Winner of the Lieder Prize at the 1997 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition he studied singing at the Royal Academy of Music.

A renowned Don Giovanni, he has sung the role at the Salzburg Festival, in Berlin, Munich, Cologne and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where he has also sung Papageno, Guglielmo, Lescaut, Forester, Marcello, Ramiro. At the Vienna State Opera, his roles include Siskov (Aus einem Totenhaus), Onegin, Figaro and Prospero (The Tempest). Increasingly in demand for Verdi roles, he has sung Simon Boccanegra in Frankfurt, Post (Don Carlos) in Amsterdam and Frankfurt, and this season sings Conte di Luna (Il trovatore) at Covent Garden. Other operatic appearances include Il Conte in Paris, Alfonso in Munich, Friedrich (Das Liebesverbot) in Madrid and Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Papageno and Silvio at the Metropolitan Opera, New York.

His concert engagements have included the LSO with Sir Colin Davis, Sir Simon Rattle, Gergiev and Ticciati, Dresden Staatskapelle with Thielemann, Rotterdam Philharmonic with Nézet-Séguin, Filarmonica della Scala with Harding, Los Angeles Philharmonic with Salonen and Dudamel, New York Philharmonic Orchestra with Masur and the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Conlon and Davis.

His recital appearances include the Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, Salzburg, Schwetzingen, and Schwarzenberg Festivals; the Vienna Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Cologne Philharmonie, Alte Oper Frankfurt, and New York’s Carnegie Hall. He is a regular guest at London’s Wigmore Hall.