Ann Turner Robinson (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Turner; died 5 January 1741, London) was an English

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

of the 18th century.

Life

She was the youngest daughter of William Turner, a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and

countertenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a s ...

who was a contemporary of Henry Purcell, and is best remembered for her association with the composer

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

, in whose

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

s she sang.Grove On 6 September 1716 she married the organist John Robinson. They had a daughter who had a singing career, and other children who died young.''A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800''. SIU Press, 1991
Page 26.
/ref> Her first public performances were in 1718: in the April of that year she sang a cantata by Ariosti at the King's Theatre, and the year after she performed in a private concert, accompanied by Handel, as a replacement for

Jane Barbier Jane Barbier (will proved 9 December 1757) was an English contralto of the 18th century, best known for her performances in the operas of George Frideric Handel. She first performed in 1711 in the revival of the opera Almahide. She created the rol ...

. The librettist John Hughes commented at the time that Evidently the concert did nothing to harm Handel's opinion of her, for in 1720 she performed (alongside

Anastasia Robinson Anastasia Robinson ( – April 1755), later known as Anastasia, Countess of Peterborough, was an English soprano, later contralto, of the Baroque era. She is best remembered for her association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in who ...

, with whom she is often confused) in the first season of the Royal Academy, where she performed in

Porta Porta can refer to: People * Porta (rapper) (born 1988), stagename of Christian Jiménez Bundo, a Spanish rap singer * Bernardo Porta (1758–1829), Italian composer active in France * Bianca Della Porta (born 1991), Canadian ice hockey and rugby ...

's ''Numitore'', Domenico Scarlatti's ''Narciso'', and, most famously, created the role of Polissena in Handel's '' Radamisto'', a role that shows Handel's confidence in her abilities: the role calls for a range of e' to a'' and for some virtuosic excellence at a high tessitura. It is likely that Turner Robinson was the "Mrs Robinson" who would regularly sing between the acts in the dramas at Drury Lane (late 1725 to late 1726), and who performed seven of Handel's operatic arias in her benefit on 28 April 1726. In a later benefit in March 1729 she included no fewer than 14 of Handel's works (the majority of which had been originally composed for

Faustina Bordoni Faustina Bordoni (30 March 1697 – 4 November 1781) was an Italian mezzo-soprano. In Hamburg, Germany, the Johann Adolph Hasse Museum is dedicated to her husband and partly to Bordoni. Early career She was born in Venice and brought up unde ...

or Francesca Cuzzoni). In 1732 she sang in the first London performances of Handel's oratorios, as an Israelite woman in ''

Esther Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chosen ...

''.

Notes

References

Winton Dean Winton Basil Dean (18 March 1916 – 19 December 2013) was an English musicologist of the 20th century, most famous for his research on the life and works—in particular the operas and oratorios—of George Frideric Handel, as detailed in his boo ...

: "Robinson, Ann Turner", ''Grove Music Online'' ed L. Macy (accessed 10 October 2009
grovemusic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Ann Turner Year of birth missing 1741 deaths English operatic sopranos 18th-century British women opera singers