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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Discografía
13 álbum(es) • Ordenado por Mejores ventas
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Rubbra: Symphony No. 5, Symphony No. 8 & Ode to the Queen
Richard Hickox, BBC National Orchestra Of Wales, Susan Bickley
Sinfonías - Editado por Chandos el 1 mar. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: The Flood; Abraham and Isaac; Variations; Requiem Canticles / Wuorinen: A Reliquary for Igor Stravinsky
Clásica - Editado por Deutsche Grammophon (DG) el 1 ene. 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mélodies (The English Song Series - Volume 19)
Clásica - Editado por Naxos el 25 ago. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bantock: Sappho & Sapphic Poem
Julian Lloyd Webber, Susan Bickley, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley
Clásica - Editado por Hyperion el 1 sept. 1997
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
Clásica - Editado por Ondine el 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
Música sinfónica - Editado por Chandos el 1 nov. 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Beggar’s Opera
Música concertante - Editado por Chandos el 1 oct. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs & Vexations
Claire Booth, Susan Bickley, Andrew Matthews-Owen
Música vocal (profana y sacra) - Editado por Nimbus Alliance el 1 mar. 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
Clásica - Editado por Signum Records el 7 nov. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonies n° 5 & 8 - Ode to the Queen, op. 83
BBC National Orchestra Of Wales, Susan Bickley, Richard Hickox
Música sinfónica - Editado por Chandos el 1 mar. 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Benjamin & Bainton: Songs
Susan Bickley, Christopher Gillett, Wendy Hiscocks
Clásica - Editado por Naxos el 10 nov. 2017
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bainbridge: Ad ora incerta & 4 Primo Levi Settings
Clásica - Editado por NMC Recordings el 1 jun. 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
Sinfonías - Editado por Chandos el 1 nov. 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo