Jane Eaglen

soprano

Dramatic soprano Jane Eaglen has thrilled audiences worldwide earning her one of the most formidable reputations in opera today. She enjoys unique success with opera’s most demanding heroines including her signature roles of Isolde in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, the title characters in Puccini’s Turandot and Bellini’s Norma, and most notably, Brünnhilde in the operas of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. Eaglen has performed these roles to critical acclaim in most of the world’s leading opera houses including Deutsche Oper Berlin, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, l’Opéra National de Paris, Royal Opera Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera, Teatro alla Scala, and the Wiener Staatsoper.

Other notable performances include Ariadne auf Naxos for Budapest, London, and Seattle; Der Fliegende Holländer in concert with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra; Un ballo in maschera in Paris and Bologna; Tosca in London, Japan, and Australia; La Gioconda in Chicago and London; and Don Giovanni in New York, Vienna, Los Angeles, Munich, London, and Bologna.

Her equally impressive reputation on the concert platform includes performances of Strauss’ Four Last Songs with Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Gerard Schwarz with the Czech Philharmonic; Strauss’ final scene of Salome with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic, and Sir Richard Hickox and the London Symphony Orchestra; Wagner’s 'immolation scene’ from Götterdämmerung with both Bernard Haitink and Jeffrey Tate and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic; Verdi’s Requiem with Danielle Gatti and the Orchestra of St Cecilia, Rome; Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, "Symphony of a Thousand", with Klaus Tennstedt; Nabucco with Riccardo Muti for the Ravenna Festival; Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder with Claudio Abbado for the Salzburg and Edinburgh Festivals; Die Walküre and Siegfried with James Conlon in Cologne; and many others.

Eaglen’s many solo albums include arias by Wagner and Bellini; arias by Strauss and Mozart; Strauss’ Four Last Songs, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, and Berg’s Seven Early Songs; and Italian Opera Arias. Her recording of Wagner’s Tannhäuser with Barenboim for Teldec earned a Grammy® Award for Best Complete Opera. She may also be heard in Mahler’s Eighth Symphony with Chailly for Decca; in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Abbado for Sony; in Tosca for Chandos; as Norma with Muti for EMI, and in the title role of Opera Rara’s Medea in Corinto. In addition, Eaglen is featured on Sony’s soundtrack for the film adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.

Eaglen was awarded the 2008 Baccarat Award for services to the arts from the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation; was named an honorary Doctor of Music from McGill University, Montreal; and in 2009 receive another honorary Doctorate from the University of Leicester.

While continuing to perform, Eaglen has increased her pedagogic endeavors, serving as an artist in residence at the University of Washington School of Music. Ms. Eaglen works with apprentice programs such as the Merola Opera Program and the Cardiff International Academy of Voice annually, and is frequently requested to hold master classes worldwide.

< August 2009 >