Wilson-Johnson, David (Robert)

Wilson-Johnson, David (Robert), English baritone; b. Northampton, Nov. 16, 1950. He studied at the British Inst. in Florence, at St. Catharine’s Coll., Cambridge (B.A., 1973), and at the Royal Academy of Music in London (1973-76). In 1976 he made his operatic debut in the premiere of We Come to the River at London’s Covent Garden, and then appeared as the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte at the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff. He made his recital debut at London’s Wigmore Hall in 1977. In 1980 he created the role of Arthur in The Lighthouse in Edinburgh, and also appeared with the Glyndebourne Touring Opera. He first sang at the London Promenade Concerts in 1981. In 1988 he created the title role in the British concert premiere of Messiaen’s St. François d’Assise in London. Following debuts at the Salzburg Festival in Bach’s Si. John Passion and at the Paris Opéra in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in 1989, he made his U.S. debut with the Cleveland Orch. in 1990. He appeared for the first time at the English National Opera in London in 1991 in Billy Budd, and then made his Netherlands Opera debut in Amsterdam in 1993 in Birtwistle’s Punch and Judy. He returned to the Netherlands Opera in 1995 to sing in Schoenberg’s Die Glückliche Hand and Von Heute auf Morgen. In 1997 he sang in Pfitzner’s Palestrina at Covent Garden. His expansive concert repertoire includes works by Purcell, Handel, Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, and Berlioz, as well as much contemporary music.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire