Jones, Dame Gwyneth
Jones, Dame Gwyneth
Jones, Dame Gwyneth, prominent Welsh soprano; b. Pontnewyndd, Nov. 7, 1936. She studied at the Royal Coll. of Music in London, and in Siena, Geneva, and Zürich, where she made her operatic debut as Gluck’s Orfeo (1962). In 1963 she first appeared at the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff and at London’s Covent Garden; she also sang at the Vienna State Opera and at the Bayreuth Festivals from 1966. In 1966 she made her U.S. debut in N.Y. in a concert version of Cherubini’s Médée; her Metropolitan Opera debut followed there as Sieglinde in Die Walküre on Nov. 24, 1972. She also sang at the San Francisco Opera, Milan’s La Scala, Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, and the Rome Opera; appeared as Brünnhilde in the centenary performances of the Ring cycle at Bayreuth in 1976. In 1976 she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire and in 1986 a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. On Sept. 12, 1988, she celebrated the 25th anniversary of her Covent Garden debut by opening its season as Turandot. In 1997 she celebrated the 35th anniversary of her operatic debut and was engaged to sing Ortrud at Covent Garden. In addition to Wagner and Verdi roles, she also won praise for her portrayals of Donna Anna, Medea, Leonore, the Marschallin, Tosca, and Salome.
Bibliography
T. Haberfeld, G. J.; Pictures of Her Life and Career (Zürich, 1991).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire