Sarah Connolly
Dame Sarah Patricia Connolly DBE (born June 13, 1963 in Middlesbrough or County Durham ) is an English opera singer ( mezzo-soprano ). She is well known for her baroque and classical roles, but has an extensive repertoire that also includes works by Richard Wagner as well as various composers of the 20th century. She was named Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2010 and Dame Commander (DBE) in 2017 .
Life
Connolly attended Queen Margaret's School in York and Clarendon College in Nottingham. She then studied piano (with Patricia Carroll ) and singing at the Royal College of Music , of which she is now a fellow . She was then a member of the BBC Singers for five years .
Career
Connolly's interest in opera and a career in classical music began after she left the BBC Singers. She began her operatic career in 1994 in the role of Annina ( Der Rosenkavalier ). Her breakthrough came in 1998 in the role of Xerxes in the English National Opera production of Handel's Serse ( Xerxes ), directed by Nicholas Hytner . In 2005 she sang the title role in Handel's Giulio Cesare at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera . The DVD of this production, directed by David McVicar , won a Gramophone Award . Connolly was nominated for an Olivier Award for the role of Sesto in McVicar's production of La clemenza di Tito for the English National Opera in 2006 . She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 2005 with the same opera, but in the role of Annio.
In 2009, she sang at the Teatro alla Scala in Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and debuted at the Royal Opera House , Covent Garden as Dido in the same opera. In 2010 she made her role debut as a composer in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Metropolitan Opera. Connolly received the 2011 Distinguished Musician Award from the Incorporated Society of Musicians.
For her recital at Alice Tully Hall in New York City, Connolly received critical acclaim in The New York Times . She made her debut as Fricka in Richard Wagner's Ring (Royal Opera House) and earlier that year she sang Phaidra in Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie (Paris Opéra at the Palais Garniér). In 2013 she sang this role for the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in a production by Jonathan Kent , conducted by William Christie .
In 2012 Connolly won the Royal Philharmonic Society 's Silver Lyre for "Best Solo Singer" and in 2013 she was nominated for the "Best Female Singer" category at the first International Opera Awards in London. In 2013, she also received the rating “Most Outstanding Achievement in a Main Role” in the WhatsOnStage opera survey for her Octavian in Rosenkavalier at the English National Opera.
On the occasion of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Gustav Mahler's death in 2011, Connolly performed all of Mahler's vocal works at home and abroad with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Lorin Maazel , the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Wladimir Michailowitsch Jurowski as well as Nezet Séguin, the London Symphony Orchestra with Marin Alsop , the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with Simon Rattle and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Riccardo Chailly . In 2012 she sang in the opening concert of the BBC Promenade Concerts , televised from the Royal Albert Hall , and in later programs she sang Tippett's A Child of Our Time .
She is committed to the performance of new music. Her performances include Sir John Tavener's Tribute to Cavafy at Symphony Hall (Birmingham) and his score for Children of Men . She also made the first commercial recording of Mark-Anthony Turnage's Twice Through the Heart with Marin Alsop and the London Philharmonic Orchestra , having previously given the Belgian and Dutch premieres of this work with the Schoenberg Ensemble under the direction of Oliver Knussen . In 2000 she sang the role of Susie in the premiere production of Turnage's opera The Silver Tassie at the English National Opera.
Other commercial recordings of Connolly include Schumann -Lieder with Eugene Asti for Chandos Records , Songs of Love and Loss, Korngold -Lieder with Iain Burnside , the Duruflé - Requiem for Signum and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment , for which she provided funding and selected the cast.
In September 2009 Connolly made her first appearance as a guest soloist on The Last Night of the Proms , singing Rule, Britannia! She was wearing a copy of Lord Nelson's Royal Navy uniform .
family
Sarah Patricia Connolly lives in Gloucestershire with her husband and daughter, who was born in 2003 .
Opera roles
Royal Opera House
- Dido and Aeneas (Dido)
- The Rheingold (Fricka)
- The Valkyrie (Fricka)
Welsh National Opera
- Ariadne auf Naxos (The Composer)
Opera North
- Maria Stuarda (Maria)
- I Capuleti ei Montecchi (Romeo)
English National Opera
- I Capuleti ei Montecchi (Romeo)
- Les Troyens (Dido)
- The Rape of Lucretia (Lucretia)
- L'incoronazione di Poppea (Empress Ottavia)
- La clemenza di Tito (Sesto) - 2006 Laurence Olivier Award - Nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Opera
- Dido and Aeneas (Dido)
- The Rosenkavalier (Octavian)
- The Silver Tassie (Susie)
- Médée (Medea)
Scottish Opera
- Richard Strauss : Der Rosenkavalier (Octavian)
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
- Georg Friedrich Handel : Giulio Cesare (Giulio Cesare)
- Johann Sebastian Bach : St. Matthew Passion
- Richard Wagner : Tristan and Isolde (Brangäne)
- Rameau : Hippolyte et Aricie (Phèdre)
- Brett Dean : Hamlet (Gertrude)
Opéra National de Paris
- Georg Friedrich Händel : Giulio Cesare (Sesto)
- Jean-Philippe Rameau : Hippolyte et Aricie (Phèdre)
La Scala, Milan
- Henry Purcell : Dido and Aeneas (Dido)
Maggio Musicale, Florence
