Daniel Klein has been hailed by the New York Times for his “stentorian bassbaritone” with a “dark and steely voice.” Audiences and critics alike have found his performances imaginative, adventurous, and occasionally even downright terrifying. 2023 proved to be a busy year for Daniel, with his debut at Seattle Opera in June singing the roles of Judge Moriarty and Stanley in Huang Ruo’s Bound; a role and company debut in the title role in Gianni Schicci with New Jersey Festival Orchestra in February, and returning to Opera on the James in March for another Schicchi, followed by the roles of Ted and Dewey in Rob Handel and Eric Moe’s Artwork of the Future with Fresh Squeezed Opera in New York City in April, and a return to the role of the Father in the new musical Little Match Girl in an off-broadway revival over the summer.
In the 2021/22 season, Daniel returned to Opera Company of Middlebury as Thibaut d’Arc in Tchiakovsky’s The Maid of Orleans (Orleanskaja djeva), and made his Opera on the James debut as Don Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, as well as being a visiting teaching artist on Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Brevard Music Center. His season was also filled with premiers: his debut with Intermountain Opera Bozeman as Koko (Colton) in Soren Kissiel’s newly conceived The Montana Mikado, stepped in last minute with the American Lyric Theater in the premier of I will follow you into the dark at American Sawdust, the Father in the new musical Match Girl with the Yaya Theater Group at the Riverside Church, NYC; and the Mayor Hague in Chilltown Boogie with Con Vivo Music.
In December 2019, Daniel gained critical acclaim as Kaspar in Heartbeat Opera’s production of Weber’s Der Freischütz. Critics noted his “blazing, feral intensity”, and “edgy, angry acting turned the whole drama up a notch or two. He seemed genuinely on the edge of mania—which was true of most of the characters. But with Klein, you felt it.” His previous role with Heartbeat Opera, Don “Donnie” Pizarro, in their Black Lives Matterthemed Fidelio, received international acclaim for its powerful and timely message. Opera News remarked on Klein’s performance that it “communicated all the awful power of a little man who wants to play in the big leagues.”
Recent appearances include: Spencer Coyle in Benjamin Britten’s Owen Wingrave and Hyde in Carlisle Floyd’s The Prince of Players in their New York Premiers with the Little Opera Theater of New York; Judge Moriarty in the New York premier of Huang Ruo’s Bound with Fresh Squeezed Opera; the title role of Verdi’s Falstaff with the International Summer Opera Festival of Morelia, Mexico; Dick Deadeye in H.M.S. Pinafore and the Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance with the Sharon Playhouse,CT; Marcello in La Boheme and Baron Gondremark in La vie Parisienne with Long Island Opera; Fra Melitone in La Forza del Destino with New Amsterdam Opera; the bass soloist in Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Handel’s Messiah with Garden State Symphony. Daniel also created the title role Frank London’s new opera Hatuey: A Memory of Fire at the Sundance Theater Lab and appeared as the Recluse in London’s Klezmer-Rock Oratorio A Night in the Old Marketplace on tour in Brazil and the US.