Barbara Bonney (born April 14, 1956) is an American

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

. She is associated with

lyric soprano A lyric soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that has a warm quality with a bright, full timbre that can be heard over an orchestra. The lyric soprano voice generally has a higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingenues and ot ...

roles in operas by

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

as well as lieder performances.

Early life

Bonney was born in

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a commercial and cultural hub of North Jersey and a diverse ...

. As a child she practised piano and cello. When Bonney was 13 her family moved to

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, where she became part of the Portland Symphony Youth Orchestra as a cellist. She spent two years at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

(UNH) studying German and music including voice with Patricia Stedry, and spent her junior year at the

University of Salzburg The University of Salzburg (, ), also known as the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (''Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg'', PLUS), is an Austrian public university in Salzburg, Salzburg municipality, Salzburg (federal state), Salzburg State, ...

, where she switched from cello to voice. While there, she studied at Mozarteum University Salzburg. Years later she received an honorary doctorate from UNH.

Career

In 1979, Bonney joined the

Staatstheater Darmstadt The Staatstheater Darmstadt (Darmstadt State Theatre) is a theatre company and building in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany, presenting opera, ballet, plays and concerts. It is funded by the German states, state of Hesse and the city of Darmstadt. Its hi ...

, where she made her debut as Anna in ''

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

''. In the subsequent five years she made appearances in Germany and throughout Europe, notably at the Royal Opera House at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

in London and

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

in Milan. She made her

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

debut in 1987 in

's ''

Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's ...

'' in the role of Naiad and her

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...

debut the same year as Sophie in ''

Der Rosenkavalier (''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from Louvet de Couvrai's novel ''Les amours du cheva ...

''. Since then, she has appeared at the major opera houses of the world and at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

, where she was Servilia in Mozart's ''

La clemenza di Tito (''The Clemency of Titus''), K. 621, is an ''opera seria'' in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Caterino Mazzolà, after Pietro Metastasio. Mozart completed the work in the midst of composing ''Die Zauberfl ...

''. Along with her repertoire in opera as a lyric soprano, she is a distinguished recitalist, and has appeared on more than 90 recordings, including 15 solo recitals. For two years, starting in 1999, Bonney did not perform in opera, to focus on lieder recitals. However, she noted that solo recitals lacked the camaraderie of performing in an opera production with many other people. In 2002, she contributed "The Willow Song" to the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

, ''

When Love Speaks ''When Love Speaks'' is a compilation album that features interpretations of William Shakespeare's sonnets – some spoken, some set to music – and excerpts from his plays by famous actors and musicians, released under EMI Classics in April ...

'' (

EMI Classics EMI Classics was a record label founded by Thorn EMI in 1990 to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogues for internationally distributed classical music releases. After Thorn EMI demerged in 1996, its recorded mus ...

), which features famous actors and musicians interpreting Shakespeare's

sonnet A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...

s and play excerpts. Other albums include her 2006 work on ''Welcome to the Voice'', composed by

Steve Nieve Steve Nieve ( "naïve"; born Stephen John Nason, 21 February 1958) is an English musician and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Nieve has been a member of Elvis Costello's backing bands the Attractions and the Imposters, as w ...

. On August 1, 2006,

IMG Artists IMG Artists is a performing arts management company. The company manages the careers of classical and contemporary artists, dance companies, film with orchestra presentations and shows and attractions as well as produce and manage tours and events ...

announced that all forthcoming appearances by Bonney were cancelled and that they would no longer be representing her. At the time, the IMG Artists website only stated the reason as "due to personal circumstances", but Bonney stated in a July 2007 article that those circumstances included her "difficult" divorce from Maurice Whitaker. She had previously been married to

Håkan Hagegård Nils Olov Håkan Hagegård (born 25 November 1945)

for seven years; that marriage had also ended in divorce. Bonney is a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Music The Royal Swedish Academy of Music (), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in ...

and is visiting professor at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

, London. She is also on the faculty of Mozarteum University Salzburg, as University Professor of Singing. She is also on the faculty of the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. Bonney opened a boutique clothing store based in Salzburg, LUNA Dress Design, on her 55th birthday in 2011. The brand is currently called "Bonney & Kleid".

References

External links

Barbara Bonney
on Michael Storrs Music agency site * * of Bonney & Kleid

archived on 2015-01-20
LUNA DressDesign
archived on 2011-11-12

January 10, 1990 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonney, Barbara 1956 births Living people Musicians from Montclair, New Jersey Singers from New Jersey Academics of the Royal Academy of Music American operatic sopranos Lieder singers Mozarteum University Salzburg alumni Honorary members of the Royal Academy of Music University of Salzburg alumni Academic staff of Mozarteum University Salzburg Classical musicians from New Jersey American expatriates in Austria 20th-century American women opera singers 21st-century American women opera singers American women academics Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music