(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.
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Plaisir d'amour - A Celebration of the Art of Dame Janet Baker
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Hyperion Song Edition 1 - Goethe and Schiller Settings
(Dame) Janet Baker, Graham Johnson
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 25 Dec 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: The Rape of Lucretia; Phaedra
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S.: Cantatas Nos. 159 & 170
(Dame) Janet Baker, John Shirley-Quirk, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1966
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel: Shérérazade - Chausson, Duparc, Schumann & Brahms: Songs
(Dame) Janet Baker, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Daniel Barenboim, Sir John Barbirolli, André Previn
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 4 Sep 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck: Opera Arias
(Dame) Janet Baker, English Chamber Orchestra, Raymond Leppard
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38
(Dame) Janet Baker, Richard Lewis, Hallé Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1965
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Elijah
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Gwyneth Jones, (Dame) Janet Baker, Nicolai Gedda, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, New Philharmonia Orchestra
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 4 Sep 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, JS: Cantatas BWV 80, 140 & 147 - Jesu meine Freunde
Elly Ameling, (Dame) Janet Baker, Dame Joan Sutherland, Wolfgang Gönnenwein, Geraint Jones
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 25 Nov 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dame Janet Baker (The Great EMI Recordings) : German Lieder, vol.1 (Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms)
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 3 Jun 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach/Purcell/Rameau/Cavalli/Ravel/Chausson - Janet Baker
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dame Janet Baker (The Great EMI Recordings) : English Songs (Dowland, Purcell, Arne, Parry, Stanford, Walton, Britten)
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 3 Jun 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Ariodante
(Dame) Janet Baker, James Bowman, Norma Burrowes, Edith Mathis, English Chamber Orchestra, Raymond Leppard
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Symphony No.9; Das Lied von der Erde
(Dame) Janet Baker, James King, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brook Green Suite - Planets Suite
(Dame) Janet Baker, Sir Adrian Boult, André Previn, Norman Del Mar, Imogen Holst
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 5 Jul 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Legendary Dame Janet Baker
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 12 Jul 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Purcell: Dido & Aeneas
(Dame) Janet Baker, Raimund Herincx, Patricia Clark, English Chamber Orchestra, Anthony Lewis
Full Operas - Released by Musical Concepts on 7 May 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar - The Dream of Gerontius
(Dame) Janet Baker, John Mitchinson, John Shirley-Quirk, CBSO Chorus, City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 28 Feb 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dame Janet Baker sings Berlioz, Brahms, Mendelssohn & Respighi
(Dame) Janet Baker, London Symphony Chorus, City Of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 22 Jun 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Nuits D'Été, Op.7, etc
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 25 Oct 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo