Emma Kirkby
When English soprano Emma Kirkby began her professional career in the mid-'70s, period performance practice was just beginning to make its way into the realm of vocal music. Kirkby, mentored by Jessica Cash, became a pioneer of period practice for Renaissance and Baroque vocal soloists. She studied classical literature at Oxford and took vocal lessons, but did not plan on becoming a singer. She joined the Taverner Choir in 1971, and a couple of years later, she began a long-lasting collaboration with the Consort of Musicke. She made her 1974 concert debut in London and her first tour of the United States in 1978. Tours to all of the major music capitals of the world have followed. Especially noteworthy was a tour of the Arabian states with lutenist Anthony Rooley, to whom she is married. In her collaborations with groups like those already mentioned, and others -- such as the Academy of Ancient Music, London Baroque, Fretwork, L'Orfeo, and the Purcell Quartet -- she increased the public awareness of correct Baroque performance practice while carefully avoiding pedantry. She brings a great deal of drama and musicianship to her performances. Besides the lute songs of the Renaissance era, Kirkby is well known for her performances of the cantatas and passions of Bach and the choral music of Monteverdi. Her voice is a very light, lyric soprano of unusual sweetness. She has excellent control of the voice and is able to sing without any vibrato, a quality that many practitioners of early music prefer.
Her hundreds of recordings give an excellent view of the range of her repertoire, at times even expanding on it, since she has recorded several operas that she has not sung on-stage, including Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Monteverdi's Orfeo, Handel's Orlando, and Hasse's Cleofide. Once in a while, she'll try something unexpected, such as the songs of Amy Beach or cantatas by little-known Baroque composers. Her early recordings were part of the Florilegium series from Decca. Since then she's recorded on Hyperion, Carus, CPO, Harmonia Mundi, BIS, and other labels. Kirkby was made a Dame of the British Empire in 2007.
© Patsy Morita /TiVo
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Vivaldi Kantaten (Audior)
Emma Kirkby, Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood
Classical - Released by L'Oiseau Lyre CD on 1 Jan 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Sweet Sound of Emma Kirkby
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Shakespeare's Lutenist: Theatre Music by Robert Johnson
Emma Kirkby, Thomas David, Anthony Rooley
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pastoral Dialogues
Emma Kirkby, Thomas David, Anthony Rooley
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Aug 1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Arias
Emma Kirkby, Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Nov 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Messiah (Remastered 2014)
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 8 Apr 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Opera Arias for Soprano
Emma Kirkby, The Brandenburg Consort, Roy Goodman
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 1 Sep 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Marini: Le Lagrime d'Ermina
Emma Kirkby, Nigel Rogers, The Consort of Musicke, Anthony Rooley
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Orpheus in England
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by BIS on 1 Jan 2011
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Duetti da Camera
Emma Kirkby, Judith Nelson, The Consort of Musicke, Anthony Rooley
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 May 1981
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Amorous Dialogues
Emma Kirkby, Martyn Hill, Anthony Rooley, Trevor Jones
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Oct 1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
A Purcell Songbook
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 12 Sep 1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kirkby, Emma: Musique and Sweet Poetrie - Jewels From Europe Around 1600
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Jan 2007
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
An Elizabethan Songbook
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Handel: The Occasional Songs
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on 1 Feb 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beach: Chanson D'Amour
Emma Kirkby, Romantic Chamber Group of London
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by BIS on 1 Jan 2000
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Monteclair: Cantates a voix seule
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by BIS on 2 Aug 2011
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
The Sound Of Emma Kirkby (By Classic FM)
Classical - Released by Decca (UMO) on 1 Jan 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Opera Arias and Sinfonias
Emma Kirkby, The Brandenburg Consort, Roy Goodman
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 1 Oct 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christmas Music - Scarlatti, A. / Corelli, A. / Pachelbel, J. / Bach, J.S.
Emma Kirkby, London Baroque, Charles Medlam
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by BIS on 30 Sep 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo