JENNIFER LARMORE

1986

My European Operatic debut in Nice, France as “Annio and “Sesto” in Mozart’s LA CLEMENZA DI TITO. It was a good experience for a young artist to do two roles on different nights! Hard work!

1987

DON GIOVANNI in Nice again. It was my first soubrette type of role and I had a good time!

1988

IL BARBIERE in Lyon & Strasbourg. This was the beginning of 5 productions of this opera per year--the role which quickly became my “signature” role. In between these performances I was always traveling somewhere for auditions.

1989

One of the best learning experiences I ever had was in Nice again, doing “Giovanna Seymour” in ANNA BOLENA. It was a high tessitura role -- think Shirley Verrett-- at that time, I was too young to tackle the demands. I was so nervous, sick and frightened. On opening night, I had my “baptism by fire” when the second act duet with “Henry” arrived. The tempo was much too slow for me so I tapped on my colleague’s shoulder--the great Evgeny Nesterenko--who understood me immediately. The conductor, however decided that it would be his tempo or else! He very distinctly beat a slower tempo with the baton. Evgeny and I inched down to the edge of the stage and glared at Maestro. The audience started edging to the front of their seats and when we were finished, they went wild with applause. In all the papers the next day, there were headlines such as THE SUCCESS OF JANE! JENNIFER LARMORE TRIUMPHS AS JANE SEYMOUR! They had all mistaken my abject terror for dramatic intensity! I was never afraid of anything or anyone again.

1990

I did my first PELLEAS ET MELISANDE in Marseilles. I adored it. I was a real flesh and blood “Melisande” however.

This was also the year when I made my first recording: IL CORONAZIONE DI POPPEA. I was thrilled but had to get used to the microphone.

My first German engagement this year came with BARBIERE in Bonn. The German audience loves their opera and it was a great experience!

This was a year for “firsts”-- I fell in love with the role of “Romeo” in Bellini’s I CAPULETTI ED I MONTECCHI. I performed it at Vaison-la-Romaine, France in an open air amphitheater.

1991

A big debut came for me with BARBIERE at Covent Garden. It was a most “heady” experience! My first, big International house welcomed me with open arms!

1992

Debut as “Isolier” in LE COMTE ORY at La Scala. It was fast paced and a fun place to work.

My first L’ITALIANA in Torino was terrifying! By the second performance however, I relaxed more into the character and started to have fun! It’s a role that needs to be “lived” in.

Dario Fo’s BARBIERE in Paris was a delight! I’d never worked with a director like that before. He taught me to push my physical limits out farther beyond what I thought I was capable of.

DGG recording of SEMIRAMIDE was a fantastic experience and I still believe it’s one of my best offerings on disc. We recorded in a city I came to love-Vienna.

Renate Kupfer from Teldec Classics Recordings recruited me to sing “Rosina” for their new recording of BARBIERE. We recorded in Lausanne. The first day of recording a parade came into town and the noise was deafening!

My recording of GIULIO CESARE was awarded the Grammophon Award for the BEST OPERA RECORDING.

1993

Debut at the Salzburg Festival as “Dorabella” in COSI. It was a very important debut and I loved being there, but artistically, the production was not good. The cast and music were first rate. My BARBIERE recording was in evidence all over town and my face was plastered on the back of all the buses!

1994

I made my NY Carnegie Hall debut as “Romeo” in I CAPULETTI with Eve Queler and the Opera Orchestra of New York. With Mariella Devia as the “Juliette” it turned into an evening of “Anything you can do, I can do better!” We pushed each other to sing better and better every time we stepped onto the stage. The audience responded in an animal way that I had never thought possible for American opera public. It was exhilarating and also the start of everything for me in America. That night, Sarah Billinghurst and Jonathan Friend were there. That was the night I received an offer from the MET to sing “Rosina”.

CAPULETTI once again followed-this time at the Grand Theatre de Geneve.

Back to Rossini in this year with “Rosina” at the Statsoper, Berlin. That company ran like a well oiled machine--all the props there on the first day of rehearsals and schedules adhered to punctually. It was the Ruth Berghaus production where the sets are made of sheets with black painted chairs and tables on them. Dmitri Hvrostovsky was the “Figaro” with William Matteuzzi as “Lindoro”. We had a wonderful rapport with each other; constantly laughing. I looked like the “Marshallin” with my white wig.

The last highlight for the year was L’ITALIANA was given at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. The Buenos Aires public are fanatical about opera and loved the show!

My recording of SEMIRAMIDE for DGG received a Grammy nomination.

1995

My debut as “Rosina” at the MET happened in February. It was bitter cold and everyone was sick, including me. I made my debut with a temperature of 103 degrees. It was a huge success! I loved being at the MET. They treated me like a Queen and New Yorkers opened their arms wide to the returning American Prodigal daughter!

Vienna: RUCKERTLIEDER with Riccardo Muti at the Musikverrein. It doesn’t get much better than that! It was my first experience with Mahler and began a life long love with that composer’s music. On the last song of the RUCKERTLIEDER, a white dove somehow got into the theater and ascended to the top of the ceiling in full view of everyone right on the very last note of the piece. We all gasped. Mahler effects people that way!

This year marked my first big European recital. The Deutsche Oper Berlin. This began my association with Antoine Palloc, my accompanist and friend.

Dresden: Recorded Live performances of Schoenberg’s GURRELIEDER. It was one of the great highlights of my career. I felt like a little Rossini “bonbon” that had been plucked pout of the box and set down in Wagner land! My mouth was literally hanging open when I heard the orchestral accompaniment; such power, anger and beauty I’d never been a part of before.

The last big highlight of 1995 was making the recording of CARMEN in Munich with Sinopoli and a great cast including Angela Gheorghiu and Thomas Moser. I felt the music fit me like a glove.

1996

LA CENERENTOLA in Paris was terrific fun! I learned about the Parisian audiences! It was wonderful to be welcomed so completely!

L’ITALIANA in Berlin at the Deutsche Oper was put together so fast, but efficiently that it brought to home once again how well those German houses are run.

The Olympic Games in my home town of Atlanta, GA. Was an experience not likely to be matched in my lifetime. When I walked into that stadium, saw the Olympic flame and saw a stadium filled with excited people and saw the Olympic athletes, I started to tear up. It was an incredible experience. I sang the “Olympic Hymn” with great pride and thanks. When I was through, someone yelled “Jennifer!!!”

When I sang “Rosina” at the MET, I had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know the wonderful actor Patrick Stewart. So when the Hollywood Bowl decided to do CAMELOT, they asked Patrick to do “King Arthur” and he asked me to do “Guinevere”. It was such fun! When Patrick heard the orchestra for the first time he turned to me and just said, “Oh Jennifer!” I knew just how he felt.

My San Francisco debut that year was with “Rosina” and my little Schnauzer “Sophie” began what was to be her signature role: “The Dog of Bartolo”. She went on to do that role in La, Geneva, Paris, Buenos Aires and then made her debut at the MET in the Millennium Gala in 2000!

My first Coast to Coast Recital tour encompassed Kansas City, Quebec, Toronto, LA, Escondito, San Francisco, New York’s Alice Tully Hall, Omaha, Chicago, & Pittsburgh.

The year was topped off with HANSEL & GRETEL at the MET with Dawn Upshaw as “Gretel”. My recording of Gluck’s ORPHEE ET EURYDICE on Teldec was nominated for a Grammy. My first solo recording of WHERE SHALL I FLY (Handel/Mozart)was nominated for a Grammy.

1997

My debut at the Edinburgh Festival came in the form of a recital. I fell in love with that city and the people.

My first recording of a solo CD of Rossini AMORE PER ROSSINI was completed in London (Teldec) with Guiliano Carella conducting the English Chamber Orchestra.

I went back to Buenos Aires to sing BARBIERE.

Paris: Mahler 3^rd. It was my first time singing this piece and it blew me away!

Another American Recital tour: Sarasota, Thomasville, Atlanta, Ottawa, Washington DC at the Kennedy Center, Berkely, Palm Springs and Santa Fe.

1998

I began the year with LA CENERENTOLA at the MET with James Levine--the International Radio Broadcast on Jan.24^th. I came back in the same month of January to begin rehearsals for “Giulietta” IN LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN, again with the radio broadcast on Feb.7.

A tour singing the title role in GIULIO CESARE with Rene Jacobs and Concerto Koln followed in February, which took us to Bilbao, Brussels, Paris, Valencia and Frankfurt.

L’ITALIANA in Paris, BARBIERE and L’ITALIANA in Vienna followed.

In San Francisco I made a recording of CAPULETTI with Donald Runnicles conducting.

I ended the year singing “Romeo” in I CAPULETTI in the Robert Carsen production at the Bastille in Paris.

1999

I began this year singing at the Royal Opera House a concert with Claus Peter Flor conducting.

I made my NY Philharmonic Debut with DAS LIED VON DER ERDE and Kurt Masur.

GIULIO CESARE at the MET in a John Copley production with John Nelson Conducting. It was such a success that people were standing out on the street begging for tickets!

Recitals this year were given in Metz, Monte Carlo, Lisbon, Antibes and Chicago.

I went to La Scala to sing BARBIERE. It was a great experience to be on that stage again.

I had the great pleasure of sing the GURRELIEDER again in Pittsburgh and Toronto.

I made my Chicago Lyric Opera debut as “Ruggiero” in ALCINA with a dream cast consisting of Renee Fleming, Natalie Dessay and Rockwell Blake.

2000

Recital at the Palau de la Musica de Valencia with Antoine Palloc.

LA CLEMENZA DI TITO at the Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona was a terrific series of Concert performances with Julia Varady.

I sang CARMEN at the Washington Opera with Placido Domingo conducting and six different Don Joses!

I began giving Master Classes in Paris at the Conservatoire of the Opera Bastille and at the Levine School of Music in Washington, DC

2001

2002

I recorded IL SALOTTO for Opera Rara as well as “Elisabetta, Regina D’Inghilterra”. At the end of the recording of “Elisabetta” we gave a concert performance in London at the Royal Albert Hall.

I sang a wonderful concert of arias at the Prague Spring Festival in the spectacular Smetana Hall with Marco Guidarini

conducting.

A Recital in Montreal with Antoine Palloc went very well!

A Recital at the Wigmore Hall in London was received enthusiastically.

I made my recital debut in Brazil with Antoine Palloc --We gave three recitals in Sao Paulo and one in Rio.

GIULIO CESARE in Madrid in a Luca Ronconi production. I was made to look about 60 years of age and the production incorporated movies and posters from the movie with Claude Rains and Vivian Leigh.

My first “Charlotte” at the Klangbogen Festival in Vienna was in a fantastic production by Guy Joostens. Marcello Giordani was “Werther” and my husband, Bass Baritone William Powers was the “Bailly”. Bertrand de Billy conducted.

Concert in Vigo, Spain.

I finished the year off at the MET as “Orlovsky” in DIE FLEDERMAUS.

2003

LA DAMNATION DE FAUST at the Casals Festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

I sang the title role in ORFEO at the Teatro Real, Madrid followed by more Spanish appearances with a recital in Vigo; Concerts with the Orquestra Sinfonica de Galicia and the Orquestra Nacional de Espana ending up at the Liceu Theater for a major recital with A. Palloc.

I sang the Rossini STABAT MATER for a radio and Television recording; Bychkov conducting.

I recorded the role of ‘Alcina” in ORLANDO FURIOSO for Naiive records with Spinosi conducting.

One big highlight of this year was my return to the Opera de Nice where I began my career to sing Mahler’s RUCKERTLIEDER with Marco Guidarini conducting.

I ended the year by going with Seiji Osawa to Japan with the Seiji Osawa Project to sing “Orlovsky” in DIE FLEDERMAUS.

2004

I sang for the 35^th Anniversary of the first man landing on the moon and had the honor of meeting Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldren, Michael Collins as well as the crew of the next shuttle launch and their commander, Eileen Collins.

My first staged production of ELISABETTA, REGINA D’INGHILTERRA was put together at the Teatro Colon at Buenos Aires . Marc Verzatt directed, Eve Queler conducted and the costumes were the most beautiful, suptious and rich costumes I have ever seen!

I sang in Saint Paul with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra on their Masterworks series a wonderful concert of Handel Arias.

A recital and Master Class at Baylor University.

I sang a concert of LES NUITS D’ETE with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with Ransom Wilson.

Returning to Prague, I sang a sold out concert of arias at Smetana Hall with Marco Guidarini Conducting.

“Rosina” at the Teatro Lirico “Guiseppi Verdi” in Trieste with Daniel Oren conducting.

I sang HANSEL AND GRETEL at the BBC Proms concerts with Jane Glover conducting.

My Grant Park Music Festival Debut was as “Giulietta” in LA DAMNATION DE FAUST with Carlos Kalmer conducting.

A wonderful recital with Antoine Palloc followed at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and then I went to New Orleans to give a recital/master class for NATS.

Returning to Covent Garden, I sang “Giulietta” in LES CONTES D’HOFFMAN with Rolando Villazon as “Hoffmann” and Richard Hickox conducting.

 

2005

I began the year out singing a recital in Reno for the Nevada Opera.

Following came a Mahler 3^rd in San Sebastien, a RUCKERTLIEDER in Vigo and Coruna.

More recitals followed in Tryon, NC and at Oberlin (Recital and Master Class).

I was honored on the 20^th anniversary of my graduation from Princeton’s Westminster Choir College by giving a recital with Antoine Palloc and the Westminster Choir; by giving the Commencement address at graduation and by receiving a Doctorate of Music Degree.

LA MORT DE CLEOPTRA at Carnegie Hall with Peter Tiboris conducting and Mid-America Productions.

The Grant Park Music Festival at Millenium Park with a concert entitled SOUTHERN BELLE CANTO--a concert of blockbuster arias with Daniel Beckwith conducting.

A Concert of arias and duets with Mary Dunleavy at the Lanaudiere Festival near Quebec with Marco Guidarini conducting.

I returned to the Edinburgh Festival for a recording and concert of ADELAIDE DI BOURGOGNE with Guiliana Carella conducting.

I enjoyed singing an arias concert in the Napa Valley with the Symphony and Asher Raboy conducting.

I finished the year singing the role of “Elisabeth Griffiths” in the world premiere work by Tobias Picker called AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY at the MET.

 

 

Music: LIVE performance at 11:00 am of the cavatina to "Una voce poco fa" from IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA" by Rossini at the Chatelet Theatre, Paris with Jean-Christophe Spinosi  and l'Ensemble Matheus, 2005. This was sung as an encore.