“Characterized by a very strong acting presence, the singer succeeded in creating a portrait (Parsifal) of immense humanistic empathy. Vocally, Jonathan Stoughton was also able to draw on abundant resources. With his youthfully bright, seamless tenor voice, the singer seemed to feel visibly at ease in the role. Soft cantilenas, excellent phrasing, fresh colors, subtle dark shading in the middle register, a beautiful timbre and a flowing legato combined with perfect accent-free articulation were his outstanding qualities, making him a celebrated crowd-pleaser.“

Gerhard Hoffmann (Online-Merker, 16.04.2022, on Jonathan Stoughton’s debut as Parsifal at the Nationaltheater Mannheim)

Following his extraordinarily successful debuts as Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos), Prince in Rusalka and Siegfried (Siegfried), the latter one having been praised as “ardent, fresh toned and promisingly tireless” [Andrew Clements, The Guardian], Jonathan Stoughton has established himself as one of Britain’s most exciting heldentenors. His repertoire includes Siegfried (Siegfried and Götterdämmerung) Bacchus, Erik, Florestan, Stolzing, Don José, Radames, Gustavo and Jimmy (American Lulu by Olga Neuwirth).

Recent highlights include his debut at Opera North in the role of Turiddu in a new production of Cavalleria rusticana, his debut as Max in Krenek’s Johnny spielt auf at the State Opera in Prague, his concert debut as Tristan at Saffron Hall in Saffron Walden, UK, and Siegfried in concert at Henry Wood Hall in London. He could be heard as Siegfried (Götterdämmerung) at Leipzig Opera in 2021.

Another successful debut was in the role of the Kaiser in Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, where he has been a member of the ensemble since the 2020/21 season, singing the major roles of the German repertoire (Siegmund, Siegfried, Parsifal, Erik, Stolzing, Bacchus, Kaiser and others). He also celebrated a great personal success there as Einsiedel in Simplicius Simplicissimus. The Online-Merker wrote about his Max in Mannheim’s Der Freischütz:

“‘Kommt ein schlanker Bursch’ gegangen’, (There goes a handsome lad) muses Ännchen, and in fact he appeared in the form of Jonathan Stoughton and became the vocal ideal of Max. His tenor voice has a beautiful timbre, effortlessly scaling up to radiant heights, giving the role a stern, masculine tone with a pithy, melodious middle range and perfect intonation. This intelligent singer was able to effectively combine the lyrical sequences with dramatic overtones.”
(Gerhard Hoffmann, April 18, 2022)

Siegmund and Siegfried followed in the summer of 2022 in the new production of Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Nationaltheater Mannheim.

In 2022, Jonathan Stoughton toured Korea with the Nationaltheater’s ensemble, where he sang all the major tenor roles of his repertoire under the musical direction of Alexander Soddy. In 2023, he appeared in Augsburg as Florestan in the new Fidelio production at Theater Augsburg and as Parsifal in the children’s opera at the Bayreuth Festival 2023. In the 2023/24 season, he will make his debut as Dimitri in Boris Godunov at the Nationaltheater and present himself in the title role in the new production of Siegfried at the Theater in Bern.