British baritone (born 1959)
Sir Simon Keenlyside
CBE
(born 3 August 1959) is a British
baritone
who has performed in
operas
and concerts since the mid-1980s.
Biography
[
edit
]
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Keenlyside was born in London, the son of Raymond and Ann Keenlyside. Raymond played second violin in the
Aeolian Quartet
, and Ann's father was the violinist
Leonard Hirsch
.
[1]
When he was eight, he was enrolled in
St John's College School
, a boarding school for the boy choristers of the
Choir of St John's College, Cambridge
and spent much of his childhood touring and recording with the choir under the direction of choirmaster
George Guest
.
[2]
He later attended
Reed's School
in Cobham, before studying zoology at
Cambridge University.
[1]
He returned to St John's as a choral scholar, before studying singing at the
Royal Northern College of Music
in
Manchester
. After graduation, he won a
Peter Moores Foundation
scholarship (1985) and joined the Royal Northern College of Music to study voice with the baritone
John Cameron
where he developed a love for
lieder
and German poetry.
[1]
Singing career
[
edit
]
Keenlyside made his first appearance in a major operatic role in 1987 as Lescaut in
Manon Lescaut
at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Opera
magazine remarked on it being an "astonishingly mature" performance, and that he "used his warm and clear baritone with notable musicianship".
[3]
The Richard Tauber prize, which he won in 1986, allowed him to go to Salzburg for further study. His money ran out before he could finish his four-month term there, but Rudolf Knoll, a teacher at the
Salzburg Mozarteum
, gave him private lessons for free. Knoll encouraged him to work on the Italian repertoire while he was still young, and introduced him to the Hilbert agency which got him singing jobs in Germany. His professional debut as a baritone came in 1988, at the
Hamburg State Opera
as Count Almaviva in
The Marriage of Figaro
.
[2]
In 1989, Keenlyside joined the roster of
Scottish Opera
, where he stayed until 1994, performing as, among other roles, Marcello (
La boheme
), Danilo (
The Merry Widow
), Harlequin (
Ariadne auf Naxos
), Guglielmo (
Cosi fan tutte
), Figaro (
Barber of Seville
), Billy Budd (
Billy Budd
), Papageno (
Zauberflote
) and Belcore (
L'elisir d'amore
).
During this period, he made debut performances at the
Royal Opera House
at
Covent Garden
, (1989 singing Silvio), English National Opera (Guglielmo),
Welsh National Opera
,
San Francisco Opera
, Geneva, Paris, and Sydney. He sang for
Glyndebourne
for the first time in 1993 and made his debut at the
Metropolitan Opera
in
New York
in 1996. Keenlyside has performed at virtually all the major opera houses in the world, including the
Paris Opera
and the Metropolitan Opera.
Keenlyside sang in the world premieres of two 21st-century operas, creating the roles of Prospero in
Thomas Ades
'
The Tempest
in 2004, and Winston Smith in
Lorin Maazel
's
1984
in 2005.
[4]
He later participated in the EMI Classics world premiere recording of
The Tempest
.
[5]
In 2010 Keenlyside sang the role of Rodrigo in a new production of
Don Carlo
at the Metropolitan Opera opposite
Roberto Alagna
to critical acclaim.
[6]
Keenlyside added the role of Golaud in
Debussy
's
Pelleas et Melisande
to his repertoire in a new production which premiered at
Wiener Staatsoper
on 18 June 2017 (he previously sang the role of Pelleas for many years). The following afternoon, he was awarded the title of
Kammersanger
by the Austrian government in a ceremony in the Teesalon of the opera house.
His recordings include several issues for
Hyperion Records
, including music of
Benjamin Britten
,
Emmanuel Chabrier
,
Maurice Durufle
and
Henry Purcell
. He is also a featured singer on five volumes of the Hyperion
Franz Schubert
Edition and on the second volume of the Hyperion
Robert Schumann
Edition. In 2007 Sony Music released a recital disc of arias entitled
Tales of Opera
.
[7]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Keenlyside is married to the
Royal Ballet
dancer
Zenaida Yanowsky
.
[1]
Operatic roles
[
edit
]
Honours and awards
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Wroe, Nicholas (8 September 2007).
"The call of the wild"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
8 September
2007
.
- ^
a
b
Kellow, Brian (December 2002).
"The Poetry of Risk"
.
Opera News
, Vol. 67, No. 6
- ^
Allison, John (2002).
Baritones in Opera: Profiles of Fifteen Great Baritones
, p. 81. Opera Magazine Ltd.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Duchen, Jessica (12 March 2007).
"Simon Keenlyside: The sound and the fury"
.
The Independent
- ^
James Inverne, "EMI to release Ades’s The Tempest".
Gramophone
, 20 March 2007.
- ^
Tommasini, Anthony.
"A Winning, Cautious 'Don Carlo' at the Met"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
6 November
2014
.
- ^
a
b
Gramophone
(2007).
Awards Special Issue
, p. 61.
- ^
For a complete list of Keenlyside's roles see also
List of roles at www.simonkeenlyside.info
- ^
Kesting, Jurgen (2008).
Die grossen Sanger
, Vol. 4, p. 2065. Hoffmann und Campe
(in German)
- ^
a
b
c
d
La Scala
.
Archives: Keenlyside
(subscription required)
- ^
White, Michael (14 May 2003).
