Jill Feldman (born 21 April 1952 in Los Angeles)AllMusic
/ref> is an American soprano who has acquired an international reputation for her interpretation of medieval, baroque and classical repertoires. Her highly expressive singing art combines great vocal agility with a profound dramatic sense of drama, in constant respect for the text.

Training

Feldman obtained her musical diploma at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Fran ...

at Santa Barbara. She perfected her skills with Lillian Loran in San Francisco and Nicole Fallien in Paris, and in 1980 received an "Alfred Hertz Scholarship" to perfect her interpretation of

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classic ...

under the direction of in Basel.

Career

As soon as she finished her studies, Jill Feldman took part successively in three prestigious productions: she appeared as La Musica in a production of Monteverdi's ''

l'Orfeo ''L'Orfeo'' ( SV 318) (), sometimes called ''La favola d'Orfeo'' , is a late Renaissance/early Baroque ''favola in musica'', or opera, by Claudio Monteverdi, with a libretto by Alessandro Striggio. It is based on the Greek legend of Orpheus, ...

'', directed by

Philip Brett Philip Brett (October 17, 1937 – October 16, 2002) was a British-born American musicologist, musician and conductor. He was particularly known for his scholarly studies on Benjamin Britten and William Byrd and for his contributions to the deve ...

at Berkeley in California, as Clerio in Cavalli's ''

Erismena ''Erismena'' is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Francesco Cavalli. First performed in Venice in 1655, it was designated as a ''dramma per musica''. Libretto The Italian libretto was by Aurelio Aureli, the only work by this writer for ...

'' at

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome. History Sp ...

(Italy), and played a role in ''

Ordo Virtutum ''Ordo Virtutum'' ( Latin for ''Order of the Virtues'') is an allegorical morality play, or sacred music drama, by Hildegard of Bingen, composed c. 1151, during the construction and relocation of her Abbey at Rupertsberg. It is the earliest mo ...

'' by Hildegard von Bingen during a tour of the ensemble "Sequentia". In 1981, at the request of her countryman William Christie, she joined in Paris the baroque ensemble Les Arts Florissants which then was the spearhead of the "baroqueux" movement. With this famous ensemble, she played the title role of Charpentier's ''

Médée ''Médée'' is a dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Pierre Corneille in 1635. Summary The heroine of the play is the sorceress Médée. After Médée gives Jason twin boys, Jason leaves her for Creusa. Médée e ...

''. Its recording for the label

Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi is an independent record label which specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group. Its Latin name ''h ...

won the

Gramophone Classical Music Awards The Gramophone Classical Music Awards, launched in 1977, are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry. They are often viewed as equivalent to or surpassing the American Grammy award, and refer ...

in 1985, also the Prize of the

Académie Charles Cros The Académie Charles Cros (Charles Cros Academy) is an organization located in Chézy-sur-Marne, France, that acts as an intermediary between government cultural policy makers and professionals in music and the recording industry. The academy is ...

and the Grand Prix du Disque de Montreux. Afterwards, Feldman recorded two discs with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra under the direction of

Nicholas McGegan James Nicholas McGegan OBE (born 14 January 1950 in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, England) is a British harpsichordist, flutist, conductor and early music expert. Biography McGegan received his early education at Nottingham High School. He sub ...

in works by Handel, the cantata ''

Clori, Tirsi e Fileno ''Clori, Tirsi, e Fileno, Cantata a tre'' (HWV 96), subtitled ''Cor fedele in vano speri'' ("A faithful heart hopes in vain"), is a 1707 comic cantata by George Frideric Handel. The subject is a pretty shepherdess who loves two young men, but l ...

'', and the oratorio '' Susanna'' (Harmonia Mundi USA). Later, she joined the Mala Punica medieval ensemble, with which she recorded five projects for Arcana and

Erato In Greek mythology, Erato (; grc, Ἐρατώ) is one of the Greek Muses, which were inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. The name would mean "desired" or "lovely", if derived from the same root as Eros, as Apollonius ...

. Feldman was then invited by several conductors of the baroque repertoire. She performed under the direction of

Frans Brüggen Franciscus ("Frans") Jozef Brüggen (30 October 1934 – 13 August 2014) was a Dutch conductor, recorder player and baroque flautist. Biography Born in Amsterdam, Brüggen was the last of the nine children of August Brüggen, a textile factory o ...

(Haydn's ''

Die Schöpfung ''The Creation'' (german: Die Schöpfung) is an oratorio written between 1797 and 1798 by Joseph Haydn (Hob. XXI:2), and considered by many to be one of his masterpieces. The oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the world as described ...

''),

Andrew Parrott Andrew Parrott (born 10 March 1947) is a British conductor, perhaps best known for his pioneering " historically informed performances" of pre-classical music. He conducts a wide range of repertoire, including contemporary music. He conducted t ...

(''Les Vêpres des Carmélites'' by Handel at EMI),

Jordi Savall Jordi Savall i Bernadet (; born 1 August 1941) is a Spanish conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol family of ...

(Motets by Delalande),

René Jacobs René Jacobs (born 30 October 1946) is a Belgian musician. He came to fame as a countertenor, but later in his career he became known as a conductor of baroque and classical opera. Biography Countertenor Born in Ghent, Jacobs began his music ...

(Cesti's '' Orontea'' and Cavalli's ''

Xerse ''Il Xerse'' ( in its 1660 French version ''Xerxès'') is an opera by Francesco Cavalli (specifically, a ''dramma per musica'') about Xerxes I. The libretto was written by Nicolò Minato, and was later set by both Giovanni Bononcini (1694, '' X ...

'' at

). She played the role of Armida in

Alessandro Stradella Antonio Alessandro Boncompagno Stradella (Bologna, 3 July 1643 – Genoa, 25 February 1682) was an Italian composer of the middle Baroque period. He enjoyed a dazzling career as a freelance composer, writing on commission, and collaborating wi ...

's ''Lo Schiavo Liberato'' at the Théâtre de Modène and the Festival of Liège, as well as the title role in ''La Vita Humana'' by Marazzoli at the Tramway of Glasgow. In the field of contemporary music, she performed at the Villa Medici in Rome, the Church of Santa Maria della Grazia in Milan, and the Ysbreker Festival in Amsterdam.

Teaching

Feldman has been teaching at the

Royal Conservatory of The Hague The Royal Conservatoire ( nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Nether ...

in the Netherlands, at the Music and Theatre College in Zurich, and at the Amici della Musica in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

and the Accademia di musiga antiga of Portugal. She gives

master class A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are being developed. "Masterclass" is als ...

es all over Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea.

Discography

With Les Arts Florissants

* 1981 **' H.483 by

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'', ''Marche en rondeau''. This theme is still u ...

** '' Les surprises de l'Amour'' by Jean-Philippe Rameau * 1982 **'' (In Nativitatem D.N.J.C. Canticum)'' H.414 by Charpentier ** Oratorios ('' Un peccator pentito'', ''O Cecità del misero mortale'') by

Luigi Rossi Luigi Rossi (c. 1597 – 20 February 1653) was an Italian Baroque composer. Born in Torremaggiore, a small town near Foggia, in the ancient kingdom of Naples, at an early age he went to Naples where he studied music with the Franco-Flemish c ...

** ''Les Arts Florissants'' H.487 by Charpentier ** ''Antienne "O" de l'Avent'' by Charpentier * 1983 **''

Il ballo delle ingrate ''Il ballo delle ingrate'' (''The Ballet of the Female Ingrates'') is a semi-dramatic ballet by the Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi set to a libretto by Ottavio Rinuccini. It was first performed in Mantua on Wednesday, 4 June 1608 as part of ...

'' and ' by Claudio Monteverdi ** ''In Nativitatem Domini Canticum'' H.416 by Charpentier ** ' H.482 by Charpentier * 1984 **''

'' by Charpentier ** ''Airs de cour (1689)'' by

Michel Lambert Michel Lambert (1610 – 29 June 1696) was a French singing master, theorbist and composer. Career Lambert was born at Champigny-sur-Veude, France. He received his musical education as an altar boy at the Chapel of Gaston d'Orléans, a brother of ...

* 1986: ''

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

'' by Purcell (Belinda) * 1986: ''Cantates françaises'' (''Arion'', ''La Dispute de l'Amour et de l'Hymen'', ''Les Femmes'', ''Enée et Didon'') by

André Campra André Campra (; baptized 4 December 1660 – 29 June 1744) was a French composer and conductor of the Baroque era. The leading French opera composer in the period between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau, Campra wrote several '' tra ...

* 1987: '' Selva morale e spirituale'' by Monteverdi * 1989: ' by Rossi

Other recordings

* 1983: ''

Motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Marga ...

s'' by François Couperin, with

Isabelle Poulenard Isabelle Poulenard (born 5 July 1961) is French contemporary soprano. Poulenard was born in Paris. Her work has generally been focused on music of the French Baroque, however, she has performed and recorded George Frideric Handel and Georg ...

Gregory Reinhart Gregory Reinhart (born June 18, 1951 in Pavilion, New York) is an American bass opera singer. He is noted for an extremely wide repertory which ranges from early music to the world premieres of several contemporary operas including Lowell Lieber ...

Davitt Moroney Davitt Moroney (born 23 December 1950) is a British-born and educated musicologist, harpsichordist and organist. His parents were of Irish and Italian extraction – his father was an executive with the Anglo-Dutch Unilever conglomerate ...

, Jaap Ter Linden * 1988: ''Œuvres pour le Port-Royal'' by Charpentier, with Greta De Reyghere,

Bernard Foccroulle Bernard Charles M. E. T. H. Foccroulle (born 23 November 1953) is a Belgian organist, composer, conductor and opera director. Biography He was born in Liège and studied at the Conservatoire de Liège. Initially, he became known as a member o ...

and the

Ricercar Consort The Ricercar Consort is a Belgian instrumental ensemble founded in 1980 together with the Ricercar record label of Jérôme Lejeune. The founding members were violinist François Fernandez, organist Bernard Foccroulle, and viola da gamba play ...

*1991: ''Udite Amanti: 17th Century Italian Love Songs'', with

Nigel North Nigel North (born 5 June 1954) is an English lutenist, musicologist, and pedagogue. Student days He studied guitar on a scholarship to the junior department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (1964–70), taking up the lute in 1969, at ...

(

theorbo The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck and a second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box (a hollow box) with a wooden top, typically with a sound hole, and a neck extending out ...

and

archlute The archlute ( es, archilaúd, it, arciliuto, german: Erzlaute) is a European plucked string instrument developed around 1600 as a compromise between the very large theorbo, the size and re-entrant tuning of which made for difficulties in the ...

) * 1992: ''

Orpheus Britannicus ''Orpheus Britannicus'' is a collection of songs by Henry Purcell, published posthumously in London in two volumes, the first in 1698 and the second in 1702. In the preface to the first volume, Henry Playford, the printer of the volume and the son ...

(Ayres & Songs)'' by Purcell, with Nigel North (archlute) and Sarah Cunningham (viol) * 1994: ''Ars Subtilis Ytalica,'' with Mala Punica * 1995: ''D'Amor ragionando, Ballades du neo-Stilnovo en Italie, 1380-1415,'' with Mala Punica * 1996: ''En attendant. L'art de la citation dans l'Italie des Visconti, 1380-1410,'' with Mala Punica * 1997: ''Missa cantilena, Contrafactures liturgiques en Italie, 1380-1410,'' with Mala Punica * 1999: Hélas Avril. ''Les chansons de Matteo da Perugia,'' with Mala Punica * 2001: ''Harmonia Sacra; Complete Organ Music'' by Purcell, with

(organ) * 2002: ''Pianger Di Dolcezza'', vocal works by

Giulio Caccini Giulio Romolo Caccini (also Giulio Romano) (8 October 1551 – buried 10 December 1618) was an Italian composer, teacher, singer, instrumentalist and writer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He was one of the founders of the genre ...

and Sigismondo d'India, with Karl-Ernst Schröder (chitarrone) and

Mara Galassi Mara Galassi (born 1956, in Milan) is an Italian harpist, musicologist and recording artist specializing in the music for Early harps, including Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque, in particular double (cross-strung) and triple harps of the Renais ...

(harp) * 2003: ''Monografia, compositions by Kees Boeke'' * 2003: ''Trecento,'' with Kees Boeke (flustes and vielle) * 2004: ''Musiche sacre e morali'' by Domenico Mazzocchi, with

Orlanda Velez Isidro Orlanda Velez Isidro (born 6 March 1972) is a Portuguese classically trained coloratura soprano. Her preferred genre of music is Renaissance and Baroque repertoire. Since completing her education in Portugal and the Netherlands, she has lived and ...

(soprano) and Kenneth Weiss (chromatic harpsichord and organ) * 2004: '' Ténèbres'' by Charpentier, François Couperin and

Michel-Richard de Lalande Michel Richard Delalande e Lalande'' (; 15 December 1657 – 18 June 1726) was a French Baroque composer and organist who was in the service of King Louis XIV. He was one of the most important composers of grands motets. He also wrote or ...

, with Kenneth Weiss (harpsichord) and Rainer Zipperling (

viol The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...

) * 2005: ''Consort Songs by William Byrd and His Contemporaries'', with the ensemble Concerto delle Viole, * 2006:

Guillaume Dufay Guillaume Du Fay ( , ; also Dufay, Du Fayt; 5 August 1397(?) – 27 November 1474) was a French composer and music theorist of the early Renaissance. Considered the leading European composer of his time, his music was widely performed and rep ...

, Chansons, with the Ensemble Tetraktys. * 2007: ''Songs'' by Charles Ives, with Jeannette Koekkoek Jeannette Koekkoek
on Saratoga Chamber Players (piano) * 2008: Codex Chantilly Vol. 1, with the Ensemble Tetraktys

Operatic roles

* ''Médée'' by Marc-Antoine Charpentier (title role) * La Musica and Proserpina in ''l'Orfeo'' by Monteverdi * Minerva in ''

Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria ''Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria'' ( SV 325, ''The Return of Ulysses to his Homeland'') is an opera consisting of a prologue and five acts (later revised to three), set by Claudio Monteverdi to a libretto by Giacomo Badoaro. The opera was first ...

'' by Monteverdi * The great priestess in '' Anacréon'' by Jean-Philippe Rameau * ''La vita umana'' by

Marco Marazzoli Marco Marazzoli (1602? – 26 January 1662) was an Italian priest and Baroque music composer. Early life Born at Parma, Marazzoli received early training as a priest, and was ordained around 1625. He moved to Rome in 1626, and entered the ...

(title role) * Adelanta in ''

'' by Cavalli * Clerio in '' l'Erismena'' by Cavalli * Armida in ''Lo Schiavo liberato'' by Alessandro Stradella * Belinda in ''

'' by Purcell * Donna Anna in ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spani ...

'' by Mozart * Silvia in ''

Ascanio in Alba ''Ascanio in Alba'', K. 111, is a pastoral opera in two parts (') by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Parini. It was commissioned by the Empress Maria Theresa for the wedding of her son, Archduke Ferdinand Karl, to Ma ...

'' by Mozart * Arthébuze in '' Actéon'' by Charpentier * The aunt in ''Mariken in de tuin der Lusten'' by Calliope Tsoupaki

References

External links

Website of Jill Feldman and Kees Boeke (Olive Music)

Website of the Les Arts Florissants ensemble

Jill Feldman biography
on AllMusic
Jill Feldman
on data.bnf.fr
Jill Feldman
on Classiquenews.com
Jill Feldman's discography
on Discogs
Jill Feldman, Isabelle Poulenard, F. Couperin Motet ''Jucunda vox ecclasiae''
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Feldman, Jill American operatic sopranos American music educators 1952 births Living people Singers from Los Angeles Women music educators American performers of early music Women performers of early music 20th-century American women opera singers 21st-century American women opera singers