Elizabeth Laurence is a classical mezzo-soprano singer. She is best known for her performances of 20th century operatic repertoire, and has created several operatic roles.
Biography
Elizabeth Laurence studied at Trinity College of Music, London. In 1986, Laurence performed Mallika in Montecarlo; concerts of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. Often invited to sing Jocasta in Madrid and Nancy for Glyndebourne Touring Company, she created the role of Anna Arild in Nigel Osborne's opera The Electrification of the Soviet Union and Terrible Mouth. In 1988, she made the BBC film of Bluebeard's Castle by Bartok in London, having performed it in Colmar, Alsace; she premiered this work in Tbilisi and Tokyo, and during concerts in Festival St Riquier, France. In 1997 and 2001, Laurence played Geneviève in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande on tour in France with Amaury du Closel. She sang Izuko in Cavanna's Les Confessions impudiques in Nanterre and Strasbourg. In 1994 she sang in concert Les Épisodes d'une vie d'artiste by Jacques Banc in Rotterdam. In 1989, at the Paris Opéra, she created the part of Behemoth in York Höller's opera Der Meister und Margarita. She sang in the premiere of Luciano Berio's Un re in ascolto there in 1989, followed by Lulu by Alban Berg ; Médée by R. Liebermann with Lavelli and J Conlon; she also sang in Der Rosenkavalier and Die Frau ohne Schatten. In 1989, she made her Covent Garden debut as the mezzo-soprano in the British première of Luciano Berio's Un re in ascolto. In 1991 she created the part of Lady de Hautdesert in Harrison Birtwistle's opera Gawain. Asked to sing Flora in La Traviata by Verdi in Marseille, returning for Judith Symphony, by Jean Guillou and Salomé, by Richard Strauss. Later Falstaff England; Thomas Hamlet Queen Gertrude. In 1997, she interpreted Die alte Frau in Wozzeck by Gurlitt in Rouen. Elizabeth Laurence sang la madre in Al gran sole carico d'amore by Luigi Nono with acclaim in Hamburg Staatsoper, also stepping in, in Henze's We come from the River. In Frankfurt she was Contralto in Rihm's Die Eroberung von Mexico and Ommou in Die Wande by Adriana Holszky Concert version: Erwartung also Cavalleria Rusticana by Monleone and Mascagni and Notre Dame by Schmidt with Layer and Armin Jordan, Montpellier; by Arnold Schoenberg Saarbrücken. At La Scala de Milan, Metz, Leeds and London, she sang the first performance in concerts of Le Visage nuptial by Pierre Boulez conducted by the composer; she was Erste Magd in Elektra, Mother Marie in Dialogues des Carmelites by Francis Poulenc and also The Gambler by Prokofiev, filmed at Staatsoper Berlin under Daniel Barenboim's direction. Her other operatic roles have included Cherubino, Erda, in Paris, Fricka ; in Bonn, Blumenmadchen in Parsifal ; filmed Judith, 1988: Concepción, filmed ; filmed in Brussels in Juditha Triuphans by Vivaldi and Carolina in Ancona and Naples. She has appeared several times at the BBC Proms. In 1986, she sang the solo part in the Proms premiere of Luciano Berio's Epifanie In 1987, she took the role of the Wood Dove in Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder in a performance directed by Pierre Boulez. In 1988, she sang in Debussy's cantataLa Damoiselle élue. This rarely performed work specifies two female soloists; Ann Murray had been scheduled to be one but was indisposed, so Laurence sang both parts at short notice. Invited to interpret Grimgerde in Wagner's Act 111 of Die Wakyrie. In 1992 sang Sechs Lieder, Op. 13, by Zemlinsky with Vienna Philharmonic; in 1989 premiered Elias's Five Poems by Irina Ratushinskaya R.F.Hall, London; sang Ligeti's Requiem in Belgium, Frankfurt, televised ; Leucadeby Laurent Martin, premiered in Radio France, Paris. Much Mahler sung in Alsace ; Karlsruhe, Berlin and Scotland. Many concerts of Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire with Pierre Boulez, Simon Rattle. Opus 2 : C Dutoit, Concertgebouw; Gurrelieder, L'EIC with Pierre Boulez ; in 1990 with Sir Charles Groves, and Recitals of Das Buch der Hangenden Garten. She has been described as having a "warm-toned, flexible voice and handsome appearance".