"Sweet prince of song"
.
Daily Telegraph
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
Royal Opera House
.
Archives: Keenlyside
- ^
Luten, C. J., (January 1996).
Recording Review:
Chabrier's Briseis
by Rodgers, Harries, Padmore, Keenlyside, George and the BBC Scottish Orchestra and Chamber Chorus under Jean Yves Ossonce
.
Opera News
(subscription required)
- ^
Gramophone
(September 1995).
Review: Harmonia Mundi CD HMC90 1515/7
[
permanent dead link
]
(1996 live recording from
Theatre Royal de la Monnaie
), p. 103
- ^
Metropolitan Opera
.
Archives: Keenlyside, Simon (Baritone)
- ^
a
b
c
Milnes, Rodney
(November 1997) "Simon Keenlyside".
Opera
, Vol. 53, Issue 1, pp. 80?87
- ^
Listed in the cast for the performances at the
Opera Garnier
in September 1998. See
L'Evenement du jeudi
, Issues 718?725
, p. 82
(in French)
- ^
a
b
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
.
Archives: Keenlyside
- ^
Jahn, George (7 March 2009).
"Splendid music, but the staging ? brrr!"
.
Associated Press
- ^
Listed in projected cast for the performances at the
Royal Opera House
in November?December 1990. See
Opera
, Vol. 41, Issues 7?12, p. 1201
- ^
Loveland, Kenneth (December 1991).
Review:
Die Fledermaus
, Welsh National Opera, New Theatre, Cardiff
,
Opera
, Volume 42, p. 1479
- ^
Listed in the cast for the concert performances at Birmingham Symphony Hall and the Queen Elisabeth Hall (March 1995). See
Opera
, Vol. 45, Issues 7?12, p. 1299
- ^
Smith, Mike (25 April 2008).
"From Turandot to tree-planting with opera singer Simon Keenlyside"
.
Western Mail
- ^
One of his earliest roles. According to
simonkeenlyside.info
, he sang this at the
Hamburg State Opera
in June 1988.
- ^
Tumelty, Michael (20 September 1989).
"Review: Theatre Royal, Glasgow,
The Merry Widow
"
, p. 14.
Glasgow Herald
- ^
Sulcas, Roslyn (28 June 1998).
"Master of Movement Decides to Tell a Story With an Opera"
.
New York Times
- ^
Jampol, Joshua (2010).
Living Opera
. Oxford University Press.
ISBN
0-19-538138-6
- ^
Blyth, Alan (June 1996).
"Taking off"
Archived
30 June 2010 at the
Wayback Machine
.
Gramophone
, p. 23
- ^
Radio Canada
.
Opera du samedi
, Calendrier de diffusion, Saison 1998?1999
(in French)
- ^
Monelle, Raymond (23 August 1999).
"Edinburgh: This tragic no man's land"
.
The Independent
- ^
Evans, Eian (27 June 2010).
"Review:
Rigoletto
, Millennium Centre, Cardiff"
.
The Guardian
- ^
Tanner, Michael (9 September 2000).
"Brighter shades of pale"
.
The Spectator
- ^
Western European stages
, Volume 15 (2003)
, p. 42. Center for Advanced Study in Theatre Arts
- ^
Bayerische Staatsoper
(2009)
Cast list:
La Traviata
, 12 June 2009
Archived
25 April 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
(in German)
- ^
Christiansen, Rupert
(1 November 2001).
Review: "
War and Peace
ENO, Coliseum ? All-conquering confidence"
.
Daily Telegraph
- ^
Kennedy, Michael (1994).
Music Enriches All: The Royal Northern College of Music : The First Twenty-one Years
, p. 77. Carcanet.
ISBN
1-85754-085-9
- ^
Royal Philharmonic Society
.
Past RPS Music Awards Winners: Singers
- ^
BBC News
(29 October 2003).
"TV chef collects MBE"
- ^
"No. 56963"
.
The London Gazette
(Supplement). 14 June 2003. p. 8.
- ^
L'Opera
(December 2004)
- ^
Avui
(20 October 2004)
"
Siegfried
, millor opera de la temporada anterior"
Archived
4 March 2016 at the
Wayback Machine
, p. 46
(in Catalan)
- ^
Associated Press
(13 February 2005).
"Pre-telecast Grammy Award winners"
.
USA Today
- ^
Laurence Olivier Awards
(26 February 2006).
"Keenlyside wins opera prize"
Archived
7 May 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
, www.olivierawards.com
- ^
Associated Press
(15 January 2004)
"Complete list of nominees for the 2004 Laurence Olivier Awards"
(subscription required)
- ^
merkur-online.de
(22 October 2007).
"Echo Klassik fur Elina Garanca, Keenlyside und Jansons"
(in German)
- ^
ABC
(11 October 2007).
"≪Boulevard Solitude≫, de Henze, se impone en los premios de la critica"
(in Spanish)
- ^
Gramophone
(30 September 2010).
"Gramophone Awards 2010 unveiled"
- ^
Waleson, Heidi (2011).
"The 2011 Honorees: Simon Keenlyside, Vocalist of the Year"
.
Musical America
- ^
"Simon Keenlyside wurde osterreichischer Kammersanger"
.
Wiener Staatsoper
(in German). Vienna. 19 June 2017
. Retrieved
24 February
2019
.
- ^
Birthday Honours lists 2018
External links
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