Emma Matthews
Encyclopedia
Emma Matthews is an Australian lyric soprano
, noted for operatic roles, but also popular on the concert stage. She is currently a Principal Artist with Opera Australia
.
Born Emma Lysons, she grew up with three younger sisters in Fiji
, where her father worked as a maritime pilot
, and Vanuatu
before moving to Perth, Western Australia
. There she attended Perth Modern School
before studying musical theatre
at the Western Australian Conservatorium of Music, (part of Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
), but was persuaded by a teacher to switch to opera.
She sang with the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Western Australia in 1990.
Since her 1991 professional debut with the West Australian Opera
and appointment to Opera Australia
in 1993, she has appeared in every State of Australia, notably with the State Opera of South Australia
, Victorian State Opera and Opera Queensland
in Adelaide
, Melbourne as well as frequent appearances at the Huntington Estate Music Festival for Musica Viva
from 1994.
She is married to Stephen Matthews, a singer with a long association with Opera Australia.
voice (capable of a top F), her good looks, and her acting ability. She has appeared for Opera Australia as:
She has later taken on more challenging roles, often being compared with Joan Sutherland
who, with her husband Richard Bonynge
, was something of a friend and mentor.
Emma has also been well received in concerts, with a repertoire from Mozart Requiems, Haydn Masses, and Handel's Messiah to works by Brahms
, Poulenc
and Villa Lobos
, and Mahler
Symphonies 2 and 4.
She appeared with José Carreras
in Sydney 2008, then on New Year's Eve in Mozart's C minor Mass with Sir Charles Mackerras
and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
.
opera The Eighth Wonder
about the Sydney Opera House
, broadcast on ABC
TV the night following its world premiere.
Lyric soprano
A lyric soprano is a type of operatic soprano that has a warm quality with a bright, full timbre which can be heard over an orchestra. The lyric soprano voice generally has a higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingenues and other sympathetic characters in opera. Lyric sopranos have...
, noted for operatic roles, but also popular on the concert stage. She is currently a Principal Artist with Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
.
Born Emma Lysons, she grew up with three younger sisters in Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, where her father worked as a maritime pilot
Maritime pilot
A pilot is a mariner who guides ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbours or river mouths. With the exception of the Panama Canal, the pilot is only an advisor, as the captain remains in legal, overriding command of the vessel....
, and Vanuatu
Vanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
before moving to Perth, Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
. There she attended Perth Modern School
Perth Modern School
Perth Modern School is an academically-selective co-educational public high school located in Subiaco, an inner city suburb of Perth, Western Australia.The school, established in 1911, now caters for students with high academic ability....
before studying musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
at the Western Australian Conservatorium of Music, (part of Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts , Edith Cowan University was established in 1980 to provide performing arts tuition comparable to the highest calibre of national and international training benchmarks to be able to meet industry needs around the globe.The school is located in the...
), but was persuaded by a teacher to switch to opera.
She sang with the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Western Australia in 1990.
Since her 1991 professional debut with the West Australian Opera
West Australian Opera
West Australian Opera is the principal opera company of Western Australia and is based at His Majesty's Theatre in Perth.The company formed in 1967 and works in close association with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. As of 2008, the Chairman is Erich Fraunschiel and Artistic Director is...
and appointment to Opera Australia
Opera Australia
Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder of its time spent in the The Arts Centre in Melbourne...
in 1993, she has appeared in every State of Australia, notably with the State Opera of South Australia
State Opera of South Australia
State Opera of South Australia is a professional opera company in Adelaide, South Australia, established in 1976. Each year, the State Opera presents at least three major operatic productions at the Adelaide Festival Theatre as well as producing or supporting other smaller productions in The Opera...
, Victorian State Opera and Opera Queensland
Opera Queensland
Opera Queensland is an opera company based in Brisbane, Queensland. The company was founded with funding from the Queensland State Government in 1981, then under the name Lyric Opera of Queensland, after the Queensland Opera Company was closed in December 1980.It is after Opera Australia the second...
in Adelaide
Adelaide Festival of Arts
The Adelaide Festival of Arts is an arts festival held biennially in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Although locally considered to be one of the world's greatest celebrations of the arts, that is internationally renowned and the pre-eminent cultural event in Australia, it is actually...
, Melbourne as well as frequent appearances at the Huntington Estate Music Festival for Musica Viva
Musica Viva Australia
Musica Viva Australia is the oldest independent performing arts organisation in Australia and the world's largest entrepreneur of chamber music. It was formed in 1945 in Sydney by violist Richard Goldner...
from 1994.
She is married to Stephen Matthews, a singer with a long association with Opera Australia.
Roles
Her first roles took advantage of her sweet light coloraturaColoratura
Coloratura has several meanings. The word is originally from Italian, literally meaning "coloring", and derives from the Latin word colorare . When used in English, the term specifically refers to elaborate melody, particularly in vocal music and especially in operatic singing of the 18th and...
voice (capable of a top F), her good looks, and her acting ability. She has appeared for Opera Australia as:
- Damigella in L'incoronazione di PoppeaL'incoronazione di PoppeaL'incoronazione di Poppea is an Italian baroque opera comprising a prologue and three acts, first performed in Venice during the 1642–43 carnival season. The music, attributed to Claudio Monteverdi, is a setting of a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello...
(Monteverdi) in 1993 - Ilia in IdomeneoIdomeneoIdomeneo, re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante is an Italian language opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a French text by Antoine Danchet, which had been set to music by André Campra as Idoménée in 1712...
(Mozart) - Hero in Béatrice et BénédictBéatrice et BénédictBéatrice et Bénédict is an opera in two acts by Hector Berlioz. Berlioz wrote the French libretto himself, based closely on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing....
(Berlioz) - Papagena and Pamina in The Magic FluteThe Magic FluteThe Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
(Mozart) - Oscar in Un ballo in mascheraUn ballo in mascheraUn ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
(Verdi) - Sophie in Der RosenkavalierDer RosenkavalierDer Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac...
(Richard Strauss) - Marie in La fille du régimentLa fille du régimentLa fille du régiment is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. It was written while the composer was living in Paris, with a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard.La figlia del reggimento, a slightly different Italian-language version , was...
(Donizetti) - Nannetta in FalstaffFalstaff (opera)Falstaff is an operatic commedia lirica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV. It was Verdi's last opera, written in the composer's ninth decade, and only the second of his 26 operas to be a comedy...
(Verdi) - Rosina in The Barber of SevilleThe Barber of SevilleThe Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
(Rossini) - Blonde and Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem SerailDie Entführung aus dem SerailDie Entführung aus dem Serail is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie...
(Mozart) - Morgana in AlcinaAlcinaAlcina is an opera seria by George Frideric Handel. Handel used the libretto of L'isola di Alcina, an opera that was set in 1728 in Rome by Riccardo Broschi, which he acquired the year after, during his travels in Italy...
(Handel) - Almirena in RinaldoRinaldo (opera)Rinaldo is an opera by George Frideric Handel composed in 1711. It is the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage. The libretto was prepared by Giacomo Rossi from a scenario provided by Aaron Hill. The work was first performed at the Queen's Theatre in London's...
(Handel) - Servilia in La clemenza di TitoLa clemenza di TitoLa clemenza di Tito , K. 621, is an opera seria in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Caterino Mazzolà, after Metastasio...
(Mozart) - Cherubino in The Marriage of FigaroThe Marriage of FigaroLe nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
(Mozart) - Sophie in WertherWertherWerther is an opera in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann based on the German epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe....
(Massenet) - Adele in Die FledermausDie FledermausDie Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
(Johann Strauss)
She has later taken on more challenging roles, often being compared with Joan Sutherland
Joan Sutherland
Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s....
who, with her husband Richard Bonynge
Richard Bonynge
Richard Alan Bonynge, AO, CBE is an Australian conductor and pianist.Bonynge was born in Sydney and educated at Sydney Boys High School before studying piano at the Royal College of Music in London. He gave up his music scholarship, continuing his private piano studies, and became a coach for...
, was something of a friend and mentor.
- Ismene in Mitridate, re di PontoMitridate, re di PontoMitridate, re di Ponto , K. 87 , is an early opera seria in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto is by Vittorio Amadeo Cigna-Santi after Giuseppe Parini's Italian translation of Jean Racine....
(Mozart) (produced by Graham Vick) for the 2001 Sydney Festival - Stasi in Die CsárdásfürstinDie CsárdásfürstinDie Csárdásfürstin or A Csárdáskirálynő is an operetta in 3 acts by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kalman, libretto by Leo Stein and B. Jenbach. It premiered in Vienna at the Johann Strauss Theater, 17 November 1915. Numerous film versions and recordings have been made...
(Kálmán) - Genovieffa in Suor AngelicaSuor AngelicaSuor Angelica is an opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an original Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. It is the second opera of the trio of operas known as Il trittico...
(Puccini) - all four heroines (Stella, Olympia, Antonia, Giulietta) in The Tales of Hoffmann (Offenbach)
- Zwaantie in BataviaBatavia (opera)Batavia is an opera in three acts and a prologue by Richard Mills to a libretto by Peter Goldsworthy,commissioned by Opera Australia. The plot is based on the historical events surrounding the Dutchsailing ship Batavia....
(Richard Mills) 2001 world premiere - Lulu in LuluLulu (opera)Lulu is an opera by the composer Alban Berg. The libretto was adapted by Berg himself from Frank Wedekind's plays Erdgeist and Die Büchse der Pandora .-Composition history:...
(Alban Berg) - Bystrouškain/Sharpears, the Vixen in The Cunning Little VixenThe Cunning Little VixenThe Cunning Little Vixen is an opera by Leoš Janáček, with a libretto adapted by the composer from a serialized novella by Rudolf Těsnohlídek and Stanislav Lolek, which was first published in the newspaper Lidové noviny.-Composition history:When Janáček discovered Těsnohlídek's...
(Janáček) for Opera Australia - Philomele in The Love of the NightingaleThe Love of the Nightingale (opera)The Love of the Nightingale is an opera in two acts by Richard Mills. The libretto by Timberlake Wertenbaker is based on her play of the same name...
(Richard Mills) - 2007 world premiere - Cleopatra in Giulio CesareGiulio CesareGiulio Cesare in Egitto , commonly known simply as Giulio Cesare, is an Italian opera in three acts written for the Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel in 1724...
(Handel) - Juliette in Roméo et JulietteRoméo et JulietteRoméo et Juliette is an opéra in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. It was first performed at the Théâtre Lyrique , Paris on 27 April 1867...
(Gounod) - Lakmé in LakméLakméLakmé is an opera in three acts by Léo Delibes to a French libretto by Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille. Delibes wrote the score during 1881–82 with its first performance on 14 April 1883 at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Set in British India in the mid 19th century, Lakmé is based on the 1880 novel...
(Delibes) - Lucia in Lucia di LammermoorLucia di LammermoorLucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....
(Donizetti) - Giulietta in I Capuleti e i MontecchiI Capuleti e i MontecchiI Capuleti e i Montecchi is an Italian opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini.The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of Romeo and Juliet for an opera by Nicola Vaccai called Giulietta e Romeo. This was based on Italian sources rather than taken directly from Shakespeare...
(Bellini) - Gilda in RigolettoRigolettoRigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
(Verdi)
Emma has also been well received in concerts, with a repertoire from Mozart Requiems, Haydn Masses, and Handel's Messiah to works by Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
, Poulenc
Francis Poulenc
Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
and Villa Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Heitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works...
, and Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
Symphonies 2 and 4.
She appeared with José Carreras
José Carreras
Josep Maria Carreras i Coll , better known as José Carreras , is a Spanish Catalan tenor particularly known for his performances in the operas of Verdi and Puccini...
in Sydney 2008, then on New Year's Eve in Mozart's C minor Mass with Sir Charles Mackerras
Charles Mackerras
Sir Alan Charles Maclaurin Mackerras, AC, CH, CBE was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan...
and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra , commonly known as the Sydney Symphony, is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney...
.
Screen appearances
She appeared, billed as Emma Lysons, in the 1995 Alan JohnAlan John
Alan John is an Australian composer. He studied music at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1980. His compositions include original music for various plays, films and TV series , and the musical theatre works Jonah Jones, Orlando Rourke, and the musical Snugglepot and...
opera The Eighth Wonder
The Eighth Wonder
The Eighth Wonder is an opera by Alan John and with a libretto by Dennis Watkins. It was premiered at the Sydney Opera House on October 14, 1995 in the presence of the composer and librettist.-Plot:...
about the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
, broadcast on ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
TV the night following its world premiere.
Recordings
- The Edge by Nigel Westlake. pub. Tall Poppies TP-085, produced for an iMaxIMAXIMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
movie about the Blue MountainsGreater Blue Mountains AreaThe Greater Blue Mountains Area is a World Heritage Site in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It was inscribed on the World Heritage List at the 24th Session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Cairns from 27 November to 2 December 2000... - Handel Arias pub. Artworks AW029 in 2001, well-known pieces including her Morgana and Almirena parts with the New Zealand Chamber OrchestraNew Zealand Symphony OrchestraThe New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is the national orchestra of New Zealand. It is a crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, with 90 full-time players....
. - Emma Matthews in Monte Carlo, bel canto arias with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, recorded by Deutsche GrammophonDeutsche GrammophonDeutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
, released 2009 on ABCAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
Classics ISBN 4763555
Recognition
- Symphony AustraliaSymphony Australia- Symphony Services International :Formerly Symphony Services Australia Limited , Symphony Services International has been orchestrating excellence for many years....
Young Performers Award 1993 - Helpmann AwardHelpmann AwardThe Helpmann Awards recognize distinguished artistic achievement and excellence in Australia's live performing arts sectors. The recognized disciplines include musical and physical theatre, contemporary and classical music, opera, and dance, with a comedy category introduced in 2006...
s for The Love of a Nightingale, Arabella, Lakmé and Lulu - Mo Award (Classical Performer of the Year) for Lulu
- Green Room Awards for her parts in Lulu, Clemenza di Tito, Rinaldo, The Marriage of Figaro, Batavia, Signor Bruschino, Julius Caesar and Lakmé
- Remy Martin Australian Opera Award Best Female Singer: 1996, as Lulu 2003, as Sofia 2005.