Sophie Daneman

Sophie Daneman is an English soprano particularly noted for her work in period performances. She developed a leading career in that field in the 1990s, particularly in France.

She studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where her teacher was Johanna Peters. She has become particularly well known for her work with <a href="spotify:artist:7mkcqdifmNkhfJ7XZ7WFFS">William Christie</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:652tly1eoAkKzhJ5z4LsEx">Les Arts Florissants</a> in France.

In the field of period performance, she has performed with conductors <a href="spotify:artist:0vBafEFOLXtq5mZuhMgsyL">Christopher Hogwood</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6mVScGa2sb499yuxxib0dM">Robert King</a>, Gérard Lesne, <a href="spotify:artist:0Dm0OYp3kyz8ML9Pkh4uwu">Jean-Claude Malgoire</a>, Sir <a href="spotify:artist:6NUhQz7eAEsZvjEHTKHux9">Neville Marriner</a>, Phillipe Herreweghe, and Paul Daniel. A few of the many works she sings in this historically informed style are <a href="spotify:artist:1QL7yTHrdahRMpvNtn6rI2">Handel</a>'s L'Allegro, <a href="spotify:artist:4NJhFmfw43RLBLjQvxDuRS">Mozart</a> concert arias, Beethoven's Egmont music, <a href="spotify:artist:4JSWO1Pf2zV991fq64uAce">Rameau</a>'s Castor et Pollex and Les Fêtes d'Hebe, Handel's Acis and Galatea, Rodelinda, and Messiah; <a href="spotify:artist:2iZhfTRloWLZKapYTZDY5p">Mondonville</a>'s Jephte, Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, and <a href="spotify:artist:2QOIawHpSlOwXDvSqQ9YJR">Vivaldi</a>'s Ottone in Villa (to mention those she has recorded). Other works in her repertory are <a href="spotify:artist:5aIqB5nVVvmFsvSdExz408">Bach</a>'s Christmas Oratorio and St. Matthew Passion, <a href="spotify:artist:1QL7yTHrdahRMpvNtn6rI2">Handel</a>'s Ezio, Saul, Agrippina, and Arianne; <a href="spotify:artist:5iAhVgz6P8Nylxijb0C65v">Monteverdi</a>'s Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria and L'Incoronazione di Poppea; and <a href="spotify:artist:4NJhFmfw43RLBLjQvxDuRS">Mozart</a>'s La Clemenza di Tito, Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, and Requiem.

However, she is far from being limited to the field of early music. She debuted with the Opéra-Comique in Paris in the title female role of <a href="spotify:artist:1Uff91EOsvd99rtAupatMP">Debussy</a>'s Pélleas et Mélisande, conducted by <a href="spotify:artist:5lfbI21DXOiKTCT3Gb802r">Georges Prêtre</a>. She has also sung in <a href="spotify:artist:430byzy0c5bPn5opiu0SRd">Elgar</a>'s The Kingdom at Wells Cathedral, Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music at the Barbican Centre in London, <a href="spotify:artist:7MJ1pB5d6Vjmzep2zQlorn">Britten</a>'s Spring Symphony with the <a href="spotify:artist:0VzwesVsEMjYDaMrrdukam">Hallé Orchestra</a> conducted by <a href="spotify:artist:3JzgNB1Kzlc17zuSzrC51x">Kent Nagano</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2ANtgfhQkKpsW6EYSDqldz">Mahler</a>'s Second and Eighth Symphonies, and Sir <a href="spotify:artist:0hW5OU8cM6ANp2gTi5WR2P">Michael Tippett</a>'s A Child of Our Time.

She has an active career as a recitalist, which includes both period performances of early music and music from the standard performance style repertory. She has sung recitals at Villa Medici in Rome, Wigmore Hall, the Purcell Room and other major venues. At the Greenwich Festival she sang a special program devoted to <a href="spotify:artist:7y97mc3bZRFXzT2szRM4L4">Chopin</a>'s songs with accompanist Leslie Howard and readings by Leslie Caron and participated in Roger Vignoles' "Landscape into Song" series. Others she has worked with in recital include <a href="spotify:artist:3uCTdq9rOnPCAlJMc4OzGn">Julius Drake</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2NNbGiGbrWpcEvQ08MtPrS">Eugene Asti</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0QVlaFCrge4YWt0yftF8FE">Ian Bostridge</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:31RaT1FwiadCsY9LLpdLGw">Graham Johnson</a>.

She has recorded for the Erato, Harmonia Mundi, EMI, and Virgin labels and appeared in radio and television broadcasts for Irish Radio and Television, the BBC, and RIAS Berlin.