John Mark Ainsley

Last updated

John Mark Ainsley
Born (1963-07-09) 9 July 1963 (age 59)
Crewe, Cheshire, England
NationalityBritish
Alma mater Magdalen College, Oxford
OccupationOperatic tenor
Known forOpera performance, especially Baroque and Early music
Style Lyric tenor
Spouse William Whitehead
Awards

John Mark Ainsley OBE (born 9 July 1963) is an English lyric tenor. Known for his supple voice, Ainsley is particularly admired for his interpretations of baroque music and the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In the course of his career, he has gravitated towards 20th-century music, singing in operas by Henze, Janáček, and Britten.

Contents

Early life and education

Ainsley was born in Crewe, Cheshire, the son of an Anglican priest and a teacher. He spent most of his childhood in Worcester and was educated at the Royal Grammar School Worcester (singing in the Worcester Cathedral Voluntary Choir), and Magdalen College, Oxford. He studied privately with Anthony Rolfe Johnson for five years and went to sing as a lay clerk at Christ Church. He later spent some time in Chicago where he studied with Diane Forlano, who remains his teacher to this day. [1]

Career

Ainsley made his official solo debut in 1987 when he sang in Stravinsky's Mass under Simon Rattle. After further engagements with Gothic Voices and other groups he made his professional opera debut in 1988 as Armindo in Scarlatti's Gli equivoci nel sembiante at Innsbruck's Early Music Festival. This was followed by his debut with English National Opera the following year as Eurimaco in Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria , and his United States debut in 1990 in a series of concerts in Boston and New York. He has subsequently performed all around the world in operas and concerts. In 1992 he made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic under Haitink and created the tenor part in the world premiere of John Tavener's We shall see Him as He is. The following year he made his debut in the Vienna Musikverein, singing the Evangelist in Bach's St Matthew Passion and tenor solos in the St John Passion under Peter Schreier. Other notable concert appearances include performances with the London Philharmonic under Roger Norrington, the London Symphony under Sir Colin Davis, Mstislav Rostropovich and André Previn, Les Musiciens du Louvre under Marc Minkowski, the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst, the New York Philharmonic under Kurt Masur, the Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa, the San Francisco Symphony under Jeffrey Tate, the Vienna Philharmonic under Trevor Pinnock, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields under Neville Marriner, and both the Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Orchestre de Paris under Carlo Maria Giulini among many others. [2]

His opera appearances include the role of Idamantes in Idomeneo with Welsh National Opera, the title role in La clemenza di Tito with Opera Australia, Fenton in Falstaff with Scottish Opera, the title role in Monteverdi's Orfeo with Netherlands Opera, and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at numerous houses and festivals including Covent Garden and the San Francisco Opera and both the Aix-en-Provence and Glyndebourne festivals. Other roles have included Lensky in Eugene Onegin , Lysander in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream , David in Carl Nielsen's Saul og David , and Jupiter in Semele , the latter of which he performed to acclaim at the English National Opera in 1999. At the 2003 Salzburg Festival, he created the role of 'Der Daemon' in the world premiere of Hans Werner Henze's L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe , which he later reprised at the Teatro Real in Madrid. [1]

More recently, Ainsley has sung the roles of Soliman in Zaide and Belfiore in La finta giardiniera at the Salzburg Festival (2006), The Madwoman in Britten's Curlew River with Oper Frankfurt (2006), Pelléas in Pelléas et Mélisande with the Deutsche Oper Berlin (2006), Skuratov in Janáček's From the House of the Dead with both the Amsterdam and Vienna Festivals (2007), Hippolyt in the world premiere of Henze's Phaedra with the Berlin State Opera (2007) and La Monnaie (2007), Vere in Billy Budd with Oper Frankfurt (2007), Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues des Carmelites with the Hamburg State Opera (2008), and both Bajazete in Tamerlano and the title role in Idomeneo with the Bavarian State Opera (2008). Ainsley sung the role of Emilio in Partenope with the English National Opera in the autumn of 2008 and returned for performances at the Bavarian State Opera and Berlin State Opera in 2009. [3] In 2010 his performance in the role of Captain Vere in Billy Budd was filmed by the Glyndebourne Festival for release in August 2010, and is streaming on Medici.tv. [4]

Awards

He was awarded the Munich Festival Prize for his performance as Orfeo, and in 2007 won the 2007 Royal Philharmonic Society Singer Award. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to music. [5]

Personal life

In 2007 Ainsley entered into a civil partnership with organist William Whitehead. [6] [7]

Ainsley was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2016, and took the decision to retire from public performance, although he continues to work in music education. [8]

