- Janice Baird
Janice Baird (born
January 10 ,1963 ) is an American dramatic soprano, best known for her interpretation of Wagner and Strauss. [ [http://www.seattleopera.org/bios/index.aspx?name=janice_baird Seattle Opera - Janice Baird Bio] ] Baird was born in New York, NY.Education and Life
Janice Baird was born and raised in a musical family in
New York City , her mother a singer and her father a voice teacher. Baird has studied flute, voice, and acting, and speaks German, English, Italian, and Spanish. Married to a German actor, she currently lives in Berlin, Germany and in Andalucia, Spain. [ [http://www.mennicken-pr.com/baird/opera_2007_04.htm Opéra Magazine, April 2007 (French)] ]Work
Baird began her career as a mezzo soprano and sang in German opera houses. Her roles included
Tosca , Giulietta inTales of Hoffman , Amelia inUn Ballo in Maschera , Leonore inLa Forza del Destino , Elisabetta inDon Carlos , Santuzza inCavalleriana rusticana , andSalome .She studied with
Astrid Varnay to develop the seminal dramatic soprano roles of Wagner and Strauss (Ortrud, Brünnhilde, Isolde, Elektra, and Salome) and took master classes withBirgit Nilsson . [ [http://www.concertartist.info/bio/BAI001e.html World Concert Artist Directory] ]She has sung most of the major Wagner dramatic soprano roles: Isolde in
Tristan und Isolde in Buenos Aires, Rome, Hamburg, and Toulouse; Ortrud in Lohengrin at Semperoper Dresden and Bilbao; and Senta inDer fliegende Holländer at Santiago de Chile. She has sung Brünnhilde inDer Ring des Nibelungen in numerous houses in Europe, including theDeutsche Oper Berlin and theOpéra de Marseille , and will make her American debut in the role at Seattle in 2009. [ [http://www.seattleopera.org/bios/index.aspx?name=janice_baird Seattle Opera, ibid.] ] She has sung Kundry inParsifal and Venus inTannhäuser . [ [http://www.lefigaro.fr/culture/20070306.FIG000000143_janice_baird_de_retour_au_capitole.html Le Figaro, March 6, 2007 (French)] ]She frequently sings the Strauss dramatic soprano roles of Salome, Elektra, and the Dyer's Wife in
Die Frau ohne Schatten . Her Italian repertoire includes Abigaille inNabucco , Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, and Minnie inLa Fanciulla del West .She has sung Leonore in
Fidelio forDeutsche Oper Berlin and in Avignon and Leipzig.Baird first sang at the
Metropolitan Opera in New York City on March 14, 2008 when she came on in the middle of Act II ofTristan und Isolde to replace an ailing Isolde,Deborah Voigt . [ [http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2008/03/31/080331crmu_music_ross Alex Ross, "The New Yorker", March 31, 2008] ] She made her full debut at the Met singing Isolde to Ben Heppner's Tristan on March 25, 2008. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/arts/music/27hepp.html?em&ex=1206676800&en=972fe90ebf5a5098&ei=5087%0A Anthony Tommasini, "The New York Times", March 27, 2007] ]References
External links
* [http://www.janicebaird.com Official website]
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