It
was a distinguished performance by any
standard, including the Met's own.
Ms. Baird, a dramatic soprano with notable
credits in Europe, sang with gleaming,
resonant tone and was a very feminine
Isolde. Her voice's size is more than adequate
and, coupled with Ms. Baird's interpretive
and acting skills, made for a compelling
portrayal. She maintained impressive control,
for example, of the dialogue in which she
persuades Tristan to join her in a suicide
pact.
The
New York Sun - George Loomis - March 27,
2008
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.
Critically acclaimed as a charismatic singer and actor,
Janice Baird enjoyed great successes asBRÜNNHILDE in the Opéra de Marseille, Grand
Théâtre de Genève, Teatro de la Maestranza Sevilla,
at Teatro La Fenice, 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 Bilbao, at the Semperoper Dresden, Essen, Nantes, Rome,
Sevilla, 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, the Opera
Leipzig, at the New National Theatre in Tokyo, at the
Teatro Carlo Felice Genua, in Palermo and in June 2007
enjoyed a huge success as SALOME at the Salle Pleyel in Paris.
She made her debut as ISOLDE at
the Teatro Colón in Buenos, a rôle which she also
celebrated great triumphs at the Hamburg State Opera, in
Rome, Toulouse and in 2008 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York
under the baton of James Levine.
She gave her
highly praised rôle 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).
Other roles of her widely spread repertoire are ARIADNE,
ORTRUD, SENTA,
VENUS, VIOLANTA, TOSCA, TURANDOT, MINNIE in La Fanciulla del West as well as the title roles in
FIDELIO, ABIGAILLE in Nabucco,
AMELIA in Un Ballo in Maschera and LADY
MACBETH.
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.
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 next appearances include
Elektra
in Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bruxelles
- Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie,
Seattle and the
Vienna
State Opera and in concerts with Maestro Kent NAGANO and
Maestro Donald RUNNICLES; Turandot at
the Deutsche Oper Berlin and in Athens; Minnie in La
Fanciulla del West in Rom and Seville, Lady
Macbeth in Bari, Brünnhilde in Die
Walküre in Zurich, Brünnhilde in
Siegfried
in Deutsche Oper
Berlin
and she is the Brünnhilde in a
new RING in
Seattle
(summer 2009).
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.
•
Isolde
Metropolitan Opera
"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."
Anthony
Tommasini
New York Times
• Upcoming Performances
•
FANCIULA
DEL WEST
Roma
Teatro dell'Opera
April 9
& 12 2008
•TURANDOT |
ATHENS
Odeon
Herodes Atticus
June 1, 3, 5, 7 2008
•TRISTAN &
ISOLDE
Stavanger
May
16 & 20, 2008
•Janice Baird as a radiantly secure Brünnhilde
International
Herald Tribune
•
"Janice Baird's
Brünnhilde had a Katherine Hepburn allure and lustrose tone"
Opera News
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 - March 26, 2008
