- Yvonne Kenny
Yvonne Kenny AM (25 November 1950) is an Australian
soprano , particularly associated withHandel andMozart roles.Born in
Sydney ,New South Wales , she first studied at theUniversity of Sydney in science, hoping to become abiochemist ,but decided to pursue a career in music instead. She studied first with Myra Lambert at the Sydney Conservatorium, and later won a schorlarship to study at the opera school atLa Scala inMilan .After a year of study there she came to England, where after a few recitals and TV appearances, her breakthrough came on October 11, 1975, when she replaced, with only four days' notice, the soprano scheduled to sing in an
Opera Rara concert performance ofDonizetti 's "Rosmonda d'Inghilterra " at theQueen Elizabeth Hall . It was a triumph and the virtually unknown Kenny became an overnight star.She made her debut at the
Royal Opera House the following year, in the premiere ofHenze 's "We Come to the River ", later singing inHandel operas such as: "Semele ", "Alcina ", "Giulio Cesare ", andMozart operas such as: "Idomeneo ", "Mitridate, re di Ponto ", "La clemenza di Tito ", "The Abduction of the Seraglio ", "The Magic Flute ". She also sang Sophie in both "Werther " and "Der Rosenkavalier ".She was also a regular guest at the
Glyndebourne Festival and theEnglish National Opera . On the international scene, she appeared inZurich, Munich, Vienna, Aix-en-Provence, Washington, etc.Kenny often returned home, appearing at the
Sydney Opera House in roles including: Mélisande,Manon , Leila, Micaela, Fiordiligi, Pamina, and Cleopatra. Most recently, she appeared as Blanche DuBois in the Australian premiere of Previn's "A Streetcar Named Desire" forOpera Australia .After her initial success with
Opera Rara , she appeared in many recordings with them, notably: Donizetti's "Ugo, conte di Parigi " and "Emilia di Liverpool ",Meyerbeer 's "Il crociato in Egitto ", andJohann Simon Mayr 's "Medea in Corinto".Kenny reveals through her many recordings, a full-toned, silvery voice, used with a fine sense of style, musicanship, and excellent coloratura technique.
She provided the voice for the title role in the TV mini-series "Melba", about the great Australian soprano Dame
Nellie Melba .She was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music by the
University of Sydney in June 1999.ources
* "Grove Music Online", Elizabeth Forbes, March 2008.
External links
* [http://sunday.ninemsn.com.au/sunday/art_profiles/article_627.asp?s=1 Yvonne Kenny profile]
* [http://www.mva.org.au/concerts/Performer.aspx?id=636 Yvonne Kenny] - Musica Viva website
* [http://www.yvonnekenny.com/ Yvonne Kenny official website]
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