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Anthony Rolfe Johnson

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Anthony Rolfe Johnson
CBE
Born(1940-11-05)5 November 1940
Tackley, Oxfordshire, UK
Died21 July 2010(2010-07-21) (aged 69)
London, UK
OccupationOpera singer (tenor)
Years active1972–2006

Anthony Rolfe Johnson CBE (5 November 1940 – 21 July 2010[1][2]) was an English operatic tenor.

Early life

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Anthony Rolfe Johnson was born in Tackley in Oxfordshire. As a boy, he demonstrated musical ability and sang as a boy soprano, making a record with HMV. Despite his ability, he did not consider singing as a career and instead went to study for an agricultural degree. He worked as a farm manager, and would sing church hymns to his herd of cows. He joined a choral society in Crawley, West Sussex, and sang regularly with the choir of St Nicholas' Church, Worth, and was encouraged by another member to pursue a professional singing career.[3][4]

Career

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Rolfe Johnson studied with Ellis Keeler and Vera Rózsa at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was also tutored by Peter Pears.[2]

He first appeared in opera in the chorus and in small roles at the Glyndebourne Festival between 1972 and 1976. His major operatic debut was in the role of Count Vaudémont in Tchaikovsky's opera Iolanta in 1973 with the English Opera Group. The same year, he held his first professional recital at the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre. In 1975, Rolfe Johnson made his Glyndebourne debut, singing the role of Lensky in Eugene Onegin, for which he won the John Christie Award. In 1978 he made his first appearance with English National Opera, as Tamino in The Magic Flute.[5][6]

In the course of a long and varied career he performed in Handel's oratorios, sang the role of Evangelist in J. S. Bach's St John Passion and St Matthew Passion, and sang solos in Haydn's The Seasons and The Creation. Operas he recorded include Mozart's The Magic Flute, Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado, Mozart's Idomeneo and La clemenza di Tito, and Britten's Peter Grimes as well as appearing in the latter's War Requiem, amongst many others. Many of these recordings were made under English conductor John Eliot Gardiner, including Berlioz’s l’Enfance du Christ, Monteverdi's Ulysses and Orfeo and Mozart's Idomeneo.[2]

He performed at the world's major opera houses, including the English National Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, La Monnaie in Brussels, La Scala, Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, the Vienna State Opera, and the Paris Opera.[7]

He sang Polixenes in the world premiere of Wintermärchen, Philippe Boesmans' adaptation of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale.[8]

Aside from opera, he appeared in concert with the world's major symphony orchestras, such as the New York Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Boston Symphony, and conductors, such as Mstislav Rostropovich and Seiji Ozawa. He also gave song recitals with Graham Johnson, many of which were recorded; he was a founder member of Graham Johnson's The Songmakers' Almanac. In 1988 he re-launched the Gregynog Music Festival, remaining its artistic director until 2006. In 1990, he was appointed Director of Singing Studies at the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies.[6] Rolfe Johnson began to tutor singers, taking on the operatic tenor John Mark Ainsley as his first pupil.[9] On 26 April 1992, he made an appearance on Desert Island Discs, relating his life story and the music that influenced him most.[10] He appeared in the 1985 Tony Palmer film about Handel God Rot Tunbridge Wells!, with Valerie Masterson singing 'Oh happy we' from Acis and Galatea.[11]

He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1992 Queen's Birthday Honours.[12]

Personal life

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Rolfe Johnson had two sons from his first marriage. After his change of career from farmer to opera singer, he and his first wife divorced. He married again but this second marriage also ended in divorce. He subsequently married Elisabeth Jones Evans, and they had a son and two daughters.[3]

Death

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Around the turn of the 21st century, Rolfe Johnson began to suffer from Alzheimer's disease and was forced to retire. On 21 July 2010 he died from complications related to Alzheimer's.[2] Rolfe Johnson was cremated and he is commemorated with a memorial at Golders Green Crematorium in London.[3]

Selected discography

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References

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  1. ^ "Anthony Rolfe Johnson—Anthony Rolfe Johnson, who died on 21 July aged 69, was a tenor of enormous talent who came to singing relatively late in life". The Daily Telegraph. 22 July 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d Blyth, Alan (22 July 2010). "Anthony Rolfe Johnson obituary—Mellifluous tenor outstanding in the Passions of Bach and operas of Britten". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  3. ^ a b c Blyth, Alan (22 July 2010). "Anthony Rolfe Johnson obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  4. ^ "Anthony Rolfe Johnson". The Telegraph. 22 July 2010. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  5. ^ "Obituaries: Anthony Rolfe Johnson". The Stage. 10 August 2010. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  6. ^ a b Goodwin, Noël (2008). "Rolfe Johnson, Anthony". In Macy, Laura Williams (ed.). The Grove Book of Opera Singers. Oxford University Press. p. 413. ISBN 9780195337655. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  7. ^ Kutsch, Karl-Josef and Riemens, Leo (2004). "Rolfe Johnson, Anthony". Großes Sängerlexikon, Vol. 4, p. 3990. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 359844088X (in German)
  8. ^ "Philippe Boesmans: Wintermärchen (1997–1999)" (work details) (in French and English). IRCAM.
  9. ^ Christiansen, Rupert (1 October 2008). "John Mark Ainsley: I'm up for just about anything". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 28 February 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  10. ^ Desert Island Discs: Anthony Rolfe Johnson. Accessed 9 June 2020.
  11. ^ WorldCat entry for DVD of God rot Tunbridge Wells : the life of Georg Frederic Handel accessed 19 February 2024.
  12. ^ "No. 52952". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 1992. p. 8.
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