# Anthony Negus

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**Anthony Negus** (born June 1946) is a British [classical conductor](/source/Conductor_(music)) who has concentrated on works written or influenced by [Richard Wagner](/source/Richard_Wagner).[1] He has worked annually with [Longborough Festival Opera](/source/Longborough_Festival_Opera) as its Music Director since 2001, performing acclaimed cycles of *[Der Ring des Nibelungen](/source/Der_Ring_des_Nibelungen)* in 2002/4, 2013 and 2024.[2][3] In 2017 Negus was awarded the Goodall Award by The London Wagner Society for "his devotion to the works of Richard Wagner".[4][5] In 2025 Sir Nicholas Kenyon noted “the outstanding musical direction of Wagner supremo Anthony Negus” in his review of Longborough's production of *[Pelléas et Mélisande](/source/Pell%C3%A9as_et_M%C3%A9lisande_(opera))*.[6]

In the last decade, Negus has been invited by [Melbourne Opera](/source/Melbourne_Opera) (MO) to conduct German opera, especially Wagner, with four hugely successful performances of *[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg](/source/Die_Meistersinger_von_N%C3%BCrnberg)* in 2025 at the [Royal Exhibition Building](/source/Royal_Exhibition_Building) for which he was awarded the Opera Chaser Critics Award for Outstanding Conductor [7][8]. In 2023 he conducted two *[Ring](/source/Ring)* cycles in [Bendigo](/source/Bendigo), Victoria, which also earned him the Outstanding Conductor Opera Chaser Award.[9][10] His 2018 *[Tristan und Isolde](/source/Tristan_und_Isolde)* for MO won the coveted Green Room Award for best conductor.[11]

Negus was educated at [Stowe School](/source/Stowe_School) before studying clarinet and piano at the [Royal College of Music](/source/Royal_College_of_Music) and going on to read Music at [Christ Church, Oxford](/source/Christ_Church,_Oxford).[12] His first experiences of working as a répétiteur and conducting opera were at the Else Mayer-Lismann Opera Workshop and the [London Opera Centre](/source/London_Opera_Centre).[12] He went on to study conducting with [Franco Ferrara](/source/Franco_Ferrara) in [Sienna](/source/Sienna) and with [George Hurst](/source/George_Hurst) in the UK [12]. He assisted [Reginald Goodall](/source/Reginald_Goodall) on *[The Valkyrie](/source/The_Valkyrie)* in 1970 at [Sadlers Wells](/source/English_National_Opera) before working as a repetiteur at [Wuppertal](/source/Wuppertal), where he made his conducting debut with [D'Albert's](/source/Eugen_D'Albert)*[Tiefland](/source/Tiefland_(opera))*. He went on to work as an assistant conductor at [Bayreuth Festival](/source/Bayreuth_Festival) and Hamburg. As a member of, and latterly Head of the Music Staff of [Welsh National Opera](/source/Welsh_National_Opera) (WNO) between 1976 and 2012, he assisted conductors including [Sir Richard Armstrong](/source/Richard_Armstrong_(conductor)), [Sir Charles Mackerras](/source/Charles_Mackerras), [Vladimir Jurowski](/source/Vladimir_Jurowski) and [Pierre Boulez](/source/Pierre_Boulez).[13][14] With WNO, Negus assisted Boulez on *Pelléas et Mélisande* and Goodall on *Tristan und Isolde*, *Parsifal* and *The Valkyrie* and conducted over 150 performances in the UK, Germany, France, Japan and China.

In 1983, aged 36, he conducted the WNO production of *[Parsifal](/source/Parsifal)* when Goodall fell ill.[15] [Wolfgang Wagner](/source/Wolfgang_Wagner), Head of the Bayreuth Festival and the composer's grandson, came to a performance and said: "It is absolutely astounding what Anthony has done. I was impressed with the love he brought to all aspects of the opera. It was a great personal triumph for him."[16]

Negus has conducted Wagner with the [Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra](/source/Pittsburgh_Symphony_Orchestra), [Glyndebourne Festival](/source/Glyndebourne_Festival), [Grange Park Opera](/source/Grange_Park_Opera) and the [New Zealand Symphony Orchestra](/source/New_Zealand_Symphony_Orchestra) at the Wellington Festival.[17] [18] [19] [20]

## Personal life

He lives in [Penarth](/source/Penarth), [South Wales](/source/South_Wales) with his wife, the opera Director Carmen Jakobi.[21]

## References

1. ["Anthony Negus, Conductor"](https://lfo.org.uk/profile/anthony-negus/). *Longborough Festival Opera*. Retrieved 2026-05-26.

