Alice Coote

Alice Coote (born 10 May 1968) is a British lyricmezzo-soprano.

Alice Coote was born in Frodsham, Cheshire, the daughter of the painter Mark Coote. She was educated at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London (though she did not complete her course), the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester (where she came into contact with Janet Baker and Brigitte Fassbaender) and the National Opera Studio during 1995–96. Coote was a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist from 2001–2003. She sings both operatic (particularly 'trouser' roles) and recital repertoire, in the latter often with pianist Julius Drake.

An interpreter of Handel ("his music could keep you going for a whole career") she has performed contemporary pieces such as Dominick Argento's From the Diary of Virginia Woolf, a partly atonal work first performed by Janet Baker, an influence on Coote.Judith Weir has written a song cycle, The Voice of Desire, especially for her; it was premiered at a BBC Chamber Prom.

Alice Coote has performed at England's Opera North, the English National Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York (Hansel in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel), the San Francisco Opera in 2002 (Ruggiero in Handel's Alcina) and 2008 (Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo). In 2009, she sang Maffio Orsini in Gaetano Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia at the Bavarian State Opera. She also appeared in 2011 as Prince Charming in Cendrillon at the Royal Opera House. In 2013, she played Sextus in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Handel's Giulio Cesare.

Alice

Alice may refer to:

Literature

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Manga

Computers

Giulio Cesare

Giulio Cesare in Egitto (pronounced [ˈdʒuːljo ˈtʃeːzare in eˈdʒitto]; Italian for "Julius Caesar in Egypt", HWV 17), commonly known simply as Giulio Cesare, is a dramma per musica (opera seria) in three acts composed for the Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel in 1724. The libretto was written by Nicola Francesco Haym who used an earlier libretto by Giacomo Francesco Bussani, which had been set to music by Antonio Sartorio (1676). The opera was a success at its first performances, was frequently revived by Handel in his subsequent opera seasons and is now one of the most often performed Baroque operas.

Performance history

It was first performed at the King's Theatre in Haymarket, London on 20 February 1724. The opera was an immediate success. A contemporary wrote in a letter on 10 March 1724:

Handel revived it (with changes) in 1725, 1730, and 1732; it was also performed in Paris, Hamburg, and Brunswick. Like Handel's other works in the opera seria genre, Giulio Cesare fell into obscurity in the 19th century.

Mark Elder

Sir Mark Philip Elder, CBE (born 2 June 1947) is a British conductor. He is the music director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England.

Life and career

Elder was born in Hexham, Northumberland, the son of a dentist. He played the bassoon when in primary school, and at Bryanston School, Dorset, where he was one of the foremost musicians (bassoon and keyboards) of his generation. He attended Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he studied music and was a choral scholar. He later became a protégé of Sir Edward Downes and gained experience conducting Verdi operas in Australia, at the Sydney Opera House.

Elder and his wife Mandy have a daughter, Katie.

The ENO and association with several orchestras

From 1979 to 1993, Elder was the music director of English National Opera (ENO). He was known as part of the "Power House" team that also included general director Peter Jonas and artistic director David Pountney, and which gave ENO several very successful years of productions. Elder has also served as principal guest conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1992–1995) and music director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (1989–1994). He has also held positions as Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1982-1985) and the London Mozart Players (1980-1983).