Beth Taylor

Lauded by The Guardian for her “dark and focused” voice, “sensational coloratura” and “spectacular singing” and by The Times for her “fierce, indeed terrifying, cane-swishing” characterisations, Beth Taylor is one of today’s most electrifying young mezzo-sopranos.

In the 2023/24 season, Beth makes her role debut as Anna in Les Troyens with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, embarking on a tour that leads her to the Berlioz Festival La-Côte-Saint-André, the Salzburg Festival, the Berlin Festival and the BBC Proms. She also is the contralto soloist of Mozart’s Requiem with Raphaël Pichon at the BBC Proms, Paris Philharmonie, Palau de la Music of Barcelona and Valencia, Konzerthaus Dortmund, in Versailles and Bordeaux; of Mahler’s Symphony No 2 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner, Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette with John Nelson at the Gulbenkian Lisbon, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with Proinnsías O’Duinn in Dublin, Bach’s B minor mass with Gabriel Feltz in Belgrade and with Raphaël Pichon in Aix-en-Provence, Versailles and the Thüringer Bachwochen Festival. In her native Scotland, Beth appears in Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion and St John’s Passion in Edinburgh and Glasgow. With the London Handel Festival, she stars in Ariana in Creta. The mezzo-soprano also returns to the Opéra de Lyon in a new staged production of Mendelssohn’s Elias by Calixto Bieito and led by Constantin Trinks and sings Sorceress in concert performances of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with Il pomo d’oro, also recording the work. In summer, she returns to Glyndebourne as Cornelia in Giulio Cesare.

In the last three years, the mezzo-soprano has made a number of important debuts at prestigious venues: In summer 2022, Beth made her acclaimed debut at the Glyndebourne Festival as Bradamante in a new production of Alcina. Following her Deutsche Oper Berlin debut as La Cieca in La Gioconda, she returned to this theatre to make her role debuts as Arsace in in a new production of Rossini’s Semiramide, as Erda in Das Rheingold, Erste Norn in Götterdämmerung and Schwertleite in Die Walküre in Stefan Herheim’s new Ring cycle under the musical direction of Sir Donald Runnicles. She also made her debut at the Opernhaus Zürich as Giuliano Gordio in a new production of Cavalli’s Eliogabalo, sang her first Falliero in Rossini’s Bianca e Falliero in a new production at the Oper Frankfurt, where she made her house debut as Dardano in a new staging of Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula. At the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, she performed Argia in the first performances of Giacomelli’s La Merope in modern times with La Cetra and Andrea Marcon, while at Theater Basel Beth sang the contralto solo part in a staged version of Bach’s Matthäuspassion. The mezzo-soprano has appeared at the Berlioz Festival in La Côte-Saint-André as Ursule in Béatrice et Bénédict, at the Théâtre de Beaulieu in Lausanne as the contralto soloist of Mozart’s Requiem and at the Gulbekian in Lisbon as the contralto soloist of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.

Other recent engagements have led her to to Madrid and Basel as Cornelia in Giulio Cesare under the baton of Andrea Marcon, to the Nancy Opera House in her role debut as Bradamante in a new production of Alcina led by Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam in Mozart’s Krönungsmesse KV317, to the Aix-en-Provence Festival, where she made her festival debut in a new production of Rihm’s Jakob Lenz, to the New Generation Festival in Florence, where she appeared as Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro, to the Opéra de Lyon as Melanto, Anfinomo and Fortuna in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, to the Longborough Festival as Arnalta in L’incoronazione di Poppea, to the Iford Arts Festival as Rosmira in Partenope, to the Opéra de Lyon as La Reine/Le Coucou/Le Chat in Respighi’s La belle au bois dormant, to the Grimeborn Opera Festival as Fox/Dog/Hen in The Cunning Little Vixen and to the Fife Opera as Olga in Eugene Onegin.

Beth Taylor is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and The Open University. She is currently refining her technique under the tutelage of Jennifer Larmore and Iain Paton. Beth has participated in masterclasses with renowned artists such as Sarah Connolly, Susan Graham, Sir Thomas Allen, Sophie Daneman and Dame Emma Kirkby.

She is a grand finalist of the 2023 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, the winner of the 2022 Elizabeth Connell Award, 3rd prize winner of the 2019 Wigmore Hall Competition and the winner of the 2018 Gianni Bergamo Classical Music Awards.

 

August 2023

Videos

BETH TAYLOR Mahler Symphony No 2 "Urlicht" (2023)

BETH TAYLOR as Falliero in "Bianca e Falliero" (2023)

BETH TAYLOR in Rossini's Semiramide (Deutsche Oper Berlin 2022)

BETH TAYLOR "Weiche, Wotan, Weiche" (Deutsche Oper Berlin 2022)

BETH TAYLOR "Erbarme dich, mein Gott" Matthäuspassion (2022)

BETH TAYLOR Non ha più che temere (Handel: Giulio Cesare)

BETH TAYLOR Nel tuo seno (Handel: Giulio Cesare)

BETH TAYLOR Priva son d'ogni conforto (Handel: Giulio Cesare)

BETH TAYLOR Voce di donna (La Gioconda)

BETH TAYLOR Johannes Brahms: Geistliches Wiegendlied, Op. 91

BETH TAYLOR Vorrei vendicarmi (Handel: Alcina)

BETH TAYLOR Von den Stricken (J. S. Bach: Johannespassion)

BETH TAYLOR Sea Wrack (Hamilton Harty)

BETH TAYLOR Adagati Poppea - Arnalta's lullaby (Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea)