Carolyn Watkinson (Mezzo-soprano, Contralto)

Born: March 19, 1949 - Preston, England

The English mezzo-soprano, Carolyn Watkinson, received her training at the Royal Manchester College of Music and in The Hague.

Carolyn Watkinson first established herself as a fine concert singer, especially excelling in Baroque music. In 1978 she sang Rameau’s Phèdre at the English Bach Festival at London’s Covent Garden. In 1979 she appeared as Monteverdi’s Nero with the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam.

In 1981 Carolyn Watkinson made her debut at Milan’s La Scala as Ariodante and sang Rossini’s Rosina in Stuttgart. She appeared as Gluck’s Orfeo with the Glyndebourne Touring Opera in 1982, and then made her formal debut at the Glyndebourne Opera as Cherubino in 1984. In 1987 she made a tour of Australia. She was a soloist in J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion (BWV 245) at Gloucester Cathedral in a performance shown on BBC-TV on Good Friday in 1989. In 1990 she appeared as Purcell’s Dido at the Salerno Cathedral and sang Nero at the Innsbruck Festival. She also continued to sing regularly as a concert artist in a repertoire ranging from early music to the contemporary period. Among the singers who have studied with her and/or attended her master-classes: Leon van Liere (Tenor).

Sources:
Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20^th Century Classical Musicians (1997)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (May 2001)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Michel Corboz

Alto

BWV 244 [1^st], BWV 248

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Alto

BWV 244 [2^nd]

Kurt Masur

Alto

BWV 244

Simon Preston

Alto

BWV 243a

Helmuth Rilling

Alto

BWV 4 [1980], BWV 5, BWV 6, BWV 13, BWV 37, BWV 78, BWV 108, BWV 169, BWV 175, BWV 176, BWV 180 [1st]

Peter Schreier

Alto

BWV 201, BWV 205, BWV 206, BWV 213, BWV 232

Claudio Scimone

Alto

[CV-1] (1990, Video): BWV 76

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