- Claudio Monteverdi : L'incoronazione di Poppea (Nerone)
La Monnaie, Brussels
- Henry Purcell : Dido and Aeneas (Dido)
De Nederlandse Opera
- Giulio Cesare (Giulio Cesare)
Liceu, Barcelona
- L'incoronazione di Poppea (Nerone)
- Agrippina (Agrippina)
Festival d'Aix-en-Provence
- La clemenza di Tito (Sesto)
- Ariodante (Ariodante)
Bavarian State Opera, Munich
- Benjamin Britten : The Rape of Lucretia (Lucretia)
- Christoph Willibald Gluck : Orfée (Orfée)
Roles in the USA
- Vincenzo Bellini : I Capuleti ei Montecchi (Romeo)
- Georg Friedrich Handel : Ariodante (Ariodante)
- Georg Friedrich Händel : Xerxes (Xerxes)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : La clemenza di Tito (Annio)
- Richard Strauss : Ariadne auf Naxos (The Composer)
- Richard Strauss : Capriccio (Clairon)
- Georg Friedrich Handel : Semele (Ino and Juno)
Recordings
Connolly's recordings include:
- Henry Purcell Dido and Aeneas Chandos / OAE, 2009
- Frank Bridge Orchestral Songs Chandos / BBCNOW / Hickox, 2005
- Edward Elgar : Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra , Simon Wright The Music Makers / Sea Pictures Naxos. GRAMMY NOMINATED 2006 (Solo Vocal category)
- Edward Elgar : The Very Best of Elgar 8.552133-34
- George Frideric Handel : Giulio Cesare (Glyndebourne, 2006) - Glyndebourne Festival Opera - OAE / Christie / Opus Arte GRAMMOPHONE AWARD WINNER (Best Early Opera)
- George Frideric Handel : Heroes and Heroines - The Sixteen / Harry Christophers, Coro
- George Frideric Handel : Solomon (Solomon) Harmonia Mundi (2007 release)
- Leoš Janáček : The Cunning Little Vixen - The Innkeepers Wife, ARTHAUS DVD, 1995
- Gustav Mahler Des Knaben Wunderhorn - OCE / Herreweghe Harmonia Mundi, 2006 EDISON AWARD WINNER (Solo Vocal category)
- Felix Mendelssohn : Songs and Duets Vol. 3 Hyperion, 2004
- Felix Mendelssohn : Elijah - The Queen / Soprano soloist, Winged Lion, 2012
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Great Mass in C minor and Haydn : Scena di Berenice - Gabrieli Consort / McCreesh DG, 2006
- Arnold Schoenberg : BBC Voices - Blood Red Carnations: Songs by Arnold Schoenberg Black Box, 2002
- John Tavener : Children of Men
- The Exquisite Hour - Recital Disc: Songs by Brahms , Britten , Hahn , Haydn (Eugene Asti) Signum Classics, 2006
- Robert Schumann : Songs of Love and Loss (Eugene Asti) - Chandos, 2008
- Erich Korngold : Sonnet for Vienna: Songs of Erich Korngold Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), William Dazeley (baritone), Iain Burnside (piano) Signum Classics SIGCD160
- Jean-Philippe Rameau : Les fêtes d'Hébé ( Les Arts Florissants & William Christie ) - Erato, 1997
Web links
- Sarah Connolly at Bach Cantatas (English)
- Sarah Connolly at Operabase (engagements and dates)
- Sarah Connolly homepage
- Sarah Connolly in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Sarah Connolly at naxos.com
- Sarah Connolly mezzo soprano
- Sarah Connolly
- BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour - Sarah Connolly (link to radio interview RAM file)
- Mezzo of the Moment - Interview October 2008
- Music Web International article on ENO production of La Clemenza di Tito , 2005
- Music Web International article on Prom 52, 2005, Julius Caesar
- Rule, Britannia!
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sarah Connolly in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- ↑ Sarah Connolly at Bach Cantatas (English)
- ↑ Sarah Connolly. thegazette.co.uk, accessed May 10, 2017 .
- ↑ Erica Jeal: Who wears the trousers? . In: The Guardian , October 10, 2008. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
- ^ Neil Fisher: Sarah Connolly: The diva who wears the trousers . In: The Times , May 19, 2009. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
- ↑ Ivan Hewett: Diva who dies for a living . In: Telegraph , September 21, 2004. Retrieved May 23, 2007.
- ↑ Hugh Canning: Sarah Connolly - stardom beckons . In: The Times , February 6, 2005. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
- ↑ Erica Jeal: Dido and Aeneas; Acis and Galatea (Royal Opera House, London) . In: The Guardian , April 2, 2009. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
- ↑ ISM celebrates singer Sarah Connolly . In: ISM Music Journal , January – February 2012. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved February 28, 2013.
- ↑ telegraph.co.uk .
- ↑ uk.reuters.com .
- ^ Winners of the Opera Poll 2013 announced , WhatsOnStage.com. February 24, 2013. Archived from the original on March 1, 2013 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved February 28, 2013.
- ↑ Michael Billington: Triumph from the trenches . In: The Guardian , February 18, 2000. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
- ↑ Edward Greenfield: Turnage, The Silver Tassie . In: The Guardian , July 12, 2002. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
- ↑ Tim Ashley: Classical review: Schumann: Frauenliebe Frauenliebe und -leben; Liederkreis Op 39, etc; Connolly / Asti . In: The Guardian , November 14, 2008. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
- ↑ Tim Ashley: Purcell: Dido & Aeneas; Connolly / Bardon / Finley / OAE / Devine / Kenny . In: The Guardian , February 13, 2009. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
- ^ Richard Morrison: Proms 73-76: Last Night of the Proms at the Albert Hall / BBC TV / Radio 3 . In: The Times , September 14, 2009. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
- ↑ Tim Ashley: Sarah Connolly - The Exquisite Hour . In: The Guardian , February 10, 2006. Retrieved May 23, 2007.
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Connolly, Sarah |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Connolly, Sarah Patricia (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English opera singer (mezzo-soprano) |
DATE OF BIRTH | June 13, 1963 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Middlesbrough or County Durham |