The Royal Opera Chorus
The Royal Opera Chorus was created in 1946 for the re-opening of the ROH after World War II. Known then as the Covent Garden Opera Chorus, it first appeared during December the same year in Purcell's The Faery Queene, staged together with Sadler's Wells Ballet (now The Royal Ballet). Its first full-scale opera production was Carmen in January 1947.
Since then the chorus has been the backbone of the Royal Opera, performing in an average of 20 productions each season, in a wide repertoire ranging from Baroque through to newly commissioned works.
Currently the chorus consists of 48 members (12 sopranos, 10 mezzos, 14 tenors and 12 basses). This number is frequently augmented by as many as sixty freelance singers when larger productions are mounted.
As most operas are performed in the original language (Italian, French, German, Russian, Czech) the chorus works closely with language coaches during the rehearsal period.
Due to the brevity of production runs (six or seven performances) the chorus will often be performing in two or three productions in the evenings while rehearsing one or two other productions during the day and also learning the music of several other operas all at the same time.
The current director of the Royal Opera Chorus is Renato Balsadonna, who joined the company, from La Monnaie in Brussels, in August 2004. The Assistant Chorus Master, since 2001, is Stephen Westrop.
The Chorus appears regularly in all the ROH broadcasts, on radio, television and on recordings - most recently Tristan und Isolde and Tosca with Antonio Pappano, and a recording of Smetana's The Bartered Bride to mark Sir Charles Mackerras's 80th birthday.
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Renato Balsadonna
Director
Stephen Westrop
Assistant Chorus Master
Dermot Agnew
Chorus Manager
Ruth Mulholland
Assistant Chorus Manager
Sopranos
Melissa Alder
Yvonne Barclay
Katy Bato
Joan Carroll
Tamsin Coombs
Marianne Cotterill
Glenys Groves
Eileen Hamilton
Kiera Lyness
Anne Osborne
Deborah Peake Jones
Eryl Royle
Kathleen Wilder Contraltos
Louise Armit
Amy Catt
Amanda Floyd
Andrea Hazell
Elizabeth Key
Kate McCarney
Madeleine Mitchell
Deborah Pearce
Dervla Ramsay
Cari Searle
Renata Skarelyte | Tenors
Simon Davies
Alan Duffield
George Freeburn
Neil Gillespie
Elliot Goldie
Mark Guerin
John Heath
Lee Hickenbottom
Andrew Macnair
John Mulroy
Andrew O’Connor
Dominic Peckham
Luke Price
Andrew H. Sinclair
Douglas Telfer Basses
Donaldson Bell
John Bernays
Nigel Cliffe
Jonathan Coad
Jonathan Fisher
Christopher Lackner
Michael Lessiter
Charbel Mattar
John Morrissey
Paul Parfitt
Bryan Secombe
Olle Zetterström |