Elizabeth Watts

Soprano

Elizabeth Watts brings pearly tone and coloratura attack to Aspasia.

John Allison, The Telegraph

Elizabeth Watts was a chorister at Norwich Cathedral and studied archaeology at Sheffield University before studying singing at the Royal College of Music in London. She was awarded an Hon DMus from Sheffield in 2013 and became a Fellow of the RCM in 2017. She is a prolific recording artist, and her recordings include critically acclaimed discs of Lieder by Schubert and Strauss, Mozart arias with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and Handel Brockes Passion with the Academy of Ancient Music.

Highlights

  • Fiordiligi Così fan tutte; Countess Le nozze di Figaro; Elvira Don Giovanni– Welsh National Opera
  • Aspasia, Mitridate, re di Ponto – Garsington Opera
  • Ligeti Le Grand Macabre and Britten Spring Symphony – LSO & Sir Simon Rattle
  • Mahler Symphony No. 2 –  Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra & Andrès Orozco Estrada
  • Strauss and Mahler – Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra & Vasily Petrenko
  • Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony– Sakari Oramo & Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
  • Recitals – Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Aldeburgh Festival

Biography

Highlights this season include Mahler Symphony No. 2 with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Andrès Orozco Estrada and Symphony No. 4 with Jun Märkl in the Hague; exploring Mozart and Beethoven with Philharmonie Zuidnederland and Richard Egarr and singing Britten…

Highlights this season include Mahler Symphony No. 2 with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Andrès Orozco Estrada and Symphony No. 4 with Jun Märkl in the Hague; exploring Mozart and Beethoven with Philharmonie Zuidnederland and Richard Egarr and singing Britten War Requiem and the Bach St Matthew Passion with the Bach Choir, a piece she recently performed at the 2024 Edinburgh International Festival with Ryan Wigglesworth.

Opera is also an important part of her career, with roles including Countess Le nozze di Figaro, Donna Elvira Don Giovanni and Fiordiligi Così fan tutte for Welsh National Opera; Marzelline Fidelio for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Countess Le nozze di Figaro for English National Opera and most recently Aspasia in Mitridate at Garsington Opera which prompted Alexandra Coghlan to write in The i “Elizabeth Watts is an immaculate Aspasia, stopping time in Act III’s ravishing “Pallid ombre”.

Other past highlights reflect her wide repertoire and include singing Strauss and Mahler with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vasily Petrenko; Ligeti Le Grand Macabre and Britten Spring Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle; Rossini Petite messe solennelle with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Gustavo Gimeno; Gluck Iphigénie en Tauride with Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España with Nathalie Stutzmann and Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Sakari Oramo.

Elizabeth’s many appearances at the BBC Proms include Mahler Symphony No. 2 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo; Ravel L’enfant et les sortilèges with the LSO and Simon Rattle; Schubert songs with the BBC Philharmonic and John Storgårds and Beethoven arias with the NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrew Manze.

Elizabeth won the 2007 Rosenblatt Recital Song Prize at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition as well as the 2006 Kathleen Ferrier Award. She is a former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist and was awarded a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award in February 2011.

FOR USE IN THE 2024/25 SEASON

This biography should not be edited without permission from Maxine Robertson Management.
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ARTIST WEBSITE

Contact:

Maxine Robertson Artist Manager
Direct line: +44 20 7096 0398
Mobile: +44 7904 698 231 (Outside office hours)
Email: mr@maxinerobertson.com
Ruth Cornes Associate Artist Manager
Direct line: +44 20 7096 1970
Email: rc@maxinerobertson.com
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