Lesley Garrett,
CBE, is Britain’s
most popular soprano,
regularly appearing
in both opera and
in concert, on television
and CD; she has
won both critical
acclaim and the
affection of many
fans and music lovers.
As a recording artist,
she has eleven solo
CDs to her credit:
Soprano in Red received
the Gramophone Award
for 'Best-selling
Classical Artist
of the Year', Diva!
A Soprano At The
Movies, Prima Donna,
Simple Gifts, Soprano
in Red, Soprano
in Hollywood, and
I Will Wait for
You all received
silver discs and
A Soprano Inspired
and Lesley Garrett
both achieved gold
discs. Travelling
Light, was Lesley's
first album for
EMI Classics followed
by The Singer, in
2002. Lesley’s
latest album So
Deep is the Night
was released by
EMI Classics in
November 2003. Lesley
was also a featured
artist on the platinum
selling Perfect
Day single released
by the BBC in aid
of Children in Need.
Lesley's
own BBC2 television
series 'The Lesley
Garrett Show' continued
in the autumn of
2001 featuring programmes
from Naples, Seville
and New York with
guest artists Marcello
Alvarez, Ian Bostridge,
Alison Moyet, Michael
Ball, Maxim Vengerov
and Joshua Bell.
Previously titled
'Lesley Garrett…Tonight’
the series has featured
guest artists as
diverse as Renee
Fleming and Ladysmith
Black Mambazo, Dmitri
Hvorostovsky and
Marti Pellow, Michel
Legrand and Elaine
Paige. Other television
appearances have
included the documentary
‘Jobs for
the Girls’
(BBC1) with Linda
Robson and Pauline
Quirke, ‘Viva
la Diva’ (BBC2),
and ‘The Lily
Savage Show’
(BBC1). Lesley was
also the subject
of a South Bank
Show on LWT in 1998.
Autumn 2002 saw
two new 'special'
programmes for BBC2,
the first featuring
songs and music
from the album 'The
Singer' and the
second, a specially
filmed Christmas
concert featuring
Lesley and guest
artists Jose Cura
and Sibonglie Khumalo.
A third programme
was broadcast during
Easter 2003, titled
‘Sacred Songs’
and featured sacred
music from around
the world. Music
from the new album
So Deep is the Night
was made into a
film for BBC2, and
broadcast in December
2003, titled ‘Lesley
Garrett –
Desert Dreams’.
Lesley’s
operatic career
included early engagements
at the Wexford Festival,
Welsh National Opera,
Opera North, and
Glyndebourne Festival
Opera before joining
English National
Opera in 1984. During
her time with ENO,
Lesley starred in
many productions
and won critical
acclaim for her
portrayals of both
comic and serious
roles. Lesley made
her Royal Opera
debut in their production
of The Merry Widow
in 1997. Most recently
she returned to
the Coliseum in
the spring of 2001
for a revival of
her acclaimed Rosina
in Rossini’s
‘Barber of
Seville’.
She is now a member
of the ENO's Board
of Directors.
Internationally
Lesley has performed
throughout Europe,
the USA (most recently
appearing with Jonathon
Pryce at the Hollywood
Bowl in performances
of My Fair Lady),
Australia, Russia,
Brazil, Japan, Malaysia,
Taiwan and South
Korea, where she
sang Happy Birthday
for Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth
II in the presence
of the Queen during
her State visit
to the country.
For
Millennium Eve,
Lesley sang opera
and pop classics
with Bryan Ferry,
The Eurythmics and
Mick Hucknall in
the grounds of the
Royal Observatory
and National Maritime
Museum in Greenwich
to celebrate the
arrival of the new
century. In May
2000 her autobiography
'Notes from a Small
Soprano' was published
by Hodder and Stoughton.
Later that month
Lesley appeared
at the first-ever
Classical Brit Awards,
a gala fundraising
concert and musical
celebration for
Dame Elizabeth Taylor
and performed the
very last Abide
With Me at the 2000
FA Cup Final (prior
to the closure of
Wembley Stadium)
in aid of the NSPCC.
In September 2003,
Lesley joined the
radio station, Classic
FM as a weekly presenter
with her own show
on Sunday afternoons.
In
January 2004, Lesley
took part in the
inauguration ceremony
for Cunard’s
Queen Mary 2 and
in February she
travelled to Australia
for two concerts
at the renowned
Leeuwin Winery with
the West Australian
Symphony Orchestra
and guest artist,
Anthony Warlow.
In May, she toured
the UK once again
with a specially
devised programme
reflecting her recent
albums, ‘The
Singer’ and
‘So Deep is
the Night’.
Lesley was then
invited to be one
of the celebrity
dancers on the BBC1
hit show ‘Strictly
Come Dancing’,
together with her
professional dance
partner, Anton Du
Beke, she reached
the semi-finals
of the competition
having learnt to
dance the Waltz,
Foxtrot, Samba,
Rumba, Jive and
Quickstep amongst
others. Later in
2004 she will sing
the role of The
Fox in Rachel Portman’s
new opera, ‘The
Little Prince’,
to be filmed for
BBC2 and will take
part in BBC2’s
series ‘Who
Do You Think You
Are?’. She
will also be touring
the UK again and
performed in concert
in Leeds with Ruthie
Henshall and Michael
McCarthy for a BBC2
broadcast to be
shown at Christmas
time.
Lesley
was awarded a CBE
in the 2002 New
Year's Honours List
for Services to
Music.
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