- Laura Claycomb
Laura Claycomb (born
Corpus Christi, Texas 23 August 1968 ) is an American lyriccoloratura soprano opera singer.Early career
She gained international attention for the first time in 1994 after stepping in at the last minute to perform Giulietta in "
I Capuleti e i Montecchi " with Geneva Opera. This role was also the vehicle of debut at the Paris Bastille, with the Munich Radio Orchestra andLos Angeles Opera .Another of her roles is Gilda in "
Rigoletto ", which she has performed atCanadian Opera Company , Opera de Lausanne,Opéra Bastille ,Pittsburgh Opera , New Israeli Opera, Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile, Canadian Opera Company andHouston Grand Opera .Her Lucia at Houston Grand Opera "literally catapulted the opening night audience to its feet with her creativity and versatility." (Don Moser, Houston Voice).
Other notable roles have been her first "
Lucia di Lammermoor ", "Linda di Chamounix "; "La fille du regiment "; Comtesse Adele in "Le Comte Ory", Cleopatra in "Giulio Cesare "; Morgana in "Alcina "; Olympia in "Les contes d'Hoffmann ", and Ophelie in "Hamlet ".She got her start at
San Francisco Opera where she held an Adler fellowship, singing roles such as Xenia in "Boris Godunov", Papagena in "Die Zauberflöte", Duchesse Medina-Sidonia in Milhaud's "Christoph Colombe", Marie in "La fille du régiment " and Fiakermilli in "Arabella ". Her role-debut of Zerbinetta in "Ariadne auf Naxos " was the vehicle of her return toSan Francisco Opera in 2002. She reprised the role at the Richard-Strauss-Festspiele inGarmisch withUlf Schirmer and atLos Angeles Opera .Career Performances
Following her European debut in
Geneva , she sang Marie at Turin's Teatro Regio inLuca Ronconi 's production and again as Ismene in Graham Vick's production of "Mitridate, Rè di Ponto". She followed with Princess Rezia in Haydn's "L'Incontro Improvviso" for L'Opera de Nice and L'Opera de Bordeaux, and Serpetta in Mozart's "La finta giardiniera " at the Kennedy Center inWashington, D.C. with Patrick Summers conducting.After her debut at
La Scala in the title role of "Linda di Chamounix", she sang Marie inRome and her first Sophie in Keith Warner's production of "Der Rosenkavalier " at the Spoleto Festival in Italy. Other appearances include her role-debut at L'Opera de Lausanne as Adina in "L'Elisir d'amore"' and as Konstanze in "Die Entführung aus dem Serail " with Vlaamse Opera, a role she reprised at theBerlin Staatsoper .Following success at Houston Grand Opera as Gilda in Rigoletto in 2001, Laura Claycomb forged a special relationship with audiences in Houston, returning to sing Lucia di Lammermoor, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, Ilia in Idomeneo and the title role of La Fille du Régiment. [ [http://www.houstongrandopera.org/ExportedSite/Whats%20New/High-Flying_Adored.htm Houston Grand Opera ] ]
In Trieste, Ms. Claycomb debuted the role of Ophelie in Thomas' Hamlet; in Toulouse, she debuted Philine in Mignon and at Brussels' Theatre de la Monnaie, she debuted Tytania in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Baroque opera
In the Baroque style, she has sung with some of the world's most renowned early music conductors and ensembles. She sang Cleopatra in Handel's "Giulio Cesare" in
Montpellier , Drusilla in Monteverdi's "L'incoronazione di Poppea " at the Netherlands Opera, and Fedra inTraetta 's "Ippolito ed Aricia" inMontpellier with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques. She reprised the role of Cleopatra for the Drottningholm Festival withRoy Goodman conducting and more recently atHouston Grand Opera with music director Patrick Summers. WithRichard Hickox , Ms. Claycomb debuted the role ofMorgana in "Alcina " atEnglish National Opera . WithMarc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre, she debuted the role ofGinevra in "Ariodante " at L'Opera Garnier inParis ; Ms. Claycomb reprised the role inMunich with Harry Bickett. She debuted the title role of Semele at the Flemish Opera with Michael Hofstetter conducting.Ms. Claycomb also has a close relationship with Baroque conductor
Emmanuelle Haïm , and performed varied French and Italian Baroque repertoire with Haïm on tour in the United States (St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and New World Symphony) and with her group Le Concert d'Astrée at theAldeburgh Festival , inParis , on tour inFrance , onBBC radio . The soprano performed excerpts with countertenor David Daniels at the 2007 Cortona Festival in Italy with Ms. Haïm and le Concert d'Astrée. Her first recording collaboration with Haïm is Händel's Arcadian duets" on Virgin Veritas/EMI.Modern music
In modern music, she made her debut at the
Salzburg Festival inPeter Sellars 's new production of Ligeti's "Le Grand Macabre ", reprising the role of Amanda in the same production at theThéâtre du Châtelet in Paris. She can be heard on the Grammy-nominated recording of "Le Grand Macabre " forSony withEsa-Pekka Salonen conducting. Concerts of Humperdinck's "Hänsel und Gretel" (role debut asGretel ) with theLondon Symphony Orchestra , Copland's "The Tender Land " (role debut as Laurie Moss), "The Rake's Progress " (role debut as Anne Trulove) all atLondon 'sBarbican , as well asMistress Page in Vaughan Williams' "Sir John in Love" in Newcastle with theNorthern Sinfonia and its recording forChandos are some highlights of her operatic collaboration with conductorRichard Hickox . Ms. Claycomb debutedCunegonde in "Candide" atOpera Pacific with John Demain. In 2006, Ms. Claycomb originated the role of Queen Wealtheow in Elliot Goldenthal's opera Grendel in a Julie Taymor production with Los Angeles Opera and Lincoln Center Festival. She added Anne Trulove in the Rake's Progress to her stage roles in 2007 with a new Robert LePage production she originated at Brussels' Theatre de la Monnaie and reprised at Opera de Lyon.Concerts
In concert music, with
Esa-Pekka Salonen , she has sung Debussy's "Le Martyre de St. Sebastien" (Angel ) with theSwedish Radio Orchestra and Mendelssohn's "A Midsummer Night's Dream with theLos Angeles Philharmonic . Ms. Claycomb sang the world-premiere of Salonen's "Five Fragments AfterSappho " with the composer conducting at the Ojai Festival, with theLos Angeles Philharmonic inLos Angeles , with theLondon Sinfonietta at theQueen Elizabeth Hall , and with Ensemble Sospeso atCarnegie Hall . She reprised the Sappho songs withEnsemble Modern inJapan on a program including Stravinsky's "Japanese Lyrics" and " [Balmont] Songs""' with Dominique My conducting.She was the soprano soloist in "Carmina Burana" at the re-opening gala of the Blossom Festival with the
Cleveland Orchestra withFranz Welser-Möst conducting, again in the "Messiah" again withCleveland Orchestra atSeverance Hall , returned withPierre Boulez for the title role of Stravinsky's "Rossignol " and with Matthias Pintscher in Debussy's "Le Martyr de St. Sebastien." With SirRoger Norrington and the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, Ms. Claycomb has made tours as Teresa in Berlioz's "Benvenuto Cellini (recorded for Hanssler Classics) and as the soprano soloist in Vaughan Williams' "A Sea Symphony". With theSan Francisco Symphony andMichael Tilson-Thomas , she sang concerts of Schoenberg's "Herzgewächse" and Toch's "Chinesische Flöte", concerts and a recording of Mahler's "Fourth Symphony" forSan Francisco Symphony 's own label, Mahler's 8th Symphony, and concerts of Strauss' "Brentano Lieder". With theLondon Symphony Orchestra , Ms. Claycomb sang Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel with Richard Hickox conducting, Mahler's "Second Symphony""' with Andrew Davis conducting, Carmina Burana and Barber's Knoxville, Summer of 1915 with Hickox conducting, as well as concerts of Berlioz's "Benvenuto Cellini" with Sir Colin Davis (recorded for LSO LIVE label.) Most recently, she joined the LSO for Mahler's Fourth Symphony with Valery Gergiev in London and Athens.Her collaboration in concert with
Richard Hickox in addition to their many operatic collaborations also includes "Grainger " at theBBC Proms , Vaughan Williams' "A Sea Symphony" at theGulbenkian inLisbon , a stunning Haydn "Creation" at theSpoleto Festival and Handel's "Messiah" with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.In
London 'sRoyal Albert Hall , she sang a Mozart program including "Der Schauspieldirektor " withIvan Fischer and theOrchestra of the Age of Enlightenment , which was also broadcast onBBC Radio . On another all-Mozart program inSwitzerland , Ms. Claycomb was the feature, singing a program of 6 concert arias with theOrchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and conductor Jonathan Darlington. She appeared as Madame Silberklang in "Der Schauspieldirektor " with the Munich Radio Orchestra and Sebastian Weigle, and another Mozart concert with Ulf Schirmer. Ms. Claycomb also performed Beethoven's rarely-heard oratorio "Christus am Ölberg" with the Flemish Opera Orchestra and Ivan Törz.She sang her first Brahms "Requiem" at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari with Gerard Korsten, a concert of bel canto excerpts with John Demain and
Opera Pacific as well as at the Lanaudière Festival with Yannick Nezet-Sequin, and was the feature of New Year's concerts with Vlaamse Opera, with George Pehlavanian conducting.With an avid interest in recital repertoire,
chamber music , and neglected composers, she combines this music into her recital schedule with pianistsRoger Vignoles , Peter Grunberg and Iain Burnside. In past years, Ms. Claycomb reprised Messiaen's "Chants de terre et de ciel" with Grunberg on "Cal Performances" to rave reviews, as well performing three world-premieres at One World Theater in Austin on a chamber concert withNina Kotova ,Jose Feghali , and Ron Neal. Her recitals have taken her fromSan Francisco , toChicago ,San Antonio ,Houston ,Brussels ,Bruges (Concertgebouw), Santiago de Compostela, Spain, the Tuscan Sun Festival inCortona ,Italy and a BBC Voices recital on English radio. Her most recent recital at theThéâtre de la Monnaie with Burnside was received enthusiastically inBrussels .Awards
She has also won the Silver Medal at the
International Tchaikovsky Competition inMoscow in 1994, the Operetta Prize at the Belvedere Competition inVienna in 1992 and First Prize in the National Opera Association Competition in 1992. A native Texan, she studied with Barbara Hill Moore atSouthern Methodist University , where she received degrees in both Vocal Performance and Foreign Languages; she currently studies with Norma Newton. She makes her home inBelgium .Recordings
*Handel: Arcadian Duets / Dessay, Gens, Asawa, Haim, et al
*Il Salotto Vol 6 - La Partenza / Laura Claycomb, Bruce Ford, Manuela Custer, Roberto Servile, Dominic Natoli, Nicola Rossi Giordano, Dean Robinson, Brindley Sherratt / OPERA RARA ORR227 "CD"
*Il Salotto Vol 7 - Primo Dolce Affano / Bruce Ford, Elizabeth Vidal, Laura Claycomb, Manuela Custer, William Matteuzzi, Roberto Servile, Alastair Miles, piano - David Harper / OPERA RARA ORR230 "CD"
*Vocal Teamwork / Annick Massis, Bruce Ford, Majella Cullagh, Alastair Miles, Jennifer Larmore, Mirco Palazzi, Laura Claycomb, Peter Glossop, Della Jones, Alexander Oliver, Yvonne Kenny, Rockwell Blake, Daniela Barcellona, William Matteuzzi, Jane Eaglen,Christian du Plessis, Deborah Cook. London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra - conductors David Parry, James Judd, Giuliano Carella / OPERA RARA ORR233 "CD"
*Ligeti: Le Grand Macabre / Ligeti / Pao /Salonen, Philharmonia Orch
*Mahler: Symphony no 4 / Tilson Thomas, Claycomb, San Francisco SO SACD Hybrid
*Giacomo Meyerbeer: L’esule di Granata (Highlights) / Manuela Custer, Laura Claycomb, Mirco Palazzi, Paul Austin Kelly, Brindley Sherratt, Ashley Catling. Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Giuliano Carella - conductor / OPERA RARA ORR234 "CD"
*Vaughan Williams: Sir John in Love / Hickox / Norman / Varcoe
* [http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?r=1&ean=4010276014324 Benvenuto Cellini] Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini / Norrington / SWR Stuttgart Radio Orchestra / Ford, Maltman, Ekkehard Vogler, Franz Hawlata, Ralf Lukas, Reinhard Mayr, Johannes Chum, Middle German Radio Chorus-Liepzig*Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini / Colin Davis / London Symphony Orchestra / London Symphony Chorus / Gregory Kunde, Laura Claycomb, Darren Jeffery, Peter Coleman-Wright, Andrew Kennedy, Isabelle Cals, Jacques Imbrailo, John Relyea, Andrew Foster-Williams, Alasdair Elliot
*Entre Nous: Celebrating Offenbach / Jennifer Larmore, Alastair Miles, Yvonne Kenny, Mark Stone, Diana Montague, Laura Claycomb, Elizabeth Vidal, Colin Lee, Loic Felix, Mark Wilde, Cassandre Berthon, Mark le Brocq, Alexandra Sherman, Andre Cognet. London Philharmonic Orchestra, Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, David Parry - conductor / OPERA RARA ORR243 "CD"
*Giovanni Pacini: Alessandro nell’Indie / Bruce Ford, Jennifer Larmore, Laura Claycomb, Mark Wilde, Dean Robinson. London Philharmonic Orchestra, Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, David Parry - conductor/ OPERA RARA ORC35 "CD"
*Ambroise Thomas: La Cour de Célimène / Laura Claycomb, Joan Rodgers, Alastair Miles, Sébastien Droy, Nicole Tibbels. Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra, Andrew Litton - conductor/ OPERA RARA ORC37 "CD"
References
External links
* [http://www.lauraclaycomb.com/ Laura Claycomb Official Website]
* San Francisco Classical Voice Article [http://www.sfcv.org/arts_revs/sfsym_5_24_05.php]
* San Francisco Chronicle Article [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2003/06/08/PK162114.DTL&type=music]
* [http://home.earthlink.net/~janos451/claycomb.htm Janos Gerebens article]
* [http://www.altamusica.com/concerts/document.php?action=MoreDocument&DossierRef=2537&DocRef=2854#Ancre French review]
* [http://www.kommersant.ru/application.html?DocID=659481 Kommersant article]
* [http://www.vremya.ru/2006/53/10/148525.html Vremya Russian Interview]
* [http://www.kultura-portal.ru/tree_new/cultpaper/article.jsp?number=633&rubric_id=209 Kultura Russian interview]
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