Beth Taylor
Beth Taylor is lauded for her “strong presence both dramatically and musically” (The Arts Desk) and the “intriguing depth” (MusicOMH) of her portrayals.
In the 2021/2022 season, Taylor made her role debuts as Erda in “Das Rheingold” and as Erste Norn in “Götterdämmerung” at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where she also reprised Schwertleite in “Die Walküre”. She sang her first Falliero in Rossini’s “Bianca e Falliero” in a new production at the Oper Frankfurt, where she made her house debut at the beginning of the season 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 Taylor sang the contralto solo part in a staged version of Bach’s “Matthäus-Passion” and at the Opéra de Rouen she performed the Dritte Dame in “Die Zauberflöte”. In summer 2022, Taylor made her debut at the Glyndebourne Festival as Bradamante in a new production of “Alcina”.
Further engagements have led the young Scottish mezzo-soprano to the Deutsche Oper Berlin for her house and role debut as La Cieca in “La Gioconda”, to Madrid and Basel as Cornelia in “Giulio Cesare”, 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 Aix-en-Provence, 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”.
Other operatic roles of her repertoire include Constanza (“L’isola disabitata”, Haydn), Ottone (“Agrippina”, Handel) Irene (“Theodora”, Handel), Cornelia (“Giulio Cesare”, Handel), Old Woman (“The Day After”, Dove) and Ramiro (“La finta giardiniera”, Mozart).
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. Taylor has participated in masterclasses with renowned artists such as Sarah Connolly, Susan Graham, Sir Thomas Allen, Sophie Daneman and Dame Emma Kirkby. Taylor is the 3rd prize winner of the 2019 Wigmore Hall Competition and the winner of the 2018 Gianni Bergamo Classical Music Awards.
As of January 2023