Lynne Dawson

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Lynne Dawson (born in York, in 1956) is an English soprano. She came to great prominence through her performance as a soloist in ‘Libera Me’ from Verdi’s Requiem with the BBC Singers at Princess Diana’s funeral in September 1997, also currently has over seventy-five CDs in her personal recording catalogue and has a varied concert and operatic repertoire. [1]


Contents

[edit] Biography

Growing up in Yorkshire, Dawson fully expected to continue the farming tradition of her family, and indeed singing was not her first career; she first worked in industry as a translator[2]. However, later she studied at both the Guildhall School of Music and Britten-Pears School in Suffolk, where her teachers included Rae Woodland, Gerald Moore and Peter Pears[3]. Her time as a music student, however, was limited as she soon obtained enough professional work to embark upon a career and made her operatic debut in 1986 as the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro (Kent Opera)[4]. Dawson’s position as one of England’s most versatile and popular sopranos was confirmed by her performance as a soloist in ‘Libera Me’ from Verdi’s Requiem with the BBC Singers at Princess Diana’s funeral in September 1997. She still continues a busy musical schedule, is a principal study tutor in voice at the Royal Northern College of Music as well as The University of York and is a Professor of Leeds College of Music[1] .

[edit] Vocal Career

Dawson has had an extensive and varied music career. Much of her early work was in early music groups, in particular the Hilliard Ensemble and the Deller Consort [5] and her work in early music, in particular the works of George Frederick Handel, are regarded as being notable contributions to the field[6]. However, in spite of her reputation as a Handel specialist, her repertoire is far more varied - she created the role of 'Mama' in Elliot Carter's opera 'What Next?' and played Ann Truelove in The Rake's Progress, for instance[7]. Her concert repertoire, oratorio roles and recording catalogue are no less impressive having appeared alongside acclaimed singers and conductors alike. She has released three highly acclaimed solo recital discs - My Personal Handel Collection, On This Island and Voyage à Paris.

[edit] Select Discography

[edit] CDs

  • L'Orfeo, Monteverdi (with English Baroque Soloists/His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts/John Eliot Gardiner), Archiv (1987)
  • Passio, Pärt (with Western Wind Chamber Choir/Paul Hillier), ECM (1988)
  • The Fairy Queen, Purcell (with Les Arts Florissants/William Christie), Harmonia Mundi (1989)
  • Ein Deutsches Requiem, Brahms (with London Classical Players/Roger Norrington), EMI (1993)
  • Messiah, Handel (with Choir of King's College, Cambridge/Brandenburg Consort/Stephen Cleobury), Argo (1994)
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream, Mendelssohn (with Susanne Mentzer/Peter Hall Company/Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra/Jeffrey Tate), EMI (1992)
  • Orfeo ed Euridice, Gluck (with La Grande Ecurie et La Chambre du Roy/Jean-Claude Malgoire), Auvidis (1994)
  • Riders to the Sea, Vaughan Williams (with Northern Sinfonia/Richard Hickox), Chandos (1995)
  • Ariodante, Handel (with Les Musiciens du Louvre/Marc Minkowski), Archiv (1997)
  • Zaïde, Mozart (with Academy of Ancient Music/Paul Goodwin), Harmonia Mundi (1998)
  • On This Island (with Malcolm Martineau), Hyperion (2001)
  • Dido and Aeneas, Purcell (with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/René Jacobs), Harmonia Mundi (2001)
  • Hercules, Handel (with Les Musiciens du Louvre/Marc Minkowski), Archiv (2002)
  • My Personal Handel Collection (with Lautten Compagney/Wolfgang Katschner), Berlin Classics (2003)
  • Voyage à Paris: Chansons françaises (with Julius Drake), Berlin Classics (2005)

[edit] DVDs

  • Messiah (1993)
  • The Queen (2006)

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b [1], Lynne Dawson: Full Biography, IMG Artists website. URL accessed on 12 May 2007
  2. ^ On This Island, Lynne Dawson, Hyperion Records
  3. ^ On This Island, Lynne Dawson, Hyperion Records
  4. ^ Oxford Concise Dictionary of Music, Michael Kennedy, Oxford University Press
  5. ^ On This Island, Lynne Dawson, Hyperion Records
  6. ^ [2], Review of "My Personal Handel Collection", Stanley Sadie, Gramophone, June 2003 URL accessed on 12 May 2007
  7. ^ [3], Lynne Dawson: Official Website. URL accessed on 12 May 2007

[edit] External links