Susan Bickley
The British mezzo-soprano Susan Bickley is unusually versatile, with a repertory ranging from the early Baroque to the contemporary period. Many of her appearances have been in substantial German and Russian roles calling for considerable stage presence and power. Bickley was born in Liverpool and grew up with music-loving parents who encouraged her talents. Her father was a school music teacher and administrator. As early as age three, she was recorded singing Christopher Robin is saying his prayers. She attended the City University, London, and as she devoted herself more seriously to music, she moved on to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. While there, she took the school's gold medal for singers, and she began to find parts soon after graduating. Her operatic debut came in Florence at the Maggio Musicale, where she appeared as Prosperpina in Monteverdi's Orfeo. In 1991, she made her debut at the Royal Opera House in London in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, and she has since returned there in Slavic roles, among others: Aksinya in Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District and the Old Countess in his The Nose, Lyudmila in Smetana's The Bartered Bride, and Babulenka in Prokofiev's The Gambler. During the 2018-2019 season she appeared at the ROH as Marfa Ignatevna Kabanova in Janacek's Katya Kabanova. Bickley has also been associated closely with the English National Opera, where she has appeared has Herodias in Strauss' Salome, Eduige in Handel's Rodelinda, and a pair of world premieres, Ryan Wigglesworth's The Winter's Tale and Tansy Davies' Between Words. She has also appeared at other major English and Welsh houses, as well as singing the role of Countess Geschwitz in Lulu at Opera Vlaanderen. In concert she has sung Fricka in Wagner's Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, as well as Waltraute in Götterdämmerung, and in the U.S. she has appeared as Herodias in San Francisco and Dallas. Her recital appearances have involved collaborations with top-notch accompanists: Roger Vignoles at the Kennedy Center in Washington and Iain Burnside at Wigmore Hall. Bickley's large discography stretches back to an appearance on a 1996 recording of songs by Reynaldo Hahn. She has recorded for Hyperion, NMC, Chandos, Black Box Classics, Naxos, Signum Classics, Warner Classics, Delphian, and Nimbus. Her recording of songs by Debussy, Satie, Fauré, and Dove with soprano Claire Booth appeared on the latter label in 2019.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discographie
13 album(s) • Trié par Meilleures ventes
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Rubbra: Symphony No. 5, Symphony No. 8 & Ode to the Queen
Richard Hickox, BBC National Orchestra Of Wales, Susan Bickley
Symphonies - Paru chez Chandos le 1 mars 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mélodies (The English Song Series - Volume 19)
Classique - Paru chez Naxos le 25 août 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bantock: Sappho & Sapphic Poem
Julian Lloyd Webber, Susan Bickley, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley
Classique - Paru chez Hyperion le 1 sept. 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: The Flood; Abraham and Isaac; Variations; Requiem Canticles / Wuorinen: A Reliquary for Igor Stravinsky
Classique - Paru chez Deutsche Grammophon (DG) le 1 janv. 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Julian Anderson: The Comedy of Change & Heaven Is Shy of Earth
London Sinfonietta, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Susan Bickley, Oliver Knussen, BBC Symphony Chorus
Classique - Paru chez Ondine le 5 oct. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
RUBBRA: Sinfonia concertante / A Tribute / The Morning Watch / Ode to the Queen
Howard Shelley, BBC National Chorus of Wales, Susan Bickley, BBC National Orchestra Of Wales, Richard Hickox
Musique symphonique - Paru chez Chandos le 1 nov. 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Beggar’s Opera
Musique concertante - Paru chez Chandos le 1 oct. 2009
4 étoiles Classica16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs & Vexations
Claire Booth, Susan Bickley, Andrew Matthews-Owen
Musique vocale (profane et sacrée) - Paru chez Nimbus Alliance le 1 mars 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
On Buying A Horse: The Songs of Judith Weir
Susan Bickley, Andrew Kennedy, Ailish Tynan, Iain Burnside
Classique - Paru chez Signum Records le 7 nov. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Benjamin & Bainton: Songs
Susan Bickley, Christopher Gillett, Wendy Hiscocks
Classique - Paru chez Naxos le 10 nov. 2017
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonies n° 5 & 8 - Ode to the Queen, op. 83
BBC National Orchestra Of Wales, Susan Bickley, Richard Hickox
Musique symphonique - Paru chez Chandos le 1 mars 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bainbridge: Ad ora incerta & 4 Primo Levi Settings
Classique - Paru chez NMC Recordings le 1 juin 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rubbra: Sinfonia Concertante, A Tribute, The Morning Watch & Ode to the Queen
Richard Hickox, BBC National Orchestra Of Wales, Susan Bickley, Howard Shelley, BBC National Chorus of Wales
Symphonies - Paru chez Chandos le 1 nov. 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo