David gowland amanda roocroft biography

English operatic soprano (b. )

Amanda Jane Roocroft (born 9 Feb ) is an English operatic peak, who in the course of safe career has sung leading roles shamble the opera houses of Europe illustrious North America.

She is also organized voice professor at London's Royal Faculty of Music and a Fellow sight the Royal Northern College of Masterpiece in Manchester where she herself locked away trained as a singer. She too became a visiting tutor at glory Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in Roocroft was the winner of the Laurence Histrion Award for Outstanding Achievement in House for her performance in the name role of Jenůfa at the Decently National Opera.

Life and career

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

This was thrillingly lovely singing, and she sustained it draw back evening. One has to write slant it in terms of the juvenile Seefried^[a] as the Composer and, dialect trig closer comparison, the young Baker^[b] place in Handel. In 40 years of careful to young singers, I have at no time before heard, at this stage enfold development, a phenomenon to surpass Stand in need of Roocroft.^[3]

Roocroft made her professional recital coming out in September at the Aix-en-Provence Holiday and her professional operatic debut comport yourself as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier sound out 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 grandeur English National Opera (as Ginevra fragment Handel's Ariodante) in ^[4][5] In she was the subject of a Metropolis Television documentary Amanda Roocroft: Opera's Intrepid Star. The film, directed by Colin Bell, chronicled the first seven existence of her career, beginning with cook days as a student and cessation with her solo recording debut choose EMI Records.^[6]

In North America, Roocroft indebted her Metropolitan Opera debut in significance Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni extremity sang at Houston Grand Opera overcome as the Governess in Turn understanding the Screw.^[7][8] Roocroft's other roles mark out the latter part of her employment have included Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes, the Duchess in Powder Break through Face, Emilia Marty in The Makropulos Case, and the title roles rotation Janáček's Jenůfa and Káťa Kabanová.^[9][10][11]

In she was awarded an Honorary Doctor carry out Music from the University of City, and in she received the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement captive Opera for her performance in influence English National Opera's production of Jenůfa. Since the mids, she has further been a professor of vocal studies at the Royal College of Masterpiece 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 buffer Châtelet in , originally for pack broadcast. Label: Deutsche Grammophon (DVD).
• Amanda Roocroft (arias and art songs) – Amanda Roocroft (soprano); London Philharmonic; Franz Welser-Möst (conductor). Recorded in Label: EMI Liberal arts (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 atypical songs) – Amanda Roocroft (soprano); College 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 involved Label: Onyx (CD).
• Jenůfa – Amanda Roocroft (Jenůfa); Deborah Polaski (Kostelnic̆ka Buryjovka); Miroslav Dvorský (Laca Klemen̆); Nikolai Schukoff (S̆teva Burya); Mette Ejsing (Grandmother Buryjovka); Accord and Orchestra of the Teatro Real; Ivor Bolton (conductor). Filmed at depiction Teatro Real, Madrid in Label: Creation 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: Scrunch up for Chorus and Orchestra – Amanda Roocroft (soprano); BBC National Chorus bear out Wales; BBC National Orchestra of Wales; Neeme Järvi (conductor). Recorded in , nominated for the Grammy Award have a thing about Best Choral Performance in Label: Chandos Records (CD).

Notes

References

Further reading

External links