1. Morrison, Richard (2024-06-13). ["Anthony Negus: the one true Ring conductor to rule them all"](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/classical-opera/article/anthony-negus-the-one-true-ring-conductor-to-rule-them-all-j3rrntkh2). *The Times*

1. ["Anthony Negus Discusses: Longborough Opera's Ring Cycle,Goodall, Bohm, Wagner, Martin Graham and conducting the Ring"](https://www.the-wagnerian.com/2011/07/anthony-negus-discusses-longborough.html). *The Wagnerian*. Retrieved 2026-05-26.

1. ["Anthony Negus/Biography"](https://www.operabase.com/anthony-negus-a1555/bio/en). *Operabase*. 2023-10-11. Retrieved 2026-05-26.

1. ["Goodall Award"](https://wagnersociety.org/goodall-award/). *The Wagner Society*

1. Kenyon, Nicholas (2025-06-30). ["Pelléas et Mélisande, Longborough Festival, review: Opera at its most intoxicating"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opera/what-to-see/pelleas-et-melisande-longborough-festival-opera-review/). *The Telegraph*

1. Bowdler, Sandra (2025-02-18). ["A stunning *Meistersinger* from Melbourne Opera"](https://bachtrack.com/review-meistersinger-chaundy-negus-melbourne-opera-february-2025). *bachtrack.com*. Retrieved 2026-05-26.

1. ["OperaChaser Critics Awards 2025 Winners Announced"](https://artsreview.com.au/operachaser-critics-awards-2025-winners-announced/). *artsreview.com.au*. 2026-02-04. Retrieved 2026-05-26.

1. ["Under the dragon's eye: Melbourne Opera's Ring continues in Bendigo"](https://bachtrack.com/review-siegfried-negus-chaundy-melbourne-opera-bendigo-march-2023). *bachtrack.com*. Retrieved 2023-04-11.

1. ["Das Rheingold ★★★½"](https://limelightmagazine.com.au/reviews/das-rheingold-melbourne-opera-bendigo/). *Limelight*. Retrieved 2023-04-11.

1. ["All the 36th Annual Green Room Award Winners"](https://www.aussietheatre.com.au/news/all-the-36th-annual-green-room-award-winners/). *aussietheatre.com.au/*. 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2026-05-26.

1. ["Anthony Negus"](https://www.connaughtartists.com/conductors/anthony-negus). *www.connaughtartists.com/*. Retrieved 2026-05-28.

1. ["Anthony Negus | Artist | English National Opera"](https://www.eno.org/artists/anthony-negus/). Retrieved 2023-04-11.

1. Wroe, Nicholas (2011-07-15). ["Anthony Negus: with Siegfried at last"](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jul/15/siegfried-wagner-opera-anthony-negus). *The Guardian*. [ISSN 0261-3077](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0261-3077). Retrieved 2023-04-11.

1. ["Veteran Cannot Conduct Parsifal"](https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/904392671/). *South Wales Echo*. 1983-02-23. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-11-28.

1. ["A Very Important Wagner"](https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/987007750/). *Daily Post*. 1983-03-28. p. 12-13. Retrieved 2025-11-28.

1. ["Re-sizing the Ring"](https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/96574094). *Pittsburgh Post Gazette*. 2005-07-14. p. 111. Retrieved 2025-11-28.

1. ["Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, 6 June 2011"](https://www.glyndebourne.com/archive_performances/die-meistersinger-von-n-6/?_gl=1%2Af232io%2A_up%2AMQ..%2A_gs%2AMQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjwidXQBhAZEiwA4egw6DtpNDdBBjh6_vwGY9Za3QfHIpwxjKkW5_Nn0haTgdETKozKLF588BoCF44QAvD_BwE&gbraid=0AAAAA-t9sTOKaHIG7HfnzAXYVO-FOuCno). *Glyndebourne*

1. ["Der Fliegende Holländer (free staging)"](https://grangeparkopera.co.uk/whats-on/der-fliegende-hollander/). *Grange Park Opera*

1. ["Negus, Anthony, active 1989-2017"](https://natlib.govt.nz/records/38053562). *National Library of New Zealand*

1. ["Standing up to Wagner"](https://www.theoldie.co.uk/article/standing-up-to-wagner). *The Oldie*. Retrieved 2023-04-11.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Anthony Negus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Negus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Negus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.