Roderick Williams
Baritone Roderick Williams began to establish his operatic career in the mid-'90s. A Mozart specialist at first, he has developed a varied repertory and has also written a substantial body of music for chorus and piano.
Williams was born in 1965 in London. His father was of Welsh background, his mother Jamaican. He attended Oxford University as a choral scholar and then took a job as a music teacher. It was not until he was 28 that he began to study operatic singing full-time at the Guildhall School of Music in London. While a student there, he made his debut in Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia as Tarquinius, and he has continued to sing several major Britten roles regularly. Major prizes in the early '90s -- a top prize at the Great Grimsby International Singing Competition in 1992, a second prize in the 1994 Kathleen Ferrier Competition, and others -- put him on the map, and he began to land major roles, at first, especially in northern Britain. He sang the Count in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at Opera North in Leeds in 1998 and sang a series of roles, from Mozart to Puccini, at the Scottish Opera. Williams' international debut came in Israel, in Massenet's Werther, in 1998. He has since appeared in many international houses, often in concert performances of operas. He has been a fixture at the Proms concerts since the mid-'90s. In 2002, Williams made his recording debut with mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly on Voices: Volume 1, a collection of songs by Schoenberg, on the Black Box Classics label.
Williams is an accomplished recitalist, and his own choral compositions have been performed at the Barbican, Wigmore Hall, the Purcell Room, and other prestigious British venues. In 2016, he became the president of the venerable Three Choirs Festival Society, and the following year, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. In 2020, he became president of the Thames Concerts series in London. Williams has a large catalog of recordings on Naxos, Champs Hill, Signum, and other labels; in the year 2017 alone, he appeared on seven separate recordings and on six in 2021. The year 2022 saw Williams release Mirages: The Art of French Song with accompanist Roger Vignoles on the Champs Hill label, and he appeared on the fourth and final volume of a series on the Albion label devoted to the folk song settings of Ralph Vaughan Williams. By that time, he had issued some 60 recordings on which he was a featured artist, and he had credits on many others.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Herrmann: Suite from Wuthering Heights, Echoes for Strings
Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Mario Venzago, Keri Fuge, Roderick Williams, Joshua Tan
Opera - Released by Chandos on Jun 30, 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Delius: A Mass of Life
Sir Mark Elder, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Roderick Williams
Classical - Released by Lawo Classics on Nov 24, 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Christmas Music
Richard Hickox, City Of London Sinfonia, Sarah Fox, Roderick Williams, Joyful Company of Singers
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by Chandos on Oct 1, 2006
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: Falstaff, Orchestral Songs & "Grania and Diarmid"
Sir Andrew Davis, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Roderick Williams
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Oct 1, 2017
QobuzissimeGramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Colourise
London Choral Sinfonia, Michael Waldron, Roderick Williams, Andrew Staples, Elena Urioste
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by Orchid Classics on Jul 15, 2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Winter Journey
Roderick Williams, Christopher Glynn
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Signum Records on Apr 13, 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert in English Vol. 4
Christopher Glynn, Roderick Williams, Rowan Pierce
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Signum Records on Nov 10, 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
On This Shining Night
James Gilchrist, Sophie Bevan, Roderick Williams, Coull Quartet
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on Jun 17, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
James MacMilllan: Christmas Oratorio (Live)
Mark Elder, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Lucy Crowe, Roderick Williams
Classical - Released by London Philharmonic Orchestra on Nov 4, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Folk Songs, Vol. 3
Roderick Williams, Mary Bevan, Nicky Spence, William Vann
Classical - Released by Albion on Sep 17, 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
A Birthday Garland
Roderick Williams, Susie Allan
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on Mar 15, 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
A Shropshire Lad: English Songs Orchestrated by Roderick Williams
Halle, Sir Mark Elder, Roderick Williams
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Halle Concerts Society on Nov 4, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Folk Songs, Vol. 4
Mary Bevan, Nicky Spence, Roderick Williams, William Vann
Classical - Released by Albion on Apr 22, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Folk Songs, Vol. 1
Mary Bevan, Nicky Spence, Roderick Williams, William Vann
Classical - Released by Albion on Oct 23, 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Folk Songs, Vol. 2
Roderick Williams, Mary Bevan, Nicky Spence, William Vann
Classical - Released by Albion on Mar 26, 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 6, Nocturne & Symphony No. 8
Richard Hickox, London Symphony Orchestra, Roderick Williams
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on Aug 1, 2003
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Discoveries
Roderick Williams, Jennifer Johnston, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins
Classical - Released by Albion on Sep 30, 2016
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Parry: 12 Sets of English Lyrics, Vol. 3
Sarah Fox, Roderick Williams, Andrew West
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on Nov 16, 2018
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Delius: A Mass of Life, RT II/4, Pt. 2: V. Allegro ma non troppo—Gottes Weh ist tiefer, du wunderliche Welt
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder, Roderick Williams
Classical - Released by Lawo Classics on Nov 10, 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Folk Songs, Vol. 4
Roderick Williams, Mary Bevan, Nicky Spence, William Vann
Classical - Released by Albion on Apr 22, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Music on Christmas Morning
Jocelyn Somerville, Elizabeth Limb, Roderick Williams, Martin Ford, Vasari Singers, Jeremy Backhouse
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by Naxos on Oct 13, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo