Il mio Tesoro."
Opera Magazine, 2023
Tom Rakewell in The Rake's Progress
Theater Orchester Biel-Solothurn, Switzerland
"Jede Rolle ist mit William Morgan (Tom Rakewell), Marysol Schalit (Anne Trulove), Simon Schnorr (Nick Shadow) und Candida Guida (Baba) stimmlich und optisch famos besetzt." CH Media
"... Beeindruckend gestaltet William Morgan den Tom Rakewell. Es ist elektrisierend zu verfolgen, wie er die Handlung durchlebt" -- onlinemerker.com
Photo: Andreas Zimmermann
The Yeomen of the Guard, Opera Holland Park 2024
William plays Colonel Fairfax in this co-production from Charles Court Opera and Opera Holland Park described as "A perfect balance of farce and romance" (The Times)
"The other outstanding piece of singing came from William Morgan as the imprisoned Colonel Fairfax, a brightly ringing tenor voice to make you sit up and take notice." (Bachtrack)
William plays Colonel Fairfax in this co-production from Charles Court Opera and Opera Holland Park described as "A perfect balance of farce and romance" (The Times)
"The other outstanding piece of singing came from William Morgan as the imprisoned Colonel Fairfax, a brightly ringing tenor voice to make you sit up and take notice." (Bachtrack)
Title role in Bernstein's Candide at Scottish Opera
*****
The Guardian, The Herald, The Scotsman, The Telegraph
"The not-to-be-missed musical event of the season" (The Guardian)
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William Morgan sings Candide with wide-eyed simplicity, bringing warm conviction to his final epiphany." (The Times) An electrifying, immersive thrill. William Morgan was Candide ... singing with undimmed freshness as his wounds grew bloodier" (The Spectator) "At its heart is a charismatic performance from tenor William Morgan in the title role... This Candide rocks between ribald nonsense and the deeply moving with startling ease" (Herald) |
Above: Scottish Opera's production of Candide, 2022. Photo credit: James Glossop
Scenes from the Wild
A dramatic song cycle for solo tenor and orchestra by Cheryl Frances-Hoad, 2021
Libretto by Amanda Holden, after Dara McAnulty's Diary of a Young Naturalist
City of London Sinfonia / William Morgan / Geoffrey Paterson
Trailer - Scenes from the WIld, City of London Sinfonia
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"William Morgan gave an astonishingly committed and compelling performance. Morgan vocally scaled emotional peaks – ecstatic, angry, awed – and ploughed troughs of pain, despair and emptiness." Opera Today "The tireless young tenor, William Morgan, gives a total performance The Arts Desk |
"A captivating work, marrying insightful words to gently powerful music ...
"Thanks to [Morgan's] tireless performance those words communicated as surely as if they were McAnulty’s own."
The Guardian
"William Morgan rose magnificently to the many challenges of his role, making the narrator a distinctive character with real emotions, from frustration and anger at humanity’s cruelty to awe and wonder at the beauty of nature.
Addressing the audience directly, with scarcely a pause in the work’s 80-minute duration, Morgan succeeded in holding the interest at all times, yet never drawing attention away from the important orchestral contributions."
Musical Opinion
The Gondoliers - Scottish Opera 2021/22
FULL PRODUCTION VIDEO AVAILABLE ON BBC iPLAYER
Filmed live at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre
Filmed live at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre
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"Quite simply, this production shows how good a Gilbert and Sullivan opera can be [...] The singers are super, too. William Morgan and Mark Nathan lead the pack" The Times "William Morgan and Mark Nathan sing handsomely and dance well, ending each duet with a playful double entrechat that can’t possibly be as easy as they make it look" The Spectator "The mirth and excitement oozing from the first night audience said it all." Vox Carynx |
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Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte
Longborough Festival Opera 2021
"One of the best production of Cosi I have seen" Classical Source
"Radically, rewardingly reinvented" The Stage
Photo credit: Matthew Williams-Ellis
Prunier in La Rondine, West Green House Opera 2021
"William Morgan brings genuine presence to the role of Prunier...
This cast and production make us care a great deal" MusicOMH
"William Morgan brings genuine presence to the role of Prunier...
