Alice Coote
{{Short description|British mezzo-soprano}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
File:Alice coote.jpg in 2007, ENO]]
Alice Coote OBE (born 10 May 1968){{cite web
| title=Overview - Alice Coote (b.1968)
| url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095637601
| publisher=Oxford University Press
| work=Oxford Reference
| date=2011
| access-date=2019-03-15
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206051301/http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095637601
| archive-date=6 February 2016
| url-status=live
}}{{cite news | title=Portrait of the artist: Alice Coote, mezzo-soprano | url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/aug/16/alice-coote-mezzo-soprano | first=Laura | last=Barnett | author-link=Laura Barnett | work=The Guardian | date=16 August 2010 | access-date=2019-03-15 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225094028/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2010/aug/16/alice-coote-mezzo-soprano | archive-date=25 December 2018 | url-status=live }} is a British mezzo-soprano. Known internationally for her performances in opera playing both female and male roles,{{Cite web |date=2011-06-23 |title=Alice Coote - You can't keep a good woman down |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/alice-coote-you-can-t-keep-a-good-woman-down-2301745.html |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=The Independent |language=en}} and her recitals with piano and concerts with orchestra, Coote has performed extensively across Europe, North America and Asia. Her repertoire ranges from early and baroque music to contemporary works, and includes works which have been especially written for her.{{Cite web |title=The Voice of Desire {{!}} Judith Weir |url=https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/14270/The-Voice-of-Desire--Judith-Weir/ |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=www.wisemusicclassical.com |language=en}} She was appointed OBE in the 2018 Birthday honours for services to music.{{Cite web |title=Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Simon Keenlyside and Classic FM's Composer in Residence Debbie Wiseman recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours |url=https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/queens-birthday-honours-2018/ |access-date=2023-07-12 |website=Classic FM |language=en}}
Life
Coote was born in Frodsham, Cheshire, the daughter of the painter Mark Coote. She was educated at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London (though she did not complete her course), the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester (where she came into contact with Janet Baker and Brigitte Fassbaender{{cn|date=August 2022}}) and the National Opera Studio during 1995/96.{{cite web | title=Alice Coote: Against all odds | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/alice-coote-against-all-odds-301777.html | first=Lynne | last=Walker | author-link=Lynne Walker (critic) | work=The Independent | date=26 July 2005 | access-date=2019-03-15 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190315203327/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/alice-coote-against-all-odds-301777.html | archive-date=15 March 2019 | url-status=live }} Coote was a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist from 2001 until 2003. She sings both operatic roles, particularly trouser roles, and recital repertoire, often with pianist Julius Drake.
An interpreter of Handel{{cite news | title=Alice Coote: 'Nothing touches people more than the human voice, unadorned' | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/alice-coote-nothing-touches-people-more-than-the-human-voice-unadorned-186369.html | first=Nick | last=Kimberley | work=The Independent | date=28 July 2002 | access-date=2019-03-15 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190316030938/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/alice-coote-nothing-touches-people-more-than-the-human-voice-unadorned-186369.html | archive-date=16 March 2019 | url-status=live }} she has also performed contemporary pieces such as Dominick Argento's From the Diary of Virginia Woolf, a partly atonal work first performed by Janet Baker, who influenced Coote.{{cite web
| title=Transcript of interview of Alice Coote and Julius Drake
| url=http://www.juliusdrake.info/index.php/interviews-and-articles/interviews-with-julius-drake/2010-02-11-bbc-radio-3-in-tune-with-alice-coote/
| first=Sean | last=Rafferty | author-link=Sean Rafferty | publisher=In Tune, BBC Radio 3 | work=juliusdrake.info (former Julius Drake website) | date=11 February 2010
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721214930/http://www.juliusdrake.info/index.php/interviews-and-articles/interviews-with-julius-drake/2010-02-11-bbc-radio-3-in-tune-with-alice-coote/
| archive-date=2011-07-21 | url-status=dead
}}
Judith Weir has written a song cycle, The Voice of Desire, especially for her; it was premiered at a BBC Chamber Prom.
Coote has performed at England's Opera North, the English National Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York (Hansel in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel), the San Francisco Opera in 2002 (Ruggiero in Handel's Alcina) and 2008 (Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo).{{cite news |last=Ulrich |first=Allan |date=1 April 2010 |title=Opera's Alice Coote on trousers, English songs |work=San Francisco Chronicle |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Opera-s-Alice-Coote-on-trousers-English-songs-3268796.php |url-status=live |access-date=2019-03-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629022311/https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Opera-s-Alice-Coote-on-trousers-English-songs-3268796.php |archive-date=29 June 2018}} In 2009, she appeared as Maffio Orsini in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia at the Bavarian State Opera. She also performed in 2011 as Prince Charming in Massenet's Cendrillon at the Royal Opera House. In 2013, she played Sextus in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Handel's Giulio Cesare. In March 2017 she reprised the role of Idamante in six performances at the Metropolitan Opera.{{cite news | title=Mozart's 'Idomeneo' Shows the Met Opera at Its Best | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/07/arts/music/review-mozart-idomeneo-metropolitan-opera-james-levine.html | first=Anthony | last=Tommasini | author-link=Anthony Tommasini | work=The New York Times | date=7 March 2017 | access-date=2019-03-15 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308094014/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/07/arts/music/review-mozart-idomeneo-metropolitan-opera-james-levine.html | archive-date=8 March 2017 | url-status=live }}
Recordings
- 2002: The Choice of Hercules (Handel) – Susan Gritton, Alice Coote, Robin Blaze; The King's Consort – Robert King; Hyperion CDA67298
- 2003: Lieder – (Mahler, Haydn, Schumann) – Alice Coote, Julius Drake (piano); EMI Classics 7243 5 85559 2 9
- 2010: Symphony No. 2 Resurrection (Mahler) – Alice Coote, Natalie Dessay; Frankfurt Radio Symphony and Orfeón Donostiarra – Paavo Järvi; Virgin Classics 50999 694586 0 6
- 2013: Das Lied von der Erde (Mahler) – Alice Coote, Burkhard Fritz (tenor); Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra – Marc Albrecht; Pentatone PTC 5186502
- 2014: Handel Arias – Alice Coote; The English Concert – Harry Bicket; Hyperion
- 2014: Die Winterreise (Schubert) – Alice Coote, Julius Drake (piano); Harmonia Mundi
- 2015: L'heure exquise – A French Songbook (Poulenc, Hahn, Gounod, Chausson) – Alice Coote, Graham Johnson (piano); Hyperion
- 2016: Sea Pictures (Elgar) – Alice Coote; Hallé Orchestra – Mark Elder; Naxos
- 2016: Schumann Lieder (incl. Frauenliebe und -leben, Dichterliebe) – Alice Coote, Christian Blackshaw (piano); Harmonia Mundi
- 2017: Mahler Song Cycles (Mahler) – Marc Albrecht, Alice Coote, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra; PENTATONE PTC 5186576
- 2022: 21 Schubert Songs - Alice Coote, Julius Drake (piano); Hyperion
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|1153114|Alice Coote}}
- [https://imgartists.com/roster/alice-coote/ Profile] at IMG Artists
- [https://www.discogs.com/artist/2372357-Alice-Coote Albums], Discogs
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coote, Alice}}
Category:Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Category:Alumni of the Royal Northern College of Music
Category:British performers of early music
Category:Women performers of early music
Category:English mezzo-sopranos
Category:20th-century British women opera singers
Category:Singers from Cheshire
Category:British operatic mezzo-sopranos
Category:BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists