Julia Faulkner
Video & Audio
Her sumptuously creamy voice is capable of delicate pianissimos, shimmering high climaxes and affecting phrasing.
(Hoiby-CD “A Pocket of Time” OPERA NEWS, 2010, Joanne Sydney Lessner)
This is some stunning, wonderful singing from Julia Faulkner-- her voice is a fresh as it was in 1985, when she won the Metropolitan Opera auditions. My only preference would be that the CD be entirely of her, as I tend to skip over the baritone's songs. Julia Faulkner can carry the whole thing on her own. Hoiby's compositions are also fresh sounding, as is his accompaniment here. This CD is a steal at this bargain price.
Julia Faulkner, a native of Wisconsin, first gained attention in the USA as a finalist in the 1985 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She made her European stage debut as Arminda in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera in Lyon, France, and returned to sing Alice Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff under the baton of John Eliot Gardiner. Subsequently, she was invited to join the ensemble of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, appearing in productions of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, Strauss’s Capriccio and Ferrari’s Le donne curiose. Between 1991 and 1997, Ms. Faulkner was in residence at the Vienna State Opera, gaining recognition there foremost as an ideal singer for Richard Strauss (Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, title roles in Arabella and Ariadne auf Naxos, Countess in Capriccio) and Mozart (Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Countess in Le nozze di Figaro), but also sang Rosalinde in Johann Strauß's Die Fledermaus and Gutrune in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung. She opened the 1992 and 1993 seasons at the Hamburg State Opera and appeared in productions of Mozart’s Così fan tutte in Stockholm, Genoa, Bordeaux and Miami. Her Netherlands Opera debut followed, as Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus.
Ms. Faulkner returned to America in 1994 to make her Metropolitan Opera debut in the title role of Strauss’s Arabella, of which performance the New York Times wrote: “Hers is a remarkably warm and substantial soprano, accurate across the whole range, varied and characterful in tone. Among many fine expressive details, her tone of contented surrender in Act II (“und du wirst mein Gebieter sein”) stays in the memory.”
She has remained on the Met roster since 1997, and participated in the company’s tour of Der Rosenkavalier to Japan in 2001. She has performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic (under Esa Pekka Salonen), Cleveland Orchestra, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra (under Christoph von Dohnányi), San Francisco Symphony (under Michael Tilson Thomas), Minnesota Orchestra (under Jeffrey Tate), and Staatskapelle Dresden.
In April 2005, she made her role debut as Barber's Vanessa for Wisconsin Opera and in October 2005, she sang the role of the Princess in the Japanese premiere of Zemlinsky's Der Traumgörge, which also was televised in Tokyo, conducted by Gerd Albrecht.
Most recently, Julia Faulkner has also added several mezzo soprano and character roles to her repertoire, but continues to sing in the soprano range in concert and recital. In March 2008, she sang Ma Moss for a new production of Copand’s The Tender Land for Madison Opera / Wisconsin, in 2010 she portrayed Mrs Grose in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and in April 2010 she sang Mary in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer, again for Madison Opera.
Future engagements include her debut with the opera in Bilbao in a production of Floyd's Susannah as Mrs Hayes alongside James Morris in October 2010 and Mahler's Resurrection Symphony with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and John DeMain in 2011.
During the last years a fruitful collaboration with American composer Lee Hoiby, who has dedicated several songs to her, has developed and has lead to several recitals. A CD of songs and arias from his operas with has been released on Naxos in 2009.
Other CD recordings include the title roles in Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri (conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli / Deutsche Grammophon) and Genoveva (with Gerd Albrecht / Orfeo), Alice Ford in Falstaff (Will Humbug / Naxos), Pergolesi's Stabat Mater (Naxos) and Mahler's 8th Symphony (with Riccardo Chailly).
September 2010
Her sumptuously creamy voice is capable of delicate pianissimos, shimmering high climaxes and affecting phrasing.
(Hoiby-CD “A Pocket of Time” OPERA NEWS, 2010, Joanne Sydney Lessner)
This is some stunning, wonderful singing from Julia Faulkner-- her voice is a fresh as it was in 1985, when she won the Metropolitan Opera auditions. My only preference would be that the CD be entirely of her, as I tend to skip over the baritone's songs. Julia Faulkner can carry the whole thing on her own. Hoiby's compositions are also fresh sounding, as is his accompaniment here. This CD is a steal at this bargain price.
Julia Faulkner, a native of Wisconsin, first gained attention in the USA as a finalist in the 1985 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She made her European stage debut as Arminda in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera in Lyon, France, and returned to sing Alice Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff under the baton of John Eliot Gardiner. Subsequently, she was invited to join the ensemble of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, appearing in productions of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, Strauss’s Capriccio and Ferrari’s Le donne curiose. Between 1991 and 1997, Ms. Faulkner was in residence at the Vienna State Opera, gaining recognition there foremost as an ideal singer for Richard Strauss (Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, title roles in Arabella and Ariadne auf Naxos, Countess in Capriccio) and Mozart (Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Countess in Le nozze di Figaro), but also sang Rosalinde in Johann Strauß's Die Fledermaus and Gutrune in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung. She opened the 1992 and 1993 seasons at the Hamburg State Opera and appeared in productions of Mozart’s Così fan tutte in Stockholm, Genoa, Bordeaux and Miami. Her Netherlands Opera debut followed, as Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus.
Ms. Faulkner returned to America in 1994 to make her Metropolitan Opera debut in the title role of Strauss’s Arabella, of which performance the New York Times wrote: “Hers is a remarkably warm and substantial soprano, accurate across the whole range, varied and characterful in tone. Among many fine expressive details, her tone of contented surrender in Act II (“und du wirst mein Gebieter sein”) stays in the memory.”
She has remained on the Met roster since 1997, and participated in the company’s tour of Der Rosenkavalier to Japan in 2001. She has performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic (under Esa Pekka Salonen), Cleveland Orchestra, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra (under Christoph von Dohnányi), San Francisco Symphony (under Michael Tilson Thomas), Minnesota Orchestra (under Jeffrey Tate), and Staatskapelle Dresden.
In April 2005, she made her role debut as Barber's Vanessa for Wisconsin Opera and in October 2005, she sang the role of the Princess in the Japanese premiere of Zemlinsky's Der Traumgörge, which also was televised in Tokyo, conducted by Gerd Albrecht.
Most recently, Julia Faulkner has also added several mezzo soprano and character roles to her repertoire, but continues to sing in the soprano range in concert and recital. In March 2008, she sang Ma Moss for a new production of Copand’s The Tender Land for Madison Opera / Wisconsin, in 2010 she portrayed Mrs Grose in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and in April 2010 she sang Mary in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer, again for Madison Opera.
Future engagements include her debut with the opera in Bilbao in a production of Floyd's Susannah as Mrs Hayes alongside James Morris in October 2010 and Mahler's Resurrection Symphony with the Madison Symphony Orchestra and John DeMain in 2011.
During the last years a fruitful collaboration with American composer Lee Hoiby, who has dedicated several songs to her, has developed and has lead to several recitals. A CD of songs and arias from his operas with has been released on Naxos in 2009.
Other CD recordings include the title roles in Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri (conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli / Deutsche Grammophon) and Genoveva (with Gerd Albrecht / Orfeo), Alice Ford in Falstaff (Will Humbug / Naxos), Pergolesi's Stabat Mater (Naxos) and Mahler's 8th Symphony (with Riccardo Chailly).
September 2010
