Lena Lootens (born April 14, 1959, Ghent) is a Belgian soprano. [1] [2]
Lena Lootens was born in Ghent, Belgium on April 14, 1959. She trained as a classical soprano with Vera Rosza in London and later with Margaret Honig and Cristina Deutekom in Amsterdam. She began her career as a concert soprano; appearing on stages in The Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, and England; and her career has predominantly been focused on the oratorio repertoire and other classical sacred music. She has also appeared in operas with the Vlaamse Opera in both Ghent and Antwerp. [3]
Lootens has performed in Claudio Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea , [4] and with the Concerto Vocale, [5] amongst many others. On 23 June 1988 she performed two works by C. P. E. Bach, his Magnificat and the oratorio Die Israeliten in der Wüste , with soloists Nancy Argenta, Mechthild Georg, Howard Crook and Stephen Roberts under Frieder Bernius in the first concert of the Rheingau Musik Festival in Eberbach Abbey.
Angela Gheorghiu is a Romanian soprano, especially known for her performances in the operas of Puccini and Verdi.
Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa, , born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, is a New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". On 1 December 1971 she was recognised internationally when she appeared as the Countess in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at the Royal Opera House in London.
Dame Janet Abbott Baker is an English mezzo-soprano best known as an opera, concert, and lieder singer.
Margaret Nixon McEathron, known professionally as Marni Nixon, was an American soprano and ghost singer for featured actresses in musical films. She was the singing voice of leading actresses on the soundtracks of several musicals, including Deborah Kerr in The King and I, Natalie Wood in West Side Story, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, although her roles were concealed from audiences when the films were released. Several of the songs she dubbed appeared on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs list.
Kathleen Deanna Battle is an American operatic soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid-1970s. She made her opera debut in 1975. Battle expanded her repertoire into lyric soprano and coloratura soprano roles during the 1980s and early 1990s, until her eventual dismissal from the Metropolitan Opera in 1994. She later has focused on recording and the concert stage. After a 22-year absence from the Met, Battle performed a concert of spirituals at the Metropolitan Opera House in November 2016, and again in May 2024.
Jessye Mae Norman was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to perform dramatic soprano roles, but did not limit herself to that voice type. A commanding presence on operatic, concert and recital stages, Norman was associated with roles including Beethoven's Leonore, Wagner's Sieglinde and Kundry, Berlioz's Cassandre and Didon, and Bartók's Judith. The New York Times music critic Edward Rothstein described her voice as a "grand mansion of sound", and wrote that "it has enormous dimensions, reaching backward and upward. It opens onto unexpected vistas. It contains sunlit rooms, narrow passageways, cavernous halls."
Adele Addison is an American lyric soprano who was a figure in the classical music world during the 1950s and 1960s. Although she did appear in several operas, Addison spent most of her career performing in recital and concert. Her performances spanned a wide array of literature from the Baroque period to contemporary compositions. She is best remembered today as the singing voice for Bess in the 1959 movie, Porgy and Bess. Known for her polished and fluent tone, Addison made a desirable Baroque vocal artist. She can be heard on numerous recordings, of which her Baroque performances are perhaps her best work. Many of her recordings were made with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Leonard Bernstein.
Florence Quivar is an American operatic mezzo-soprano who is considered to be "one of the most prominent singers of her generation." She has variously been described as having a "rich, earthy sound and communicative presence" as "always reliable" and as "a distinguished singer, with a warm, rich voice and a dignified performing presence." From 1977 to 1997 she was a regular performer at the Metropolitan Opera where she gave more than 100 performances.
The International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch (IVC); is a music competition for classical singing founded in 1954. It is the only classical vocal competition in the Netherlands that also focuses on opera, oratorio and Lied.
Anna Leese is a New Zealand born soprano opera singer.
Mark Grey is an American classical music composer, sound designer and sound engineer.
Mary Bothwell was a Canadian classical vocalist and painter. As a singer she began her career as a contralto, but ultimately ended up performing soprano parts in the opera and concert repertoire.
Shirlee Emmons was an American classical soprano, voice teacher, and author on vocal pedagogy. She began her career in the early 1940s as a concert soprano, eventually becoming one of the original singers in the Robert Shaw Chorale in 1948. She branched out into opera in the 1950s; performing mainly with regional companies in the United States. She achieved several honours as a performer, including winning the Marian Anderson Award in 1953 and an Obie Award in 1956.
Gabriella Di Laccio is a Brazilian operatic soprano. She performs in the opera seria genre of the Baroque, and in Classical and early Romantic repertoire. Her career spans opera, oratorio and chamber music.
Robert White is an American tenor and voice teacher who has had an active performance career for eight decades.
Yvonne Regina Ciannella was an American coloratura soprano in opera and concert. She began her career performing and recording with the Robert Shaw Chorale in the early 1950s. After graduate voice studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, she embarked on a career as an opera singer; working mainly in Germany at the Staatstheater Braunschweig, Theater Bonn, and Theater Dortmund during the 1960s. She also appeared as a guest artist with opera companies in Berlin, Cologne, Florida, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Vienna. For many years she was a member of the voice faculty of the College of Music at Florida State University.
Mechthild Georg is a German operatic mezzo-soprano, and a professor of voice at the Musikhochschule Köln.
Sunhae Im is a South Korean soprano. She has been described as a bright and versatile lyric soprano with lightness and coloratura. She first gained her reputation in the field of early music and now performs a wide range of classical and non-classical music.
Markella Hatziano is an operatic mezzo-soprano born in Athens, Greece.