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Hilary Summers

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Hilary Summers is a Welsh lyric contralto. She studied at the University of Reading, the Royal Academy of Music and the National Opera Studio in London. Her voice is low and warm, a rare voice type that in opera often sings male roles, witches and other unusual characters.

Music and breakthrough

She sings on soundtracks, including those of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Libertine and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. She has created roles for the composers Péter Eötvös and Elliott Carter, and has a close collaboration with Michael Nyman. In his opera Facing Goya she sang the lead role of the Art Banker. In 2000 she sang the role of Mars in the first modern revival of Giovanni Legrenzi's La divisione del mondo at the Schwetzingen festival. In 2008 she sang the Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas at the Opéra-Comique, under William Christie.

Influence

Her discography runs from the Baroque to the present. On Chandos there are Handel's Partenope and Semele, and there are further recordings of Lotario, Flavio, Serse and Israel in Ägypten. In this way she moves between early opera and contemporary music, and also on the border between classical and film music.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to an aria by Handel from Serse or Semele. Notice the low, dark colour of her voice and how nimbly she nevertheless sings the ornaments.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists