Yuko Anazawa (Mezzo-soprano)

Born: Japan

The Japanese mezzo-soprano, Yuko Anazawa, studied at the Vocal Music Department of Tokyo Art University of music, and graduated from the graduate school (Graduate School of Opera). She had her postgraduate studies in Phase 2 of Opera-Studio No. 38. Upon completion she won the Excellence Award.

Yuko Anazawa made her operatic debut as Dorabella in W.A. Mozart's Cosi fan tutte at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music Opera regular performances. Then, in addition to starring in Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte and other operatic roles, she also sang alto solo parts in the field of concert in many performances of George Frideric Handel's Messiah, W.A. Mozart's Requiem and Coronation Mass, L.v. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor (BWV 232), Johannes-Passion (BWV 245), Magnificat (BWV 243) and church cantatas, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine etc. At the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, she also became interested in early music performance, and as a key member of the Bach Collegium Japan (Director: Masaaki Suzuki) participated in domestic and international concerts and recordings.

In 2000, Yuko Anazawa was elected by the Agency for Cultural Affairs dispatched artist overseas trainees, to study in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. At the Amsterdam Conservatory, she studied with Max van Egmond, Peter Kooy and Howard Crook. While after returning home in 2002 she was active as a soloist mainly in sacred repertoire from the Baroque period, she also appeared in Nikikai 50 Anniversary Concert Der Rosenkavalier, Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra concert performance of Parsifal, in co-production with the Hamburg Opera in 2003 of La clemenza di Tito, increasingly spreading her activity in the operatic field. She is a member of Tokyo Nikikai Opera Theatre.

Yuko Anazawa is also a lecturer at Komoro High School Music Department in Nagano Prefecture.,

Source: Photozou Website, English translation by Aryeh Oron (June 2015)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (June 2015)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Masaaki Suzuki

Alto

Member of Bach Collegium Japan:
Sacred Cantatas Vol. 1: BWV 4, BWV 150, BWV 196
Sacred Cantatas Vol. 2: BWV 71, BWV 106, BWV 131
Sacred Cantatas Vol. 3: BWV 12, BWV 182
Sacred Cantatas Vol. 5: BWV 18, BWV 143, BWV 161
Sacred Cantatas Vol. 6: BWV 31, BWV 21 [1714/1720 edition]
Sacred Cantatas Vol. 7: BWV 61, BWV 63, BWV 132, BWV 172
Sacred Cantatas Vol. 8: BWV 22, BWV 23, BWV 75
Sacred Cantatas Vol. 9: BWV 24, BWV 76, BWV 167
Sacred Cantatas Vol. 10: BWV 105, BWV 179, BWV 186
Sacred Cantatas Vol. 12: BWV 21 [1723 Leipzig version], BWV 147
Sacred Cantatas Vol. 13: BWV 64, BWV 25, BWV 69a, BWV 77, BWV 50
Sacred Cantatas Vol. 14: BWV 48, BWV 89, BWV 109, BWV 148
Sacred Cantatas Vol. 16: BWV 119

Links to other Sites

穴澤ゆう子　あなざわゆうこ　声楽家　オペラ歌手　メゾ･ソプラノ Yuko Anazawa [Japanese]