Nigel Rogers
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Nigel David Rogers (21 March 1935 – 19 January 2022) was an English multilingual tenor, music conductor, and vocal coach, who sang in over seventy classical music album recordings in German, French, Italian, Latin and English, mostly of
early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...
,
baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
and
sacred music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as a ritual. Reli ...
, including works by
Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string instrument, string player. A composer of both Secular music, secular and Church music, sacred music, and a pioneer ...
,
Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...
,
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 ...
, and
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 ...
. Singing critics like Melanie Eskenazi describe him as a vocal virtuoso of the local phrasing and decoration (ornamenti) of those particular musical periods exactly as they were practised back then. He was considered a world authority in the field of European early music, the scores of which he helped promote and rescue as a music genre, since the outset of his early career.


Early life

A native of
Wellington, Shropshire Wellington is a market town and a civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. It is situated northwest of Telford and east of Shrewsbury, near the western terminus of the M54 motorway. The summit of The Wrekin lie ...
, Rogers was brought up in a musical family where his father sang in a choir and his mother taught the piano, so from a very early age he was studying music. Educated at Wellington Grammar School, Nigel Rogers studied at
King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...
(where he was a
choral scholar {{Short description, Student who receives a scholarship for singing in a choir A choral scholar is a student at either a university or a private school who receives a scholarship in exchange for singing in the school or university's choir. This is ...
) from 1953 to 1956, in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
in 1957, in
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
from 1958 to 1959, and with
Gerhard Hüsch Gerhard Heinrich Wilhelm Fritz Hüsch (2 February 190123 November 1984) was one of the most important German singers of modern times. A lyric baritone, he specialized in ''Lieder'' but also sang, to a lesser extent, German and Italian opera. ...
at the
Munich Hochschule für Musik The University of Music and Theatre Munich (), also known as the Munich Conservatory, is a performing arts music school, conservatory in Munich, Germany. The main building it currently occupies is the former ''Führerbau'' of the NSDAP, locate ...
(1959–1961). Whilst in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, along with
Thomas Binkley Thomas Binkley (Cleveland, Ohio, December 26, 1931 – Bloomington, Indiana, April 28, 1995) was an American lutenist and early music scholar. Thomas Eden Binkley studied at the University of Illinois (BM. 1956, PhD. 1959) and the University of Mu ...
, Sterling Jones and Andrea von Ramm, he was a founder member of the pioneering medieval ensemble,
Studio der Frühen Musik Studio der frühen Musik was an early music group active from 1960–1980 and based in Munich. The leader of the group was Thomas Binkley, and the activity of the group coincided with the years he was teaching at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. C ...
( Early Music Quartet) with which he worked for around three years, leaving the group in December 1963. He made 11 recordings with them between 1962 and 1970, including the award winning album o
John Dowland
on the
Archiv Archiv Produktion is a classical music record label of German origin. It originated in 1948 as a classical label for the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (DGG), and in 1958 Archiv was established as a subsidiary of DGG, specialising in recording ...
label released in 1966.


Opera career

Rogers made his operatic debut in
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 ...
, and sang in many renowned international opera houses. He gave numerous singing master classes and workshops at music conservatories worldwide, for early music and opera singers of all nationalities. Operas with which he was notably associated include
L'Orfeo ''L'Orfeo'' (Stattkus-Verzeichnis, SV 318) (), or ''La favola d'Orfeo'' , is a late Renaissance music, Renaissance/early Baroque music, Baroque ''favola in musica'', or List of operas by Claudio Monteverdi, opera, by Claudio Monteverdi, with a li ...
by Monteverdi, in which he took the title role and made many recordings. From 1978 until his retirement he was a professor of classical singing and operatic voice coach at the
Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...
in London. In 1979 he founded and thereupon conducted the vocal ensemble
Chiaroscuro In art, chiaroscuro ( , ; ) is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to ach ...
for the performance of Italian baroque compositions. In July 1993 he starred at a
Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...
oratorio at the Palacio de Bellas Artes Opera House in
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
. In May 1994, two great-great grandchildren of
President of Mexico The president of Mexico (), officially the president of the United Mexican States (), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Constitution of Mexico, the president heads the executive branch of the federal government and ...
Valentín Canalizo José Valentín Raimundo Canalizo Bocadillo (14 January 1794 – 20 February 1850), was a Mexican general and statesman who served twice as interim president during the Centralist Republic of Mexico and was later made Minister of War during the ...
, Antonio Haas Canalizo, patron of the Mazatlán Opera House "Teatro Ángela Peralta", classical and jazz pianist, and founder of the
Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican list of states of Mexico, state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding , known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast across from th ...
Conservatory of Music and the Mazatlán Literature Award in
Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...
state, Mexico, and his niece, soprano, jazz singer, castanets soloist, singer-songwriter and member of royalty, Lady Marina De Santiago-de Borbón Haas Canalizo (Lady Marina of Bourbon), Queen of Spain Isabella II of Bourbon's great-great granddaughter, invited Nigel Rogers to the city of
Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican list of states of Mexico, state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding , known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast across from th ...
. There he was acquainted with different styles of Mexican music,
Mariachi Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music dating back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, two ...
, and Mexican Carnival band music. Rogers became a close long-standing friend of Lady Marina of Bourbon, and the Haas Canalizo family, founders and former inhabitants of today's "Haas House Museum" (Casa Museo Haas) in Mazatlán, the family's mansion where Rogers stayed during his visit to Mazatlán before it was turned into a museum by the government of
Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...
.


Personal life and death

Rogers lived in
Deal, Kent Deal is a coastal town in Kent, England, which lies where the North Sea and the English Channel meet, north-east of Dover, England, Dover and south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town whose history is closely linked t ...
, with his harpsichordist Lithuanian wife Lina Zilinskyte and his daughter Georgina. On 3 May 2005, he gave his 70th birthday recital concert at
Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...
in London, singing works by early music composers
Carissimi (Gian) Giacomo Carissimi (; baptized 18 April 160512 January 1674) was an Italian composer and music teacher. He is one of the most celebrated masters of the early Baroque or, more accurately, the Roman School of music. Carissimi established the ...
, Caccini,
Sigismondo d'India Sigismondo d'India (c. 1582 – before 19 April 1629) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He was one of the most accomplished contemporaries of Monteverdi, and wrote music in many of the same forms as the more ...
,
Frescobaldi The Frescobaldi are a prominent Florentine noble family whose influence extends deeply into the political, economic, and social fabric of Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the ...
,
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 se ...
,
Kapsberger Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger (also: ''Johann(es) Hieronymus Kapsberger'' or ''Giovanni Geronimo Kapsperger''; c. 1580 – Rome 17 January 1651) was an Austrian-Italy, Italian virtuoso performer and composer of the early Baroque period. A prolific ...
, Rossi, Stradella, and Froberger. He died on 19 January 2022, at the age of 86.


References

*''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Classical Musicians'' (1997) *''Excélsior Newspaper, printed, Mexico, cultural section'' (July 1993) *''BBC Radio 3, London, Nigel Rogers interviews and broadcasts of his recordings'' *''El Noroeste Newspaper, printed, Mexico, Mazatlan city and Sinaloa State'' (7 May 1994) *''El Noroeste Newspaper, printed, Mexico, Mazatlan city and Sinaloa State'' (10 May 1994)
''Wigmore Hall, Rogers 70th birthday''


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Nigel 1935 births 2022 deaths Academics of the Royal College of Music Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Choral Scholars of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge English male singers People from Wellington, Shropshire