Recordings

Ainsley has made numerous recordings that range from Monteverdi to Britten. He regularly appears on radio and in the BBC Proms. Amongst other recordings are Rameau's Dardanus , Monteverdi's L'Orfeo (he is generally regarded as the world authority on this character's role), Britten's Serenade for tenor, horn and strings, the role of Frederic in the Sir Charles Mackerras recording of The Pirates of Penzance and lieder by Mozart, Beethoven and Schumann. Ainsley has also become particularly associated with Handel's music and has recorded over ten of his oratorios including Jephtha , La Resurrezione , Messiah , Joshua and Saul . He has also recorded numerous English and French songs including works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Peter Warlock, Herbert Howells, Gerald Finzi and Gabriel Fauré among others.

Related Research Articles

Ileana Cotrubaș is a Romanian operatic soprano whose career spanned from the 1960s to the 1980s. She was much admired for her acting skills and facility for singing opera in many different languages.

Raymond John Leppard was a British-American conductor, harpsichordist, composer and editor. In the 1960s, he played a prime role in the rebirth of interest in Baroque music; in particular, he was one of the first major conductors to perform Baroque opera, reviving works by Claudio Monteverdi and Francesco Cavalli. He conducted operas at major international opera houses and festivals, including the Glyndebourne Festival where he led the world premiere of Nicholas Maw's The Rising of the Moon, the Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Opera House. He composed film scores such as Lord of the Flies and Alfred the Great.

Robert Tear, CBE was a Welsh tenor singer, teacher and conductor. He first became known singing in the operas of Benjamin Britten in the mid-1960s. From the 1970s until his retirement in 1999 his main operatic base was the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; he appeared with other opera companies in the UK, mainland Europe, the US and Australia. Generally avoiding the Italian repertoire, which did not suit his voice, Tear became known in leading and character roles in German, British and Russian operas.

Sir John Michael Pritchard, was an English conductor. He was known for his interpretations of Mozart operas and for his support of contemporary music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claire Gibault</span> French conductor and politician (born 1945)

Claire Gibault is a French conductor and politician and a Member of the European Parliament for the south-east of France. She is a member of the Union for French Democracy, which is part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Culture and Education and its Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Bostridge</span> English tenor

Ian Charles Bostridge CBE is an English tenor, well known for his performances as an opera and lieder singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Lewis (tenor)</span>

Richard Lewis CBE was an English tenor of Welsh parentage.

Sir Willard Wentworth White, OM, CBE is a Jamaican-born British operatic bass baritone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Rolfe Johnson</span> English operatic tenor

Anthony Rolfe Johnson was an English operatic tenor.

Helmut Krebs was a German tenor in opera and concert, who sang a wide range of roles from Baroque to contemporary works.

Matthew Rose is an English operatic bass.

Gerald English was an English tenor. He performed operatic and concert repertoire, was a recording artist, and was a sometime academic.

Anthony Dean Griffey is an American opera tenor. He is a regular presence on the stages of opera houses and concert halls around the world. Griffey has also been noted for his acting talent in addition to his voice.

Diana Montague is an English mezzo-soprano, known for her performances in opera and as a concert singer.

Axel Köhler is a German countertenor and opera director. In 1994, he won the Handel Prize. Since 2009, he has been Artistic Director of the Halle Opera House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Mead</span> English opera singer

Tim Mead is an English countertenor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke</span> Austrian operatic tenor

Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke is an Austrian operatic tenor.

Christof Loy is a German stage director especially for opera, whose work received several awards. A freelance director, he has staged operas from Baroque to premieres of new works at major European opera houses and festivals. He is known for directing works by Mozart.

Kangmin Justin Kim is a Korean-American countertenor specializing in the Baroque, Mozart and contemporary music repertoire.

Alexander Kaimbacher is an Austrian opera, operetta, oratorio, Lied and concert tenor.

References

  1. 1 2 Jolly, Grove Music Online
  2. ↑ "John Mark Ainsley- Bio, Albums, Pictures – Naxos Classical Music". Naxos.com. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  3. ↑ "John Mark Ainsley, tenor :: Schedule". Operabase.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  4. ↑ "Opera Britten's Billy Budd - Glyndebourne". medici.tv. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  5. ↑ "No. 63135". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 October 2020. p. B11.
  6. ↑ Christiansen, Rupert (1 October 2008). "John Mark Ainsley: I'm up for just about anything". Archived from the original on 2 October 2008. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  7. ↑ "John-Mark and William". Helen Maybanks Photography. 18 September 2007. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  8. ↑ "John Mark Ainsley". Askonas Holt. Retrieved 27 February 2018.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.