Justin Lavender Tenor
Justin Lavender’s distinct and unique voice has been able to incorporate roles that would normally lie beyond the realm of “traditional” English repertoire, as recent appearances such as DON RUIZ in Donizetti’s Maria Padilla for Washington Concert Opera in 2008, and POLLIONE in Bellini’s Norma for English Touring Opera in 2009, bear testimony. In addition, summer 2009 sees his return to the role of DON JOSÉ Carmen with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan in Taipei, a role he most recently sang at Welsh National Opera, in 2007. However, at heart, he remains an artist synonymous with the vocal and artistic heritage of this country, with future engagements including Britten’s War Requiem in Aarhus in 2010, conducted by Stephen Barlow.
Justin Lavender has carved and honed a superb career as one of Britain’s foremost Tenors. Spotted at an early age by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears (who had already been responsible for the discovery of artists such as Robert Tear and Anthony Rolfe-Johnson), Justin Lavender’s distinct and unique voice has been able to incorporate roles that would normally lie beyond the realm of “traditional” English repertoire, as recent appearances such as DON RUIZ in Donizetti’s Maria Padilla for Washington Concert Opera in 2008, and POLLIONE in Bellini’s Norma for English Touring Opera in 2009, bear testimony. In addition, summer 2009 sees his return to the role of DON JOSÉ Carmen with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan in Taipei, a role he most recently sang at Welsh National Opera, in 2007. However, at heart, he remains an artist synonymous with the vocal and artistic heritage of this country, with future engagements including Britten’s War Requiem in Aarhus in 2010, conducted by Stephen Barlow.
His remarkably diverse career began with his debut in The Pearl Fishers at the Sydney Opera House, the success of which led to invitations to sing throughout the world, and attracted attention from around the world. In 1990 he made his debut at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, as ARNOLD in Rossini’s Guglielmo Tell, and at the Staatsoper Wien as TAMINO in Die Zauberföte. The following year marked his debut at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, in the title role of Rossini’s Compte Ory. Since then, his eclectic repertoire has included MAURIZIO in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur at Erfurt, FLORESTAN concertante in Beethoven’s Leonore at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, DON JOSÉ Carmen and PINKERTON Madama Butterflywith Welsh National Opera, in addition to covering the role of FAUST at Covent Garden in 2006.
His concert engagements have included appearances with Solti, Giulini, Haitink, Oramo, Slatkin, Rhozhdestvensky, Dutoit, Frühbeck de Burgos, Elder and Abbado, and is particularly associated with oratorios such as Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, Verdi’s Requiem, Mahler’s 8th Symphony and Schmidt’s Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln.
Justin’s many recordings include solo CDs with the Bournemouth Symphony, while again we can spot his unique vocal eclecticism in recordings such as MARK in Smyth’s The Wreckers and PIERRE BEZUHOV in the only complete recording of Prokofiev’s War and Peace, conducted by Richard Hickox at the Festival dei due Mondi in Spoleto. In 2006 he sang and recorded The Dream of Gerontius with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and has also recently recorded Schnittke’s Faust Cantata with the Hamburg Symphony, in addition to Janáček’s Otčenáš. He also features in Alan Parker’s film The Life of David Gale.
Audio file:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAzbG_7TSuc
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