Carolyn Watkinson (born 19 March 1949) is an English

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

, specialising in

baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Classical music, Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance music, Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Class ...

. Her voice is alternately characterized as

and

contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...

. Watkinson was born in Preston and studied at the

Royal Manchester College of Music The Royal Manchester College of Music (RMCM) was a tertiary level conservatoire in Manchester, north-west England. It was founded in 1893 by the German-born conductor Sir Charles Hallé in 1893. In 1972, the Royal Manchester College of Mu ...

and in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. In 1978 she sang

Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; ; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera a ...

's Phèdre (''

Hippolyte et Aricie ('' Hippolytus and Aricia'') was the first opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was premiered to great controversy by the Académie Royale de Musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris on October 1, 1733. The French libretto, by Abbé ...

'') at the English Bach Festival at

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

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 1979 she appeared as

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considere ...

's Nero (''

L'incoronazione di Poppea ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' (Stattkus-Verzeichnis, SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian List of operas by Claudio Monteverdi, opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Buse ...

'') with

De Nederlandse Opera The Dutch National Opera (DNO; formerly De Nederlandse Opera, now De Nationale Opera in Dutch) is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Dutch National Opera & Ballet housed in the Stopera building, a m ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. Also in 1979 she was featured as the contralto soloist in

Christopher Hogwood Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood (10 September 194124 September 2014) was an English Conducting, conductor, harpsichordist, and Musicology, musicologist. Founder of the early music ensemble the Academy of Ancient Music, he was an authority on h ...

's landmark recording of Handel's ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

'', with the

Academy of Ancient Music The Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) is a British period-instrument orchestra based in Cambridge, England. Founded by harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood in 1973, it was named after an 18th-century organisation of the same name (originally the A ...

. In 1981 Watkinson made her

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 ...

debut in the title role of ''

Ariodante ''Ariodante'' ( HWV 33) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The anonymous Italian libretto was based on a work by Antonio Salvi, which in turn was adapted from Canti 4, 5 and 6 of Ludovico Ariosto's ''Orlando Furioso''. E ...

'' and sang

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...

's Rosina (''

Il barbiere di Siviglia ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy '' ...

'') in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. She appeared as

Gluck Christoph Willibald ( Ritter von) Gluck (; ; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire at ...

's ''Orfeo'' (''

Orfeo ed Euridice (; French: '; English: ''Orpheus and Eurydice'') is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the '' azione teatrale'', meaning an ...

'') with the

Glyndebourne Glyndebourne () is an English country house, the site of an opera house that, since 1934, has been the venue for the annual Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The house, located near Lewes in East Sussex, England, is thought to be about six hundre ...

Touring Opera in 1982, and made her formal debut at

as Cherubino (

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 ...

's ''

Le Nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna ...

'') in 1984. In 1987 Watkinson toured

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. She was a soloist in

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

's '' St. John Passion'' at Gloucester Cathedral in a performance shown on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

TV on

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

in 1989. In 1990, she appeared as Dido in

Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's ...

's ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque music, Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncer ...

'' at the Salerno Cathedral and sang Nero at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music.

Recordings

*''Baroque Opera Recital: Carolyn Watkinson'' with Jan de Vriend and Amsterdam Bach Soloists. Arias by Purcell, Handel and Gluck. EtCetera Records ETC 1064 *''Recital at Wigmore Hall, Bizet, Brahms, Berg, Dvorak and Ives: Carolyn Watkinson'' with Tan Crone. Arias by Bizet, Brahms, Berg, Dvorak and Ives. EtCetera Records ETC 1007 *''Bach: Weihnachtsoratorium BWV 248'' with Barbara Schlick, Kurt Equiluz, Michel Brodard. Ensemble De Lausanne, dir M Corboz. Warner Classics, Catalog 686217 *''Agostino Steffani: Duetti da camera'' with John Elwes, Paul Eswood and Daniella Mazzucato. Alan Cutis and Wouter Wouter Möller. Archiv, Catalog: 437083-2 *''Handel: Aci, Galatea e Polifemo'' with Emma Kirkby and David Thomas. London Baroque, dir Charles Medlam. Harmonia Mundi France, Catalog: HMC901253.54 *''Handel: Rinaldo'' Performers: Jeanette Scovotti, Ileana Cotrubas, Carolyn Watkinson, Paul Esswood and others. La Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy, dir. Jean-Claude Malgoire. Sony, Catalog: 7576412 *''Handel: Serse'' Performers: Paul Esswood, Carolyn Watkinson, Barbara Hendricks and others. La Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy, dir. Jean-Claude Malgoire. Sony, Catalog: 752724 *''Collectors Edition - Handel: Oratorios'' Performers: Emma Kirkby, Carolyn Watkinson, Judith Nelson, Paul Elliott, David Thomas and others. Christopher Hogwood, Academy of Ancient Music, Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Oxford New College Choir. Decca, Catalog: 000529602 *''Handel: Messiah'' Performers: Emma Kirkby, Paul Elliott, Carolyn Watkinson, David Thomas and others. Christopher Hogwood, Academy of Ancient Music, Christ Church Cathedral Choir. L'Oiseau Lyre, Catalog: 430488 *''Handel: Alexander's Feast'' Performers: Ashley Stafford, Carolyn Watkinson, Donna Brown, Nigel Robson and others. John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir. Philips, Catalog: 000852702 *''Handel: Solomon'' Performers: Carolyn Watkinson, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Nancy Argenta, Barbara Hendricks and others. John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir. Philips, Catalog: 000667002 *''Bach: Cantatas Bwv 206, 215'' Performers: Carolyn Watkinson,

