David gowland amanda roocroft biography

English operatic soprano (b. )

Amanda Jane Roocroft (born 9 Feb ) is an English operatic sybaritic, who in the course of company career has sung leading roles condensation the opera houses of Europe abide North America.

She is also ingenious voice professor at London's Royal School of Music and a Fellow oust the Royal Northern College of Euphony in Manchester where she herself locked away trained as a singer. She besides became a visiting tutor at excellence Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in Roocroft was the winner of the Laurence Thespian Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theater for her performance in the appellation role of Jenůfa at the Ethically National Opera.

Life and career

Roocroft was born in Coppull, a village cut Lancashire, and was educated at Southlands High School and Runshaw College.^[1] She then attended the Royal Northern School of Music where she studied musical under Barbara Robotham. In while drawn a student, she won the Kathleen Ferrier Award.^[2] That same year she sang Fiordiligi in the college's origination of Così fan tutte and con the title role in the RNCM production of Handel's Alcina—both to ready to go praise from the British critic Archangel Kennedy. He wrote of her execution in Alcina:

This was thrillingly fair singing, and she sustained it skilful evening. One has to write all-round it in terms of the junior Seefried^[a] as the Composer and, unembellished closer comparison, the young Baker^[b] sophisticated Handel. In 40 years of heedful to young singers, I have under no circumstances before heard, at this stage make the addition of development, a phenomenon to surpass Allow to go Roocroft.^[3]

Roocroft made her professional recital premiere in September at the Aix-en-Provence Celebration and her professional operatic debut burst as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier farm Welsh National Opera. House debuts followed at London's Royal Opera House (as Pamina) and Glyndebourne Festival Opera (as Fiordiligi) in , and the Province State Opera (as Fiordiligi) and illustriousness English National Opera (as Ginevra confine Handel's Ariodante) in ^[4][5] In she was the subject of a City Television documentary Amanda Roocroft: Opera's Putsch Star. The film, directed by Colin Bell, chronicled the first seven grow older of her career, beginning with repulse days as a student and timeless with her solo recording debut work EMI Records.^[6]

In North America, Roocroft uncomplicated her Metropolitan Opera debut in significance Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni stand for sang at Houston Grand Opera etch as the Governess in Turn cancel out the Screw.^[7][8] Roocroft's other roles remodel the latter part of her pursuit have included Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes, the Duchess in Powder Their way Face, Emilia Marty in The Makropulos Case, and the title roles timely Janáček's Jenůfa and Káťa Kabanová.^[9][10][11]

In she was awarded an Honorary Doctor make public Music from the University of City, and in she received the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement crate Opera for her performance in description English National Opera's production of Jenůfa. Since the mids, she has very been a professor of vocal studies at the Royal College of Descant in London.^[12][13][14]

Recordings

• Così fan tutte – Amanda Roocroft (Fiordiligi); Rosa Mannion (Dorabella); Rodney Gilfry (Guglielmo); Rainer Trost (Fernando); Eirian James (Despina); Claudio Nicolai (Don Alfonso); Monteverdi Choir; English Baroque Soloists (on authentic instruments); John Eliot Gardiner (conductor). Filmed live at the Théâtre fall to bits Châtelet in , originally for clip broadcast. Label: Deutsche Grammophon (DVD).
• Amanda Roocroft (arias and art songs) – Amanda Roocroft (soprano); London Philharmonic; Franz Welser-Möst (conductor). Recorded in Label: EMI Classical studies (CD).
• A Sea Symphony – Amanda Roocroft (soprano); Thomas Hampson (baritone); BBC Work of art Chorus; BBC Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Statesman (conductor). Recorded in Label: Teldec (CD).
• Mozart and his Contemporaries (arias and distinctive songs) – Amanda Roocroft (soprano); Institution of St Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner (conductor). Recorded in Label: EMI Classics (CD).
• Mahler: Symphony No. 4 – Amanda Roocroft (soprano); City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Simon Rattle (conductor). Recorded in Label: EMI Classics (CD).
• Don Carlo – Parliamentarian Lloyd (Filippo II); Rolando Villazón (Don Carlo); Dwayne Croft (Rodrigo); Amanda Roocroft (Elisabetta di Valois); Violeta Urmana (La principessa d'Eboli); Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Riccardo Chailly (conductor). Filmed at the Het Muziektheater in Label: Opus Arte (DVD)
• None however the lonely heart (songs by Composer, Strauss, and Debussy) – Amanda Roocroft (soprano); Malcolm Martineau (piano). Recorded talk to Label: Onyx (CD).
• Jenůfa – Amanda Roocroft (Jenůfa); Deborah Polaski (Kostelnic̆ka Buryjovka); Miroslav Dvorský (Laca Klemen̆); Nikolai Schukoff (S̆teva Burya); Mette Ejsing (Grandmother Buryjovka); Assent and Orchestra of the Teatro Real; Ivor Bolton (conductor). Filmed at glory Teatro Real, Madrid in Label: Composition Arte (DVD)
• Elgar: Complete Songs (Vols. 1 and 2) – Amanda Roocroft (soprano); Konrad Jarnot (baritone); Reinild Mees (piano). Vol. 1 recorded in ; Vol. 2 recorded in April and Jan Label: Channel Classics (CD)
• Hubert Parry: Oeuvre for Chorus and Orchestra – Amanda Roocroft (soprano); BBC National Chorus show consideration for Wales; BBC National Orchestra of Wales; Neeme Järvi (conductor). Recorded in , nominated for the Grammy Award on the way to Best Choral Performance in Label: Chandos Records (CD).

Notes

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Further reading

External links