David Wilson-Johnson

Baritone

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• Reviews
• Repertoire
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  The baritone David Wilson-Johnson is one of Britain’s most established artists, and in a long and illustrious career he has been a regular guest of the major opera houses, orchestras and festivals under conductors including Boulez, Brüggen, Giulini, Harnoncourt, Knussen, Leonhardt, Mackerras, Mehta, Previn and Rattle.

  His many recordings include Mahler Symphony No. 8 with Sir Simon Rattle and the CBSO, Handel’s Belshazzar with Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert, Berlioz Damnation de Faust with the LSO and Sir Colin Davis and Britten’s Peter Grimes with Bernard Haitink and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

  Now specialising in concert and recital work, recent and future highlights include Oedipus Rex with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchester and Charles Dutoit, Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri with Simon Rattle and the Bavarian radio Symphony Orchestra, Bach B Minor Mass with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century and Frans Brüggen, and Handel Athalia with the Basel Kammerorkester and Paul Goodwin.

  David Wilson-Johnson is represented by Rayfield Allied in the UK.
  This biography is for information only and should not be reproduced.

• • Download press quotes

  • Requiem (Fauré), Ensemble Orchestral de Paris/Rolf Beck
    Hänssler Classic CD98.628 (July 2011)

    [Wilson-Johnson’s] ‘Libera me’ is noble and well projected

    Nigel Simeone, International Record Review

    Baritone David Wilson-Johnson is in typically fine voice

    Christopher Dingle, BBC Music

  • Athalia (Handel)
    Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 88697723172

    David Wilson-Johnson seldom gives a less than admirable performance and he is excellent here as Abner, with his extensive range and coloratura skill totally up to the tough demands of ‘ah, canst thou but prove

    Roger Pines, International Record review,

  • The Passion of Mary (H Blake),
    Naxos 8 572453, August 2010

    Excellent soloists – especially David Wilson-Johnson - bring the texts alive

    Matthew Power, Choir & Organ

    David Wilson-Johnson provides suitably stentorian delivery of the Prophet’s and Satan’s pronouncements.

    Malcolm Riley, Gramophone Magazine

  • Romeo et Juliette (Berlioz), Tonhalle, Zürich / Charles Dutoit
    May 2010

    Not only did David Wilson-Johnson bring a vocal strength to the part, so as to step up to the sound of the orchestra, but also the authority needed to perform such a part.

    Thomas Schacher, Neue Züricher Zeitung

  • Elijah, (Mendelssohn), Oxford Bach Choir/Nicholas Cleobury
    December 2009

    David Wilson-Johnson brought intelligence and feeling to his characterization of Elijah, proving a forceful presence right from the austere opening recitative. I particularly enjoyed his fiery exchanges with the prophets of Baal, and his biting sarcasm and mockery of their “mountain deities”. His fervent pleas for rain were also stirring (…). The aria It is enough, from the second half, depicting Elijah’s despair and frustration, was another highlight.

    Simon Collings, Oxford Mail

  • Jester/Death,(Taverner,Maxwell-Davies)BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Knussen
    November 2009

    The Stalwart David Wilson-Johnson steals his scenes as Jester (Death), as he should.

    The Gramophone

• David Wilson-Johnson Concert Repertoire

  Adams

  • The wound dresser
  • El Nino

  Albeniz

  • Merlin
  • Henry Clifford

  Bach J.S

  • B Minor Mass
  • Cantatas including Ich Habe Genug
  • Christmas Oratorio
  • Der Friede sei mit Dir
  • Easter Oratorio
  • Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen
  • Magnificat
  • Mass in A, G, F etc
  • St John Passion
  • St Matthew Passion

  Barber Samuel

  • Dover Beach

  Bartok

  • Cantata Profana

  Beethoven

  • Mass in C
  • Missa Solennis

  Berkeley

  • Mass in C
  • Missa Solennis

  Berlioz

  • L'Enfance du Christ
  • La Damnation de Faust
  • Lelio
  • Romeo et Juliette

  Brahms

  • Ein Deutsches Requiem
  • Vier Ernste Gesange

  Britten

  • Cantata Accademica
  • Cantata Misericordium
  • Noyes Fludde
  • War Requiem

  Bruch

  • Odysseus

  Busoni

  • Dr Faustus

  Coleridge

  • Hiawatha

  Cowie

  • A Choral Symphony (written for DW-J)

  Dankworth, J

  • The Diamond and the Goose (written for DW-J)

  Debussy

  • L'Enfant Prodigue

  Delius

  • Idyll
  • Cynara
  • Hassan
  • Mass of Life
  • Sea Drift
  • Songs of Sunrise

  Durufle

  • Requiem

  Dvorak

  • Requiem
  • Stabat Mater
  • Te Deum

  Dyson

  • The Canterbury Pilgrims

  Elgar

  • Caractacus
  • Lux Christi
  • The Apostles
  • The Dream of Gerontius
  • The Kingdom

  Falla

  • Master Peter's Puppet Show

  Fauré

  • Requiem

  Franck

  • Les Beatitudes

  Grainger

  • Shallow Brown, and other folksongs

  Gorecki

  • Beatus Vir

  Grieg

  • Dem Bergtekene

  Handel

  • Acis and Galatea
  • Alexander's Feast
  • Athaliah
  • Belshazzar
  • Joshua
  • Judas Maccabeus
  • Messiah
  • Poro
  • Riccardo Primo
  • Samson
  • Saul
  • Semele
  • Solomon
  • Theodora
  • Chandos Anthems

  Haydn

  • All Masses
  • L'Isola Disabitata
  • Stabat Mater
  • The Creation
  • The Return of Tobias
  • The Seasons

  Henze

  • The Raft of the Medusa
  • Elegy for Young Lovers

  Hindemith

  • Requiem

  Hold

  • Old Scarlett (written for DW-J)

  Holst

  • Savitri

  Honnegger

  • Une Cantate de Noel

  Hughes

  • Dewi Sant

  Ibert

  • Four Songs of Don Quixote

  Janacek

  • Glagolitic Mass

  Knussen

  • Where the wild Things Are
  • Higglety Pigglety Pop

  Liszt

  • Hungarian Coronation Mass

  Lutoslawski

  • Les Espaces du sommeil
  • Tarantella (written for DW-J)

  Mahler

  • Das Klagende Lied
  • Des Knaben Wunderhorn
  • Symphony no. 8 (Pater Ecstaticus & Profundis)

  Martin

  • Der Sturm
  • Golgotha
  • Et in Terra Pax
  • Et la Vie l'Emporta
  • Jedermann Monologues
  • Requiem

  Martinu

  • The Epic of Gilgamesh

  Matthews

  • The Great Journey (written for DW-J)

  Maxwell Davies

  • Black Pentecost
  • Eight Songs for a Mad King**
  • Jacobite Rising
  • Sea Elegy
  • Taverner
  • The Lighthouse (written for DW-J)

  Mendelssohn

  • Elijah
  • St Paul
  • Te Deum

  Milner

  • The Water and the Fire

  Monteverdi

  • Vespers of 1610 and 1640

  Moussorgsky

  • Songs and Dances of Death
  • A Night on a Bare Mountain

  Mozart

  • All Masses
  • Requiem

  Nielsen

  • Symphony no. 3

  Penderecki

  • St Luke Passion

  Petrassi

  • Beatitudines

  Poulenc

  • Le Bal Masqué

  Prokofiev

  • Lieutenant Kitje

  Puccini

  • Messa di Gloria

  Purcell

  • Come ye Sons of Art
  • King Arthur
  • Hail Bright Cecilia
  • The Faery Queen

  Rachmaninoff

  • Spring Cantata
  • The Bells

  Rameau

  • Les Boreades (Boree)

  Ravel

  • Deux melodies hebraiques
  • Don Quichotte a Dulcinee
  • L'Enfant et les Sortilleges (L'arbre, l'horloge. le chat)
  • Myrrha

  Rossini

  • Messa di Gloria

  Rubbra

  • Four Mediaeval Lyrics

  Schönberg

  • A Survivor from Warsaw
  • Die Glückliche Hand
  • Gurrelieder (Bauer)
  • Ode to Napoleon
  • Serenade
  • Von Heute auf Morgen

  Schubert

  • All Masses

  Schumann

  • Paradies und die Peri
  • Requiem

  Sessions

  • When Lilacs last in the Dooryard Bloomed

  Shostakovich

  • King Lear
  • Michelangelo Sonnetts
  • Symphony no. 14

  Sohal

  • The Wanderer (written for DW-J)

  Stanford

  • Songs of the Fleet
  • Songs of the Sea
  • Requiem

  Strawinsky

  • Abraham and Isaac
  • Canticum Sacrum
  • Les Noces
  • Oedipus Rex (Creaon, Tiresias, Messenger)
  • Pulcinella
  • Renard
  • The Flood
  • Threni
  • Verlaine Songs

  Szymanowski

  • Stabat Mater

  Taverner

  • The Whale

  Telemann

  • Das Befreite Israel
  • Der Tod Jesu

  Tschaikovsky

  • Moscow Cantata

  Tippet

  • A Child of our Time
  • Caliban's Song (written for DW-J)
  • The Vision of St Augustine
  • The Mask of Time

  Turnage

  • The Torn Fields

  Vaughan Williams

  • A Sea Symphony
  • Dona Nobis Pacem
  • Five Mystical Songs
  • Hodie
  • Serenade to Music
  • Tudor Portraits
  • The House of Life

  Verdi

  • Requiem

  Walker

  • De Profundis (written for DW-J)

  Walton

  • Belshazzar's Feast
  • Gloria
  • Façade

  Webern

  • Cantata no. 2

  Weill

  • Das Berliner Requiem
  • Mahagonny Songspiel

  Wolf

  • Manuel Venegas
  • 3 Michelangelo Lieder

  Zemlinski

  • Lyric Symphony

  David Wilson-Johnson Opera Repertoire

  Adams

  • Nixon in China (Chou En-Lai)

  Barber, Samuel

  • Antony and Cleopatra (Antony)

  Beethoven

  • Fidelio/Leonora (Fernando)

  Berlioz

  • La Damnation de Faust (Mephistopheles)
  • Les Troyens (Chorebe)

  Birtwistle

  • Punch and Judy (Choregos/Jack Ketch)

  Britten

  • Billy Budd (Mr Redburn)
  • Owen Wingrave (Owen)
  • Peter Grimes (Balstrode/Swallow)
  • The Rape of Lucretia (Collatinus)

  Delius

  • A Village Romeo and Juliet (Dark Fiddler)

  Donizetti

  • L'Elisir d'Amore (Dulcamara)

  Enesco

  • Oedipe (Oedipe)

  Goehr, Alexander

  • Arianna (Il consigliero et al)

  Gounod

  • Romeo et Juliette (Duke of Verona)

  Massenet

  • Le Jongleur de Notre Dame (Prior)
  • Werther (Johann)

  Maxwell Davies

  • Eight Songs for a Mad King (King)
  • Taverner
  • The Lighthouse (Arthur)

  Messiaen

  • St Francois d'Assise (Francois)

  Moussorgsky

  • Boris Godunov (Tchelkalov)
  • Sorotchinsky Fair (Devil)

  Mozart

  • Cosi Fan Tutte (Alfonso)
  • Die Zauberflöte (Sprecher)
  • La Finta Giardiniera (Nardo)
  • Zaide (Allazim)

  Puccini

  • Madama Butterfly (Yamadori)

  Rachmaninoff

  • Francesca di Rimini (Lanceotto)

  Ravel

  • L'Enfant des Sortileges
  • L'Heure Espagnole (Don Inigo Gomez)

  Rimsky-Korsakov

  • Le Coq d'Or (Polkan)
  • The Invisible City of Kitezh

  Schönberg

  • Die Glückliche Hand (Ein Mann)
  • Moses and Aaron (Moses)
  • Von Heute auf Morgen (Der Mann)

  Smyth

  • The Wreckers (Laurence)

  Strauss, Johann

  • Die Fledermaus (Falke)

  Stravinski

  • Le Rossignol (Emperor)
  • Oedipus Rex (Creon/Tiresias)

  Szymanowski

  • King Roger (Roger)

  Tippett

  • A Midsummer Marriage (King Fisher)
  • King Priam (Priam)
  • The Ice Break (Lev)
  • We come to the River

  Wagner

  • Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Kothner)
  • Tristan and Isolde (Kurwenal)

  Weber

  • Euryanthe (The King)
  • Oberon
  • Peter Schmoll

• Photos

  • 
    David Wilson-Johnson
    Photo by Philippe Christin

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  • 
    David Wilson-Johnson
    Photo by Philippe Christin

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