Anthony rolfe Johnson
Anthony Rolfe Johnson was a British tenor vocalist known for his brilliant voice and vast repertoire. He was a prolific recording artist and a respected interpreter of Bach, Haydn, and especially Mozart.
Rolfe Johnson was born in London in 1940, and he sang in his church choir beginning at a very young age. He was a talented boy soprano and recorded the song "Jesus Is My Joy" with HMV, but he didn't consider singing as a career option until he was an adult. He spent his teen years on his family's farm, and later earned a degree in agriculture. In the 1960s, he managed a cattle farm in Sussex, and he sang hymns to the livestock while he worked. When he was 29 years old, he joined the choir at St. Nicholas' Church, in Worth, where his vocal talents were rediscovered. He was encouraged by other members of the choir to develop his singing and pursue a career in music. This led him to study with Vera Rozsa and Ellis Keeler at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and he also received instruction from Peter Pears.
After he completed his studies in 1973, Rolfe Johnson made his operatic debut as Count Vaudemont in Tchaikovsky's Iolanta, and in 1975 he won the John Christie Award for his Glyndebourne debut performance in the role of Lensky from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Rolfe Johnson sang with the English National Opera for the first time in 1978 as Tamino in Mozart's The Magic Flute. He also performed recitals with pianist Graham Johnson and was a founding member of the Songmakers' Almanac. He toured and recorded extensively in the 1980s in a successful dual career as both an opera singer and as a recitalist. In 1988 he made his debut at Covent Garden in a production of Handel's Semele, and that same year he also relaunched the Gregynog Music Festival. Three years later, he made his debut in New York at the Met with John Elliot Gardiner conducting Mozart's Idomeneo, and he became one of Gardiner's top choices for tenor roles for the rest of his career. Rolfe Johnson was also an educator and beginning in 1990 he held an appointment as the Director of Singing Studies at the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies. Later in the 1990s, he began suffering from Alzheimer's disease, which led to his retirement from performing and ultimately his death in 2010.
© RJ Lambert /TiVo
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Vivaldi: La verità in cimento
Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Gemma Bertagnolli, Philippe Jaroussky
Opera - Released by naïve classique on Jan 1, 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
On Wenlock Edge / Five Mystical Songs (English Song, Vol. 3)
Classical - Released by Naxos on Jan 16, 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs (English Song, Vol. 5)
Anthony rolfe Johnson, Louisa Fuller, Graham Johnson, Ivan McCready, Lisa Milne, Duke Quartet
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Naxos on Jan 1, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Souvenirs de Venise - Songs of Venice
Anthony rolfe Johnson, Graham Johnson
Classical - Released by Hyperion on Sep 1, 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Recital at La Monnaie / De Munt (Live) - Works by Purcell, Schubert & Britten (Live)
Anthony rolfe Johnson, Graham Johnson
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Cypres on Dec 4, 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hymnus Paradisi - A Kent Yeoman's Wooing Song
BBC Symphony Orchestra, Joan Rodgers, Alan Opie, Richard Hickox, BBC Symphony Chorus, Anthony rolfe Johnson
Classical - Released by Chandos on Sep 21, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: Les Illuminations, Quatre Chansons Françaises & Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
Bryden Thomson, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Dame Felicity Lott, Anthony rolfe Johnson, Michael Thompson
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Feb 1, 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: Le Rossignol, Oedipus Rex & Renard
James Conlon, Franz Welser-Möst, Natalie Dessay, Marjana Lipovšek, Anthony rolfe Johnson
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Oct 18, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: The Creation
Anthony rolfe Johnson, Benjamin Luxon, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Lucia Popp, Klaus Tennstedt
Classical - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on Feb 1, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: The Creation
Klaus Tennstedt, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Lucia Popp, Anthony rolfe Johnson, Benjamin Luxon
Sacred Oratorios - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on Feb 1, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Apollo & Hyacinthus (Complete Mozart Edition)
Anthony rolfe Johnson, Arleen Auger, Leopold Hager
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Sep 12, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hymnus Paradisi...
Joan Rodgers, Anthony rolfe Johnson, Alan Opie, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Richard Hickox
Classical - Released by Chandos on Jul 1, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: Les Illuminations, 4 Chansons Françaises & Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
Bryden Thomson, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Anthony rolfe Johnson, Dame Felicity Lott, Michael Thompson
Mélodies - Released by Chandos on Feb 1, 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: The Five Canticles
Anthony rolfe Johnson, Roger Vignoles
Classical - Released by Hyperion on Mar 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: Michelangelo Sonnets & Winter Words
Anthony rolfe Johnson, Graham Johnson
Classical - Released by Hyperion on Feb 1, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gounod: Songs (Hyperion French Song Edition)
Felicity Lott, Ann Murray, Anthony rolfe Johnson
Classical - Released by Hyperion on Oct 1, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
In Praise of Woman: 150 Years of English Female Composers
Anthony rolfe Johnson, Graham Johnson
Classical - Released by Hyperion on Jul 1, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A.E. Housman's A Shropshire Lad in Verse & Song (with Alan Bates as Reader)
Alan Bates, Anthony rolfe Johnson, Graham Johnson
Classical - Released by Hyperion on May 1, 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Hyperion Song Edition 6 – Schubert & the Nocturne, Vol. 1
Anthony rolfe Johnson, Graham Johnson
Classical - Released by Hyperion on Dec 25, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Acis and Galatea
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on Jan 1, 1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs to Shakespeare
Anthony rolfe Johnson, Graham Johnson
Classical - Released by Hyperion on Nov 1, 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo