(Dame) Janet Baker
While mezzo-soprano Janet Baker was best known for her performances of British music, especially that of her compatriot Benjamin Britten, she was also a fine performer of art song, sacred music, and Classical and pre-Classical opera. Her repertoire, as well as her background, frequently overlapped that of her great predecessor, Kathleen Ferrier; though her career was mostly centered in England, and she always had a special place in the regard of English audiences, her fame was international.
In 1956, she won the second prize in the Kathleen Ferrier Competition; that year also saw her operatic debut as Roza in Smetana's The Secret, in an Oxford University Opera Club performance. In 1962, she first sang with the English Opera Group, as Polly in Benjamin Britten's famous production of The Beggar's Opera at Aldeburgh. She later credited the leading spirits of that group, Britten and tenor Peter Pears, as giving the ensemble and its singers the highest possible standards, as well as raising the reputation of British singers internationally. In 1966, she made her Covent Garden debut as Hermia in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and her Glyndebourne debut as Purcell's Dido. In 1971, Britten wrote the role of Kate Julian for Baker in his opera Owen Wingrave, written for BBC television.
As her operatic career progressed, Baker focused on pre-Classical and Classical works such as Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, Handel's Giulio Cesare, the title role of Gluck's Alceste, Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Ottavia in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea, and Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan tutte. However, she also performed Romantic and 20th century roles such as Dido in Berlioz's Les Troyens a Carthage; Donizetti's Maria Stuarda; Charlotte in Massenet's Werther; and Octavian in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier. Much of her recital repertoire was drawn from the standard works of Fauré, Schumann, Schubert, Duparc, Haydn, and Mahler, and the British masters such as Purcell and Elgar; however, she also drew from the works of lesser-known composers, particularly from the pre-classical period, taking special pleasure in bringing their works to public attention. In 1982, she gave her farewell performances as Orfeo in London and at Glyndebourne.
© TiVo
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Bach, J.S.: Cantatas Nos. 102 & 151 / Purcell: Celebrate this Festival
Benjamin Britten, (Dame) Janet Baker, James Bowman, Peter Pears, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, English Chamber Orchestra
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 22 juin 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Nuits D'Été, Op.7, etc
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics le 25 oct. 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Art Of Janet Baker
Classique - Paru chez Decca (UMO) le 1 janv. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dame Janet Baker (The Great EMI Recordings) : German Lieder, vol.2 (Liszt, Wolf, Mahler, Strauss) (Dame Janet Baker - Geoffrey Parsons)
Mélodies & Lieder - Paru chez Parlophone Label Group le 3 juin 2013
Diapason d'or16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: String Quintet, Ave Maria and Other Popular Songs
(Dame) Janet Baker, Chilingirian Quartet
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics le 7 juil. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S,: Cantatas Nos.170, 82 & 159
(Dame) Janet Baker, John Shirley-Quirk, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 1 janv. 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dame Janet Baker (The Great EMI Recordings) : Baroque and Pre-Baroque masterworks (Monteverdi, Scarlatti, Bach, Handel) (Dame Janet Baker - English Chamber Orchestra & Raymond Leppard - Bath Festival Orchestra & Yehudi Menuhin...)
Musique vocale (profane et sacrée) - Paru chez Parlophone Label Group le 3 juin 2013
Diapason d'or16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
(Dame) Janet Baker, Raimund Herincx, Patricia Clark
Opéra - Paru chez Past Classics le 19 janv. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: The Rescue of Penelope & Phaedra
Kent Nagano, (Dame) Janet Baker, Hallé Orchestra
Diction - Paru chez Warner Classics International le 11 juin 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony No. 3 - Debussy: La Mer - Chausson: La Mort de l'amour (Live)
Yevgeny Svetlanov, London Symphony Orchestra, (Dame) Janet Baker
Classique - Paru chez Ica Classics le 3 févr. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Das klagende Lied - Janacek: The Fiddler's Child (Live)
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, (Dame) Janet Baker
Classique - Paru chez Ica Classics le 4 sept. 2012
5 de Diapason16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mary Stuart
Extraits d'opéra - Paru chez Chandos le 1 nov. 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Roméo & Juliette - Les Nuits d'été
Classique - Paru chez Warner Classics le 11 mai 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cavalli: La Calisto - realised by Raymond Leppard
Ileana Cotrubas, James Bowman, (Dame) Janet Baker, Glyndebourne Festival Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Raymond Leppard
Classique - Paru chez Decca Music Group Ltd. le 1 janv. 1972
Diapason d'or16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fauré: La chanson d'Ève & Other Songs (Hyperion French Song Edition)
(Dame) Janet Baker, Geoffrey Parsons
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 14 nov. 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Songs of Youth; Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
(Dame) Janet Baker, Geoffrey Parsons
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 janv. 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rosenberg: Orpheus in Town
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Elisabeth Speiser, Petter Sundkvist, B.Tommy Andersson, (Dame) Janet Baker
Classique - Paru chez Phono Suecia le 1 janv. 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Honey One More Time
Rock - Paru chez Caraveo Artist SMG & CO le 23 sept. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Purcell: Dido & Aeneas
(Dame) Janet Baker, The English Chamber Orchestra Conducted By Anthony Lewis, St Anthony Singers, Eileen Poulter, Patricia Clark
Classique - Paru chez Music Manager le 26 oct. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas (Mono Version)
(Dame) Janet Baker, Patricia Clark, Raimund Herincx
Divers - Paru chez BNF Collection le 1 janv. 1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Vocal Trios & Quartets (Elly Ameling – The Philips Recitals, Vol. 14)
Elly Ameling, (Dame) Janet Baker, Peter Schreier, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Moore
Classique - Paru chez Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. le 1 janv. 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo