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Nancy Argenta (Soprano)

Born: January 17, 1957 - Nelson, British Columbia, Canada

The Canadian soprano, Nancy Argenta (real name: Herbison), was born and raised in Canada, but moved to England in 1982. She spent her early years in the settlement of Argenta, from which she later took her professional name. She was a student of Jacob Hann in Vancouver and of Martin Chambers at the University of Western Ontario, graduating in 1980. The same year she won 1st prize in the S.C. Eckhardt-Gramastté Competition. After further training with Jacqueline Richard in Düsseldorf from 1980 to 1981, she settled in London and completed her studies. Among her teachers there were Sir Peter Pears, Gérard Souzay and Vera Rosza with whom she works occasionally even today.

In 1983 Nancy Argenta attracted critical attention as La Chasseuresse in Rameau’ Hyppolyte at Aricie at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Since making her professional debut in 1983 she has established a reputation as one of the foremost sopranos of her generation. She is generally regarded as "the supreme Handel soprano of our age". However, this probably fails to show her wide range of repertoire, as she is also a renowned interpreter of J.S. Bach, Purcell, W.A. Mozart, Schubert and even Arnold Schoenberg. Her repertoire stretches from the 17th century to the present and comprises songs as well as oratorio and opera.

Nancy Argenta works with several of the great English conductors and orchestras, but is also interested in working with fewer musicians. This is why she regularly performs with some of London's most famous chamber music ensembles. She goes on concert tours with all of these partners, but also with recital evenings and can be heard at many of the international festivals, e.g. at Aix-en-Provence, Aldeburgh, Bath, Berlin, Göttingen, New York, and Vienna, and, of course, she often performs in the various concert halls in London. She has worked with the most of the leading Early Music conductors on both sides of the Atlantic.

Nancy Argenta has recorded widely, winning prizes and critical acclaim not only for her Baroque interpretation, but also for a disc of Schubert’s Lieder.

After having England as her home for much of her career, Nancy Argenta currently lives in Victoria, British Columbia and teaches at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. Among her pupils and/or singers who have attended her master-classes: Jonathon Adams (Baritone), Aliz Ballabás (Soprano), Emöke Barath (Soprano), Isaiah Bell (Tenor), Éva Bodrogi (Soprano), Rebecca Claborn (Mezzo-soprano), Laia Cortés-Calafell (Mezzo-Soprano), Esther Ebbinge (Soprano), Flavio Ferri-Benedetti (Counter-tenor), Laia Frigolé (Soprano), Rebecca Genge (Soprano), Kyle Guilfoyle (Counter-tenor), Jehonatan Haimovich (Baritone), Noémi Kiss (Soprano), Matthias Koch (Counter-tenor), Ellen McAteer (Soprano), Kimberly McCord (Soprano), Anna Molnár (Mezzo-soprano), Bernadett Nagy (Mezzo-soprano), Dávid Szigetvári (Tenor), Hannah Tarder-Stoll (Soprano), Bronwyn Thies-Thompson (Soprano).


Sources:
Liner notes BIS CD-841 (Cantatas 5, conducted by Suzuki, 1997)
24 Hours Bach Website
Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Classical Musicians (1997)
Bits & pieces from other sources
Contributed by
Aryeh Oron (April 2001, March 2024)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Diego Fasolis

Soprano

[C-2] (2000): CD-1: BWV 198, BWV 106; CD-2: BWV 1083
[C-3] (2004): BWV 205
[V-7] (2000, DVD): BWV 1083

John Eliot Gardiner

Soprano

BWV 11 [1st], BWV 36, BWV 37 [1st], BWV 43 [1st], BWV 61, BWV 62, BWV 106 [1st], BWV 198
BWV 232 [1st], BWV 243, BWV 245 [1st], BWV 248

John Eliot Gardiner

Soprano

Member of Monteverdi Choir:
BWV 232 [1st, 1985], BWV 245 [1st, 1986]

Paul Goodwin

Soprano

BWV 244

Richard Hickox

Soprano

BWV 232

Monica Huggett

Soprano

[C-1] (1993): BWV 82a, BWV 199, BWV 51
[C-2] (1993): BWV 84, BWV 209, BWV 202

Sigiswald Kuijken

Soprano

BWV 49, BWV 58

Kenneth Montgomery

Soprano

R. Keiser: Brockes-Passion

Dwight Oltman

Soprano

BWV 51 [2nd], BWV 130 [2nd], BWV 244 [8th]

Purcell Quartet

Soprano

BWV 233, BWV 236

David Shallon

Soprano

BWV 232

Masaaki Suzuki

Soprano

BWV 244

Links to other Sites

24 Hours Bach: Nancy Argenta
Nancy Argenta (Wikipedia)


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