Gwyneth Jones (soprano)

Gwyneth Jones in Paris, 2002

Dame Gwyneth Jones DBE (born 7 November 1936, Pontnewynydd, Wales, UK) is a Welsh soprano.

Before becoming a professional singer, Dame Gwyneth worked as a secretary at the Pontypool foundry. She studied music at the Royal College of Music, London, the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena as well as the International Opera Studio in Zürich. After making her professional debut in 1962 as a mezzo-soprano in Gluck's opera Orfeo ed Euridice, she was engaged by the Zurich Opera House. She soon discovered that her easy top range could enable her to sing soprano roles and she switched to the soprano repertoire from around 1964, her first major soprano role being Amelia in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera.

Early career

Jones came to prominence in 1964 when she stood in for Leontyne Price as Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Her career then developed rapidly, and she met with success as Aïda, Leonore (in Fidelio), Desdemona (in Otello), Elisabeth (in Don Carlos), Donna Anna (in Don Giovanni), Cio-cio-san (in Madama Butterfly), Lady Macbeth (in Verdi's Macbeth), Santuzza (in Cavalleria rusticana), Octavian (in Der Rosenkavalier), Médée (in the Italian version) and Tosca.

From these, she gradually proceeded to heavier roles like Minnie (in La fanciulla del West), Chrysothemis (in Elektra), Salome, the Marschallin (in Der Rosenkavalier), Eva (in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Senta (in Der fliegende Holländer), Kundry (in Parsifal), both Venus and Elisabeth (in Tannhäuser), Helena (in Strauss's Die ägyptische Helena), Ariadne (in Ariadne auf Naxos) and Sieglinde (in Die Walküre). She has appeared frequently at almost every major opera house in the world, including the Vienna State Opera, the Zurich Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Bayerische Staatsoper, the San Francisco Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Paris Opéra.

She made debut at Teatro alla Scala as Leonora in Il Trovatore on 4 April 1967. She returned to La Scala as the title role of Salome in January 1974. On 24th November 1972, she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera House of New York as Sieglinde in Die Walküre. Until her latest appearance at the Met on 22nd April 1995(as Kundry in Parsifal), she sang 11 parts in 10 operas for 93 times at the Met; the most frequent part was the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier(20 times). In August 1979 she made her debut at Salzburg Summer Festival as the Marschallin.

Maturity

Gwyneth Jones at Bayreuth Festival in 1976

Jones's large-scaled, powerful dramatic soprano voice, unusually robust vocal stamina, stage presence and acting abilities were widely admired, although she also faced criticism for the wobble that her voice developed in the 1970s and which afflicted some of her performances. Nonetheless, she could still be remarkably secure and tonally rock steady beyond the age of 60. One of her most noted achievements was her interpretation of Brünnhilde in the Bayreuth centennial production of Der Ring des Nibelungen under Pierre Boulez and directed by Patrice Chéreau, a performance preserved on both video and audio discs. The recording won a Grammy in 1983.

Her career at Bayreuth Festival is as below:

• 1966 : Sieglinde in Die Walküre
• 1968 : Eva as Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
• 1969 : Senta in Der fliegende Holländer, Kundry in Parsifal
• 1970 : Sieglinde in Die Walküre, Senta in Der fliegende Holländer, Kundry in Parsifal
• 1971 : Sieglinde in Die Walküre, Senta in Der fliegende Holländer
• 1972 : Elisabeth & Venus in Tannhäuser, Sieglinde in Die Walküre
• 1973 : Elisabeth & Venus in Tannhäuser, Sieglinde in Die Walküre
• 1974 : Elisabeth & Venus in Tannhäuser, Brünnhilde in Die Götterdämmerung
• 1975 : Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle
• 1976 : Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle
• 1977 : Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle, Elisabeth & Venus in Tannhäuser
• 1978 : Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle
• 1979 : Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle
• 1980 : Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle
• 1982 : Senta in Der fliegende Holländer

Later in her career (from 1980 onwards), she undertook the title role of Elektra as well as Isolde (in Tristan und Isolde), the Dyer's Wife (in Die Frau ohne Schatten) and Turandot. While best known for her work in the Wagner-Strauss-Puccini repertoire, her versatility enabled her to take on other roles, such as Poppea (in L'incoronazione di Poppea), Hanna Glawari (in The Merry Widow) and Norma. Starting from the 1990s, other than the aforementioned parts, she went on to sing Widow Begbick (Mahagonny), Ortrud (in Lohengrin), the Woman in Arnold Schoenberg's Erwartung, the Kostelnicka (in Jenůfa), the Kabanicha (in Káťa Kabanová), the Woman in Poulenc's La voix humaine, Ruth (in The Pirates of Penzance), Gertrud (in Hänsel und Gretel), Herodias (in Salome) and Klytemnästra (in Elektra).

Dame Gwyneth made roles that exemplify the Wagnerian/heavy dramatic soprano fach, such as Brünnhilde, Isolde, Elektra, the Dyer's Wife and Turandot, part of her core repertoire, and performed them throughout the 1980s and 1990s. She once famously undertook the roles of both Elisabeth and Venus in Götz Friedrich's production of Tannhäuser at the Bayreuth Festival in the 1970s, and has also been credited with the unique achievement of having performed all three major female roles in Elektra on stage.

She also performed in concerts and lieder recitals, television and radio broadcasts and participated in several film projects, including the epic television series, Wagner, in which she played the first Isolde, Malvina Schnorr von Carolsfeld. She has also devised for herself a couple of one-woman music-theatrical shows - O, Malvina! and Die Frau im Schatten - which are inspired by real historical characters, namely, Malvina Schnorr von Carolsfeld and Pauline de Ahna (wife of Richard Strauss). The soprano part in the Symphony No. 9, titled "Vision of Eternity", of Welsh composer Alun Hoddinott was written for, and premiered by, her.

Later activities

In 2003 Dame Gwyneth made her debut as director and costume designer in a stage production of Der fliegende Holländer in Weimar, Germany. She has also given master-classes for young singers and acted as an adjudicator in international vocal competitions, including the 2009 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. Despite her advancing years and the extraordinary demands of her chosen repertoire, she remains an active performer on the stage, taking on various soprano, mezzo-soprano and even contralto roles with vocal authority and dramatic conviction. In June 2007, she created the role of the Queen of Hearts in the world premiere of Unsuk Chin's new opera, Alice in Wonderland, at the Bavarian State Opera. In February 2008 she sang the part of Herodias in Stephen Langridge's production of Richard Strauss' Salome at Malmö Opera in Sweden. She repeated this role in August 2010, alongside the Salome of Deborah Voigt, in a concert performance at the Verbier Festival in Verbier, Switzerland, and is scheduled to perform the part on stage at the Vienna State Opera in May 2012.

She was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1976 and was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1986. She is also the recipient of numerous musical/cultural awards and honours from many different countries and organisations, including the Verdienstkreuz 1. Klasse of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Golden Medal of Honour in Vienna, the Austrian Cross of Honour First Class, the Shakespeare Prize and the Puccini Award.

She is a Kammersängerin at both the Vienna State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera and she has been made a Commandeur de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France. She has also been conferred honorary doctorates by the University of Wales and the University of Glamorgan. She is currently the President of the Wagner Society of Great Britain.

Family

Jones's daughter Susannah Haberfeld is a mezzo-soprano.

Recordings

• Gwyneth Jones: Operatic Recital (Classic Recitals series). Arias from Fidelio, Médée, Der fliegende Holländer, Il trovatore and La forza del destino, plus Beethoven's concert aria Ah! Perfido, op.65. Vienna Opera Orchestra, conductor Argeo Quadri (Decca/Philips 475 6412 6 DM), originally Decca 1967

• Gwyneth Jones: Verdi Arias: Arias from Aïda, Don Carlo, Macbeth, Otello. Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden/Edward Downes. Decca 1969.

• Gwyneth Jones sings Strauss Lieder: Includes Zueignung, Die Nacht, Allerseelen, Cäcilie, etc. Geoffrey Parsons, pno. Capriccio 1989.

• Gwyneth Jones sings Strauss: Vier letzte Lieder, etc. Tokyo Symphony Orchestra/Roberto Paternostro. KOCH Schwann 1991.

• Gwyneth Jones sings Wagner: Scenes from Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde, Götterdämmerung. Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester/Roberto Paternostro. Chandos 1991.

• Beethoven, Symphony No. 9: Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsoper, Wiener Philharmoniker/Leonard Bernstein. Deutsche Grammophon

• Mahler, Symphony No. 8: London Symphony Orchestra/Leonard Bernstein. Sony Classical

• Sibelius, Tone Poems and Songs: London Symphony Orchestra, Scottish National Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker, BBC Symphony Orchestra/Antal Doráti, Alexander Gibson, Sir Malcolm Sargent. EMI (this included the world premiere recording of Sibelius's Luonnotar)^[1]

• Mendelssohn, Elijah: New Philharmonia Orchestra/Frühbeck de Burgos. EMI

• Operafest - A Gala Concert at the Zurich Opera House: Zurich Opera House/Ferdinand Leitner, Ralf Weikert, Andre Presser. Video Artists International (DVD)

• Gwyneth Jones In Concert (live concert 23.8.88) VAI DVD. VAI

• 10,000 Voices: The World Choir and others/Owain Arwel Hughes. EMI

• Le Donne di Puccini: Münchner Rundfunkorchester/Garcia Navarro. Nightingale

• L'Art du Chant: Les Sopranes: DVD. Le Coulisses de L'Opera

Complete opera recordings (commercially released):

• Fidelio (Böhm/DG(dvd))
• Fidelio (Böhm/DG(cd))
• Macbeth (Kuhn/Sine qua non(cd))
• Aïda (Muti/Bella Voce(cd))
• Otello (Barbirolli/EMI(cd))
• Salome (Böhm/DG(cd))
• Elektra (Tate/Claves(cd))
• Der Rosenkavalier Kleiber/DG(dvd))
• Der Rosenkavalier (Bernstein/Sony(cd))
• Die ägyptische Helena (Doráti/Decca(cd))
• Die ägyptische Helena (Krips/RCA Victor(cd))
• Der fliegende Holländer (Böhm/DG(cd))
• Lohengrin (Kubelík/DG(cd))
• Tannhäuser (Davis/DG(dvd))
• Tristan und Isolde (Kout/TDK(dvd))
• Der Ring des Nibelungen (Boulez/DG(dvd), Philips(cd))
• Götterdämmerung (Solti/Decca(cd))
• Parsifal (Boulez/DG(cd))
• Notre Dame (Perick/Capriccio(cd))
• Hänsel und Gretel (Davis/Philips(cd))
• La fanciulla del West (Viotti/Sine qua non(cd))
• Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (Russell Davies/ArtHaus(dvd))
• Médée (Gardelli/Decca(cd))
• Alice in Wonderland (Nagano/Medici Arts(dvd))
• Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Böhm/Orfeo(cd))
• Il Trovatore (Giulini/Royal Opera House Heritage Series(cd))

References

1. ^ Gramophone, January 1970

External links

• Gwyneth Jones biography from BBC Wales
• Official website of the Wagner Society of Great Britain

Persondata
Name	Jones, Gwyneth
Alternative names
Short description	Welsh operatic soprano
Date of birth	7 November 1936
Place of birth	Pontnewynydd, Wales, UK
Date of death
Place of death