The Royal Opera's Young Artists

[alison]

While watching Live from Covent Garden last night, I started wondering: have any of the graduates from the Jette Parker Young Artists programme, or previous versions thereof, actually become "big", or reasonably big, names in the opera field?

[bangorballetboy]

1 hour ago, alison said:

While watching Live from Covent Garden last night, I started wondering: have any of the graduates from the Jette Parker Young Artists programme, or previous versions thereof, actually become "big", or reasonably big, names in the opera field?

Marina Poplavskaya sang a number of lead roles at the Met.

 

Quite a number of others are pretty well known now, including (and apologies if I miss people from the list) David Butt-Philip, Anita Watson, Hannah Hipp, Ailish Tynan, Anna Devin, Sally Matthews, Jacques Imbrailo and Matthew Rose.

 

And there’s also Alfie Boe.

[Lizbie1]

1 hour ago, bangorballetboy said:

And there’s also Alfie Boe.

 

🤣

[Lizbie1]

Jennifer Davis - she who stepped in for Opolais in Lohengrin to rave reviews - looks to be on the cusp of a big career too (coronavirus permitting).

Edited June 28, 2020 by Lizbie1
Wrong word!

[Scheherezade]

Jennifer Davis also stood in for Aleksandra Kurzak as Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore a few years back whilst still a JPYA and did a fabulous job. Anyone there on that night will remember that Alagna withdrew with a sore throat during the performance and was also replaced with panache by a much younger tenor (I forget who) who very luckily just happened to be in the House. It was a great evening!

But I digress, and whilst I will agree that Poplavskaya probably had the highest profile of the JPYA graduates before her withdrawal from engagements and disappearance from the scene, there are those who had for some time questioned the enthusiasm of the casting directors who had marked her out for such a rapid trajectory. 

[Scheherezade]

Justine Gringyte also seems to be doing pretty well. 

[alison]

Thank you.  I'm afraid I don't follow the YAs sufficiently closely to necessarily retain all of their names, hence my possible missing out on certain of their careers.

[Diandri]

I rather liked Marina Popslavskaya in Hytner's Don Carlo & several other roles I heard her sing & was gutted when she disappeared off the calendars.  Sadly it turned out to be vocal issues, but she is now a high end realtor (estate agent) in Manhattan, New York.

 

Other artists I really liked included: Pumeza Matshikiza, Kishani Jayasinghe, Dawid Kimberg, Darren Jeffery, Robert Gleadow, Lukas Jakobski & Vuyani Mlinde. There was also a shortish Korean man with a booming bass/baritone voice that I'll never forget the impact of his opening solo as it looked so wrong but sounded sublime - ironically forgot to pick up a cast sheet that night so I'm not sure who it was.

 

On the subject of Alfie Boe - was never keen on him; he appears to think he's better than he actually is. Saw him sing Pearl Fishers at ENO years ago & he seemed to think he was playing the Palladium at panto. I think his recent partnership with Michael Ball is his natural fit; two tubsters trilling Lloyd Webber....

 

 

[Lizbie1]

8 hours ago, Diandri said:

There was also a shortish Korean man with a booming bass/baritone voice that I'll never forget the impact of his opening solo as it looked so wrong but sounded sublime - ironically forgot to pick up a cast sheet that night so I'm not sure who it was.

 

Was it Jihoon Kim, a bass (2011-2014, says the website)? I've seen him quite a few times then and since and always thought he was excellent.

[Diandri]

9 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

Was it Jihoon Kim, a bass (2011-2014, says the website)? I've seen him quite a few times then and since and always thought he was excellent.

 

Yes! Just googled a pic & listened to a youtube video & it's definitely him. Had a bit of an opera afternoon today as a result, but it's not the same as being in a theatre & I really miss it.