Jennifer Johnston (mezzo-soprano)
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Jennifer Johnston is an English operatic mezzo-soprano. Born in Liverpool, she studied law at the University of Cambridge and worked in London chambers as a barrister before studying opera at the Royal College of Music (RCM).
A former BBC New Generation Artist, she made her professional debut as Humperdinck's for Scottish Opera, followed by her international debuts at the Aix-en-Provence Festival as Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, and at the Salzburg Festival as Carmi in Mozart's La Betulia Liberata; a performance which was recorded and released on DVD by Deutsche Grammophon. She is particularly associated with the Bayerische Staatsoper and its distinguished musical director Kirill Petrenko, where her roles have included , , Floßhilde, Hedwige and La Ciesca. She has appeared in opera at the Teatro alla Scala as and , and at the Salzburg Festival as , , and .
A prolific concert performer, she has performed with many of the world's greatest orchestras and conductors, including Jocaste in (Sir John Eliot Gardiner/Berlin Philharmonic & London Symphony Orchestras, released as an LSO Live disc), (Sir John Eliot Gardiner/Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique at the BBC Proms and on disc), Mahler’s Second Symphony (De la Parra/London Philharmonic Orchestra), (Welser-Möst/Cleveland Orchestra, Zinman/Orchestre National de Lyon), (Tate/Hamburg Symphony Orchestra), (Brabbins/BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra), Verdi's Requiem (Gardner/Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Slatkin/Orchestra National de Lyon), (Gatti/Accademia Di Santa Cecilia), (Adès/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Harding/Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra), and in (Adams/BBC Symphony Orchestra, recorded for Nonesuch).
She made her solo recital debut at the Wigmore Hall accompanied by Joseph Middleton and broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. She is a founder member of The Prince Consort, with whom she has recorded for Linn Records, and has appeared in recital at Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw and the Aldeburgh Festival. Her extensive discography includes Anthony Payne's arrangement of Vaughan Williams's Four Last Songs with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Martyn Brabbins for Albion Records, which she premiered at the BBC Proms (Vänska/BBCSO) and which was nominated for a Grammy Award.
References[]
- Pritchard, Stephen, "Let me count the waves" "The Observer", April 1, 2007
- Canning, Hugh, "They can’t Handel the challenge", The Times, November 19, 2006
- Nordlinger, Jay, "Lawfully Wedded Operas", New York Sun, August 22, 2006
External links[]
- Official website
- Artist page: Jennifer Johnston on Askonas Holt Management
- Living people
- Alumni of the Royal College of Music
- English mezzo-sopranos
- English opera singers
- Operatic mezzo-sopranos
- Alumni of the University of Cambridge
- Musicians from Liverpool
- BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists