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| Biographie Deutsch |
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| Salome |
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Janice Baird heads up an impressive cast in a superb rendition
of Strauss's potboiler -To answer first questions first: no,
Janice Baird didn't follow Karita Mattila's lead. She didn't
take off that last bit of clothing as Mattila did in her
sensational Metropolitan Opera Salome. Yet Baird's
interpretation of the role at the Teatro Massimo was so graphic
in its depiction of sexual perversion that further disrobing
could hardly have increased the shock value. The New York-born dramatic soprano created a
searing portrayal of the teenaged princess that catapulted the
opera from its ominous beginning to its horrifying end. Baird's
voice has carrying power galore: it soared over the orchestra,
but was never piercing. Her diction was excellent and her
ability to move from the most strident declarations to phrases
of delicate lyricism was impressive. It doesn't hurt that she is
also slim and graceful.
Andante - Diana Burgwyn |
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Janice Baird is one of today's leading dramatic sopranos. It is
above all with her powerful portrayals of the great Wagner and
Strauss heroines that the attractive American has been brought
to the eager attention of the international opera scene. An
extremely gifted and intelligent singing actress, Miss Baird's
combination of vocal prowess and sensitive as well as expressive
acting makes her one of the most powerful and intensely
expressive performers on the operatic stage today. She made her sensational United States debut as the title role of Tristan und Isolde in 2008 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York under the baton of James Levine, a role which she also celebrated great triumphs at the Hamburg State Opera, in Rome, Düsseldorf, Toulouse, Zürich and at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. She gave her highly praised role debuts as the Dyer's Wife (Färberin) in Strauss' Die Frau Ohne Schatten (in Toulouse autumn 2006) and as Marie in Wozzeck in Rome (October 2007). Critically acclaimed as a charismatic singer and actor, Janice Baird enjoyed great successes as Brünnhilde in Opera House Zürich, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Seattle Opera, Stockholm, the Opéra de Marseille, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Teatro de la Maestranza Sevilla, at Teatro La Fenice in Venice, in Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Toulon, Théâtre du Capitôle Toulouse, Teatro Bellini Catania and at the Stuttgart State Opera. She sang Brünnhilde in Loriot’s Ring in one evening at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and in Ring Cycles in Birmingham and Ireland, and has received numerous nominations for singer of the year from the prestigious opera magazine Opernwelt for her interpretations of Brünnhilde. Among her favorite roles Janice Baird counts Elektra, which she sang in Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bilbao, at the Semperoper Dresden, Essen, Nantes, Rome, Palermo, Sevilla, Singapore, Strasbourg, Toulouse, and the Opera House Zurich. She made her debut as Salome at the Vienna State Opera and had remarkable successes with this role at the Berlin State Opera, the Hanover State Opera, Il Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Opera Leipzig, at the New National Theatre in Tokyo, at the Teatro Carlo Felice Genua, in Palermo and at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. Equally at home in the Italian dramatic soprano repertoire Janice Baird's most recently successes have been as Turandot in Rome, Athens, Berlin and Seville; Minne in La Fanciulla del West in Rome and Sevilla; Verdi's Lady Macbeth at the Staatsoper Berlin and in Mexico. Other roles of her widely spread repertoire are the title roles of Ariadne auf Naxos, Tosca, Fidelio as well as Ortrud, Senta, Venus, Violanta (Korngold), Abigaille in Nabucco, and Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera. |
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Janice Baird was born on Manhattan's Upper West Side just steps
away from Lincoln Center in a musically influenced family. Her
mother was a singer and her father a voice teacher. She studied
music, flute, singing and also acting at HB Actors Studio in New
York City. Miss Baird's first engagements were in Germany where
she carefully developed her rich mezzo soprano moving then to
soprano repertoire with great success. Through master classes
with Birgit Nilsson and intensive private study with Astrid
Varnay with whom she studied all the major Wagner and Strauss
roles, she then added the highly dramatic repertoire with which
she was able to lay the foundation for her international career.
This took off quickly, and today Janice Baird is a regular guest
of most major opera companies around the world, including the
State Opera of Berlin, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bilbao,
Birmingham, Buenos Aires, Catania, the Semperoper Dresden,
Essen, Geneva, Genoa, Hamburg State Opera, Leipzig Opera,
Marseille, Metropolitan Opera of New York, Nantes, Palermo,
Paris, Rome, Salzburg Festival, Santiago de Chile, Seattle,
Seville, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Toulouse, Trieste, Venice, Verona, at
the Vienna State Opera, and in Zurich, to name a few. Miss Baird has worked with conductors such as Marc Albrecht, Christoph von Dohnany, Daniele Gatti, Michael Gielen, Bernhard Haitink, Armin Jordan, Philippe Jordan, James Levine, Fabio Luisi, Franz Welser-Möst, Kent Nagano, Donald Runnicles, Peter Schneider, Michael Schonwandt, Jeffrey Tate, Sebastian Weigle and Simone Young - in productions of directors such as Robert Carsen, Claus Guth, Nicolas Joel, Peter Konwitschny, Martin Kusej, Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Giancarlo del Monaco, David Pountney and Bob Wilson. Concert performances have brought the soprano to the Glocke in Bremen, to the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, to the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, to Verona, and to Catania among other venues. Her concert repertoire includes Ah! Perfido and Symphony No. 9 by Beethoven, Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder, Les Nuits d'Été and La Mort de Cléopâtre by Berlioz, Britten’s War Requiem, Mahler’s Rückert Lieder and Symphony No. 2, Ravel’s Schéhérazade, Wozzeck Bruchstücke and Verdi’s Requiem as well as Wesendonck-Lieder, Vier letzte Lieder and Lyrische Sinfonie by Zemlinsky. Janice Baird's current and most recent appearances include Elektra at the Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin and in concerts with Maestro Kent Nagano and Maestro Donald Runnicles; Turandot at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Seville and in Athens; Salome at Maggio Musicale Florence, Isolde in Düsseldorf and at Opera House Zürich under Bernhard Haitink, Brünnhilde in Siegfried and Götterdämmerung at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and she was the Brünnhilde in the Ring Cycle for Seattle Opera. Janice Baird sang the Dyer’s Wife in a new production of Die Frau ohne Schatten in Zurich conducted by Franz Welser-Möst and directed by David Poutney. Janice Baird will sing Ortud in Lohengrin in Opéra Toulon and Rouen, Elektra in Montpellier and Augsburg, Turandot in Montevideo and she will make her role debut as Herodias in Salome in in Catania.. As an American who was raised and studied both in Europe and America, Ms. Baird speaks German, English, Italian, French and Spanish and currently lives in Berlin, Germany and in Andalucia, Spain. |
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Isolde |
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Metropolitan Opera |
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"An attractive woman
with a strong and
bright voice, she was an
honorable Isolde. She had
secure top notes and a
gleaming middle range...
she sang with focus, energy
and stamina, and won an
enthusiastic ovation from
the audience." |
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Janice Baird, had made her Met debut in that
earlier performance and won warm applause
for her courage and professionalism. This
time she drew cheers for her singing as
well. Given a chance to warm up and sing an
entire performance, she made a striking
impression indeed. Matching Heppner decibel
for decibel, she threw herself into the
emotions of the role as well - the
humiliation and rage of Act 1, the passion
of Act 2, and the grief after Tristan dies
in Act 3. Mike Silverman - Associated Press - |
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