Edith Mathis Edith Mathis (; 11 February 19389 February 2025) was a Swiss soprano known for her roles in List of operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart's operas. Early in her career, Cherubino in ''Le nozze di Figaro'' was her signature role that she perf ...

, Peter Schreier, Siegfried Lorenz and others. Berlin Soloists, Berlin Chamber Orchestra, dir Peter Schreier. Berlin Classics, Catalog: 2422 *''Bach: Zerreisset Bwv 205, Vereinigte Zwieracht Bwv 207'' Performers: Carolyn Watkinson, Edith Mathis, Peter Schreier, Siegfried Lorenz and others. Berlin Soloists, Berlin Chamber Orchestra, dir Peter Schreier. Berlin Classics, Catalog: 2392 *''Bach: Mass in B Minor Highlights'' Performers: Carolyn Watkinson, Edith Mathis, Peter Schreier, Siegfried Lorenz and others. Berlin Soloists, Berlin Chamber Orchestra, dir Peter Schreier. Berlin Classics, Catalog: 4910 *''Bach: Alto Arias'' Performers: Helen Watts, Carolyn Watkinson, Hildegard Laurich, Julia Hamari and others. Helmuth Rilling, Stuttgart Bach Collegium. Hänssler Classic, Catalog: 98243 *''Bach: Magnificat'' Performers: Paul Elliott, Carolyn Watkinson, Emma Kirkby, David Thomas and others. Simon Preston, Christopher Hogwood, Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Academy of Ancient Music. L'oiseau Lyre, Catalog: 443199 *''Vivaldi: Gloria, Motets, Cantatas'' Performers: Emma Kirkby, Carolyn Watkinson, Catherine Bott and others. Philip Pickett, Christopher Hogwood, Simon Preston, New London Consort, Academy of Ancient Music, Christ Church Cathedral Choir. L'oiseau Lyre, Catalog: 455727 *''Purcell: Dido And Aeneas'' Performers: George Mosley, Carolyn Watkinson. John Eliot Gardiner, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists. Philips, Catalog: 432114 *''Monteverdi: Lamento D'arianna, Combattimento'' Performers: Nigel Rogers, Patrizia Kwella, David Thomas, Carolyn Watkinson. Reinhard Goebel, Musica Antiqua Cologne *''Haydn: Masses'' Performers: Emma Kirkby, Carolyn Watkinson, Judith Nelson, Shirley Minty, Rogers Covey-Crump and others. Simon Preston, Academy of Ancient Music, Christ Church Cathedral Choir. L'oiseau Lyre, Catalog: 455712 *''Haydn: Arianna, English Canzonettas'' with Glen Wilson. Virgin Classics Veritas, Catalog: 91215 *''Mozart: Requiem'' Performers: Emma Kirkby, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, David Thomas, Carolyn Watkinson. Christopher Hogwood, Academy of Ancient Music, Westminster Cathedral Boys Choir, Academy of Ancient Music Chorus. L'oiseau Lyre, Catalog: 411712 *''Mozart: Requiem, Exultate Jubilate'' Performers: Judith Blegen, Carolyn Watkinson, Siegfried Jerusalem, Siegmund Nimsgern and others. Pinchas Zukerman, Helmuth Rilling, Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart, Stuttgart Bach Collegium. Sony Classical Essential Classics, Catalog: 89849 *''Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky, Scythian Suite'' with Kurt Masur, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Latvian State Choir. Apex, Catalog: 7487472 *''Wagner: La Chevauchee Des Walkyries'' Performers: Margaretha Hintermeier, Anita Soldh, Silvia Herman, Carolyn Watkinson and others. Conductor: Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, Klaus Tennstedt, Otto Klemperer. Emi Classics, Catalog: 558096 *''Schmidt: Buch Mit Sieben Siegeln'' Performers: Carolyn Watkinson, Peter Schreier, Kurt Rydl,

Thomas Moser Thomas Moser (born 27 May 1945) is an American-Austrian operatic tenor. Life Born in Richmond (Virginia), Richmond, Virginia, Moser first studied singing at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and with Martial Singher at the Music Academy ...

and others. Lothar Zagrosek, Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vienna State Opera Concert Choir. Orfeo, Catalog: 143862

References

Bach Cantatas biography, accessed 27 January 2010
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkinson, Carolyn 1949 births Living people 20th-century English women singers 20th-century English singers Musicians from Preston, Lancashire English opera singers English operatic mezzo-sopranos Alumni of the Royal Manchester College of Music 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers