Elizabeth Watts
(Sopranos)
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Elizabeth Watts
(Sopranos) Biography:
"Watts, winner of the lieder prize at Cardiff Singer of the World in 2007, is already a major artist. But this struck me as marking a transformation from a good singer into a great one, as well as allowing us to hear her in music she seems to have been born to sing.." Tim Ashley, The Guardian, June 2010 With a voice described by International Record Review as "one of the most beautiful Britain has produced in a generation" Elizabeth Watts has established herself as "one of the brightest new talents" (The Independent). Her debut recording of Schubert Lieder for SONY Red Seal, a Gramophone magazine’s ‘Editor's Choice’, was hailed for its "milky timbre & interpretative maturity" (FT) "technical mastery" (Gramophone) and "radiant delivery" (BBC Music). She has now signed to Harmonia Mundi and a disc of Bach cantatas and arias with Harry Bicket and The English Concert is due for release in early 2011. Elizabeth was a chorister at Norwich Cathedral and studied archaeology at Sheffield University, before attending the Royal College of Music. She was selected by YCAT in 2004, won the 2006 Kathleen Ferrier Prize, the 2007 Outstanding Young Artist Award at the Cannes "MIDEM Classique Awards" and gained international recognition at the 2007 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, winning the Rosenblatt Recital Song Prize. Her creativity has recently been recognised with her becoming an Artist in Residence at London’s Southbank Centre. Her operatic work has included: Susanna/Le Nozze di Figaro for Santa Fe Opera and Welsh National Opera, Flora/The Knot Garden for Music Theatre Wales and the Royal Opera House, Papagena/Die Zauberflöte, Barbarina/Marriage of Figaro, Purcell’s King Arthur, and Music and Hope/Orfeo for English National Opera (Young Singers’ Programme 2005-2007), the title role in Handel’s Semele, and Arthébuze/Actéon with Emmanuelle Haïm at the Aldeburgh Festival. She has also performed Music & Hope/Orfeo for the Boston Handel and Haydn Society and Purcell’s King Arthur in Berkeley California and Handel’s L’Allegro at London’s Coliseum with the Mark Morris Dance Group. Recently Elizabeth won universal praise for her portrayal of Mandane in Thomas Arne’s Artaxerxes at the Linbury Studio/Royal Opera House, described variously as "dazzling... vividly drawn" (Sunday Times), "the pick of the bunch... thrilling" (Times) and "terrific" (Evening Standard). A former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, Elizabeth is much in demand as a recitalist and concert singer. She has given recitals at the UK's leading venues, including Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall, Purcell Room, Aldeburgh Festival and Cheltenham Festival. Her most recent appearance at the Wigmore was hailed as "a sensation" (The Guardian). She has performed in concert with all the BBC orchestras, The English Concert, City of London Sinfonia, Scottish Chamber, Royal Scottish National, Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony and Hallé orchestras, and with Manchester Camerata at the 2009 BBC Proms. Further afield, Elizabeth has performed at prestigious venues and festivals such as the Hardanger Festival in Norway, with the Orquesta de Radio Televisión Española in Madrid, at the Bad Kissinger Summer Festival, at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and at the Tonhalle, Zürich. Future plans include the 2010 BBC Proms with the Early Opera Company conducted by Christian Curnyn, Messiah with the Huddersfield Choral Society and Jane Glover, Mozart Requiem with the Boston Handel & Haydn Society and Harry Christophers, various concerts with the Academy of Ancient Music, and a New Year's Day gala with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. In the 10/11 season she is Pamina/Die Zauberflöte for Welsh National Opera and Marzelline/Fidelio for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She will also sing in both recital and concert at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. This biography is for website use only. For a full and updated biography please email info@ingpen.co.uk Contact Details: Territories: Artist Links: |
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