This cast and production make us care a great deal" MusicOMH
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Tom Rakewell in The Rake's Progress
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra “Tenor William Morgan is completely convincing as the all-consuming 'rake' Tom, whose inner journey this is. When Morgan sings "Love too frequently betrayed", already totally lost in London's whorehouse, it is with real sadness in the voice. A good actor cries real tears and this is the vocal equivalent (...) It seems to include all of us.” (Expressen) "Ceaselessly enjoyable... Not least William Morgan's touching Tom Rakewell, who is dressed and undressed until he only consists of his violently beating heart. Go and see!" (Dagens Nyheter) "Most impressive is the fact that in all the dynamic physical action, he always keeps his voice." (Borås Tidning) 
Above: The Turn of the Screw. Photo credit - Johan Persson
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Above: The Rake's Progress. Photo credit - Mats Backer
Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni
Longborough Festival "Don Ottavio was not the usual wimp, but in William Morgan’s assumption was a virile leader of the pack hunting the Don." (**** Bachtrack.com) Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw English National Opera / The Open Air Theatre "William Morgan’s Quint ... we fully believe he is “free with everyone” – chameleon-like, sinuous, bestial, with just a touch of the Johnny Depp charm about him; musically beguiling, too, yet Morgan can produce raw bite when he wants to attack..." (**** Classical Source) "William Morgan immediately collars the audience with his lively presence and pliant tenor" (**** The Stage) "Usually doubled by the tenor playing Quint, on this occasion the Prologue was sung separately by William Morgan, who injects some tangible unease right at the start with his knowing smile and a touch of tonal menace." (**** Financial Times) |
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Phaeton in The Day After (Jonathan Dove)
English National Opera “A parable with contemporary resonance... Phaeton’s disastrous ride [provides] an obvious visual and musical climax... In writing that veers in the direction of Heldentenor demands, Morgan is consistently bold and bracing.” (**** The Guardian) “Emotionally compelling” (**** The Stage) "Witnessing the raw energy and physicality of every singer close up, especially as they united to “heave” Phaeton’s fiery chariot towards the sun, was to appreciate their formidable skills anew. An assured cast was led by tenor William Morgan" (**** The Observer) 
Above: Orpheus in the Underworld. Photo credit - Claire Shovelton
"William Morgan proved that his fingers are as nimble as his vocal cords, giving a creditable rendition of the renowned violin solo, despite his musical acrobatics — he twirled impetuously around the haughty Eurydice and slid along the floor on his back, with no obvious negative effect on intonation or finger-work..." Opera Today
Younger Man in Between Worlds (Tansy Davies) English National Opera / Barbican Theatre, 2015 "The psychological truth of this inexorable drama comes across with awesome power" (***** The Independent) "Deborah Warner’s production is taut and finely acted ... William Morgan is instantly appealing as the Younger Man who is afraid of heights" (***** Bachtrack) "William Morgan played her vulnerable son, negotiating some arioso writing in the highest tenor tessitura... Between Worlds is a wonderful, haunting and profoundly moving piece of work." (***** Opera Brittania) "The singing was very strong ... As the group of four representing the 2,700 who perished, Rhian Lois, Clare Presland, William Morgan and Phillip Rhodes vividly acted out their abandonment by modern life, and their acceptance of the inevitable is accomplished with considerable tact" (Classical Source) |
Above: The Day After. Photo credit - Claire Egan
A Above: William was featured in the video project "50 years of Opera" produced to mark ENO's 50th anniversary at the London Coliseum.
See all the featured artists here! Cervantes in The Queen's Lace Handkerchief (J. Strauss) Opera Della Luna @ Wilton's Music Hall "Rises to unusual heights of theatrical brilliance... "the writer Cervantes – who somehow gets in on the act - is delivered with conspicuous matinee idol ebullience by William Morgan" (**** The Stage) Misael in The Burning Fiery Furnace (Britten) Scottish Opera / Lammermuir Festival Benedict Nelson, William Morgan and Lancelot Nomura were strong – and immaculately balanced – as the three Israelites. (**** The Scotsman) It is an all-male tale, with tenor William Morgan in especially fine voice...(***** The Herald) "A fine, thrilling tenor" - Planet Hugill William Morgan in recital at Conway Hall, London |