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Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
Sarah Patricia Connolly CBE (born 13 June 1963, County Durham) is an English mezzo-soprano.
Sarah Connolly was educated at Queen Margaret's School, York and then studied piano and singing at the Royal College of Music, of which she is now a Fellow. She then became a member of the BBC Singers for 5 years.
Sarah Connolly's interest in opera and a full-time career in classical music began after she left the BBC Singers. She began her opera career in the role of Annina (Der Rosenkavalier) in 1994. Her breakthrough role was as Xerxes in the 1998 English National Opera production of Handel's Serse (Xerxes), directed by Nicholas Hytner.In 2005 she sang Giulio Cesare by Handel for Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The DVD of the production, directed by David McVicar won a Gramophone Award. Her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden was in March 2009, as Dido in Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas.
During the 2011 Gustav Mahler celebrations, Connolly performed all of his vocal works in the UK and abroad with The Philharmonia and Maazel, The LPO and Jurowski and Nezet Séguin, The LSO with Alsop, The OAE with Rattle and The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Chailly. Committed to promoting new music, her performances include Sir John Tavener's Tribute to Cavafy at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham and his film music to 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 the work with the Schoenberg Ensemble conducted by Oliver Knussen. She sang the role of Susie in the premiere production of Turnage's opera The Silver Tassie at English National Opera in 2000, which was subsequently released in a 2002 commercial recording.
Connolly's other commercial recordings include Schumann lieder with Eugene Asti for Chandos, "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 raised the funds and selected the cast for the recording.
In September 2009, Sarah Connolly made her first appearance as a guest soloist at The Last Night of the Proms, singing Rule, Britannia! while wearing a replica Royal Navy uniform of Lord Nelson.
She lives with her husband, and their daughter Lily (born in 2003) in Gloucestershire, the Cotswolds.
Connolly was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours.
Operatic roles
Royal Opera House
Henry Purcell"Dido and Aeneas (Dido)Welsh National Opera
Richard Strauss"Ariadne auf Naxos" (Der Komponist)Opera North
Gaetano DonizettiMaria Stuarda (Maria)Vincenzo Bellini"I Capuleti e i Montecchi" (Romeo)English National Opera
Vincenzo BelliniI Capuleti e i Montecchi (Romeo)Hector BerliozLes Troyens (Dido)Benjamin BrittenThe Rape of Lucretia (Lucretia)George Frideric HandelAlcina (Ruggiero)Agrippina (Agrippina)Ariodante (Ariodante)Semele (Ino)Xerxes (Xerxes)Claudio MonteverdiL'incoronazione di Poppea (Empress Ottavia)Wolfgang Amadeus MozartLa clemenza di Tito (Sesto) – 2006 Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Outstanding Achievement in OperaHenry PurcellDido and Aeneas (Dido)Richard StraussDer Rosenkavalier (Octavian)Mark-Anthony TurnageThe Silver Tassie (Susie)Scottish Opera
Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (Octavian)Glyndebourne Festival Opera
George Frideric Handel: Giulio Cesare (Giulio Cesare)Johann Sebastian Bach: St. Matthew PassionRichard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde" (Brangäne)La Scala
Henry PurcellDido and Aeneas (Dido)La Monnaie
Henry Purcell"Dido and Aeneas" (Dido)De Nederlandse Opera
Handel"Giulio Cesare" (Giulio Cesare)Liceu
Monteverdi"L'incoronazione di Poppea"(Nerone)Festival d'Aix-en-Provence
Mozart"La Clemenza di Tito" (Sesto)Roles in the USA
New York City OperaVincenzo Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Romeo)George Frideric Handel: Ariodante (Ariodante)George Frideric Handel: Xerxes (Xerxes)Metropolitan OperaWolfgang Amadeus Mozart: La clemenza di Tito (Annio)Richard Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (The Composer)Richard Strauss: Capriccio (Clairon)San Francisco OperaGeorge Frideric Handel: Semele (Ino and Juno)Recordings
Recordings include:
Henry Purcell "Dido and Aeneas" Chandos/OAE, 2009Frank Bridge Orchestral Songs Chandos/BBCNOW/Hickox, 2005Edward 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 8.552133-34George 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, CoroGeorge Frideric Handel: Solomon (Solomon) Harmonia Mundi (2007 release)Gustav Mahler Des Knaben Wunderhorn – OCE / Herreweghe Harmonia Mundi, 2006 EDISON AWARD WINNER (Solo Vocal category)Felix Mendelssohn: Songs and Duets Vol. 3 Hyperion, 2004Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Mass in C Minor and Haydn – Scena di Bernice – Gabrieli Consort / McCreesh DG, 2006Arnold Schoenberg: BBC Voices - Blood Red Carnations: Songs by Arnold Schoenberg Black Box, 2002John Tavener: Children of MenThe Exquisite Hour – Recital Disc: Songs by Brahms, Britten, Hahn, Haydn (Eugene Asti) Signum Classics, 2006Robert Schumann: Songs of Love and Loss (Eugene Asti) - Chandos, 2008Erich Korngold: Sonett für Wien: Songs of Erich Korngold Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), William Dazeley (baritone), Iain Burnside (piano) Signum Classics SIGCD160Jean-Philippe Rameau: Les fêtes d'Hébé (Les Arts Florissants & William Christie)- Erato, 1997