Baker, Janet (1933–)
Baker, Janet (1933–)
British mezzo-soprano. Name variations: Dame Janet Baker. Born Janet Abbott Baker, Aug 21, 1933, in York, England; studied with Helene Isepp and Meriel St. Clair; studied at Mozarteum in Salzburg; attended master classes with Lotte Lehmann; m. James Keith Shelly, 1956.
Won Kathleen Ferrier Prize (1956); joined Glyndebourne Festival chorus (1956); began operatic career (1957); won Queen's Prize from Royal College of Music (1959); toured British Isles, Sweden, France, and USSR with Benjamin Britten's English Opera Group (early 1960s); made US debut at NY's Town Hall (1966); performed mainly with the English Opera Co., Glyndebourne Opera, and Covent Garden in London (1970s); retired from opera (1982) but continued to concertize; varied operatic roles included the Sorceress in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Pippo in Rossini's La Gazza Ladra, Lucretia in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia, and Polly Peachum in Britten's The Beggar's Opera. Named Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1970) and Dame Commander (1976).
See also autobiography Full Circle (MacRae, 1982); Alan Blyth, Janet Baker (Ian Allen, 1973); and Women in World History.