Anthony Rolfe Johnson
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Anthony Rolfe Johnson (born November 5, 1940) is an English tenor singer.
Born in Tackley, he studied with Ellis Keeler and Vera Rosza at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He first appeared in opera in the chorus and in small roles at the Glyndebourne Festival between 1972 and 1976. His major operatic debut was in Iolanthe in 1973 with the English Opera Group.
He has been recorded in of Handel's oratorios, taken the role of Evangelist in Bach's St. John Passion and St. Matthew Passion, and sung solos in Haydn's Die Jahreszeiten and Die Schöpfung. Operas he has recorded include Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Idomeneo and La Clemenza di Tito, and Britten's Peter Grimes and also appeared in the latter's War Requiem, amongst many others. He has performed much early music, including Monteverdi's Ulysses and Orfeo.
He has performed at the world's major opera houses, including the English National Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Monnaie in Brussels, La Scala, Milan, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, the Vienna State Opera, and the Paris Opera.
He sang Polixenes in the world premiere of Philippe Boesman's The Winter's Tale.
Aside from opera, he has appeared in concert with the world's major symphony orchestras, such as the New York Philharmonic and Boston Philharmonic, and conductors, such as Mstislav Rostropovich and Seiji Ozawa. He has also given song recitals with Graham Johnson, many of which they have recorded; he was a founder member of Graham Johnson's The Songmakers' Almanac. In 1988 he re-launched the Gregynog Festival, remaining its artistic director until 2006.
He was made a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 1992.
