Among the most compelling singing actresses of our time, American soprano ROBERTA
ALEXANDER enjoys international renown for her riveting, incisive characterizations, miraculous vocal and dramatic
range. Among the operatic heroines she has unforgettably portrayed are the title role of Janacek’s Jenufa (a
Glyndebourne production now available on Virgin Video), Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème, and especially the great
Mozart heroines: Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Vitellia in Mozart’s
La Clemenza di Tito, the latter a major success with both the public and the press at the Glyndebourne Festival.
In addition she has performed principal roles at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House/Covent Garden,
and the major Houses of Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Zurich and Venice. Recent North American highlights include concert performances
of Jenufa, Act 2 with Sir Simon Rattle and the Philadelphia Orchestra, in Philadelphia and at New York’s Carnegie
Hall, recitals at the University of Richmond and on the Vocal Arts Society in Washington, D.C., Britten’s War Requiem
with the Utah Symphony under its Music Director Keith Lockhart; Berio’s Epiphanies with Michael Tilson Thomas
and the New World Symphony Orchestra; and a Haydn/Mozart program with Neal Gittleman and the Dayton Philharmonic. She recently
sang the world-premiere of the opera Angels in America in Paris.
Equally esteemed as an orchestral soloist, Ms. Alexander enjoyed particular
success performing Ravel’s Shéhérazade with André Previn and the NDR Sinfonieorchester, telecast throughout
Europe. She has also performed with the Vienna, London and Royal Philharmonics; Royal Concertgebouw, Philadelphia, Cleveland
and Bavarian Radio Orchestras; Cincinnati, Atlanta and Dallas Symphonies; and collaborated with such distinguished conductors
as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Andrew Litton, Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davis, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Carlo
Maria Giulini, Leonard Slatkin, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Edo De Waart and David Zinman. She reunited with Seiji Ozawa and the Boston
Symphony Orchestra for Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and Tchaikovsky’s Romeo &
Juliet and the rapturously-received world premiere of Kirchner’s Of things exactly as they are. In addition she sang Copland’s In the Beginning with Michael Tilson
Thomas conducting the San Francisco Symphony.
An uncommonly communicative recitalist, Ms. Alexander has offered acclaimed
programs at New York’s Carnegie Recital Hall, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Vienna Musikverein, London’s
Wigmore Hall and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. An especially ardent and persuasive interpreter of American masterworks, her
latest recordings include Songs My Mother Taught Me and With You (the latter an anthology of Broadway songs).
Her voluminous discography on the Etcetera, Philips, Sony, Teldec and BMG reflects her astonishing mastery of varied vocal
styles: songs by Barber, Mozart, Bernstein, Ives, Copland, Strauss, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Puccini and Villa-Lobos; Handel’s
Giulio Cesare, Apollo e Daphne, Samson and Theodora; Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Idomeneo;
and such rarities as Goldschmidt’s Der Gewaltige Hahnrei and Beatrice Cenci, Heppener’s Four
Songs of Ezra Pound and an Edison-winning recording of Andriessen’s Songs with Orchestra.
