Nicholas Clapton (born 16 September 1955) is an English
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 ...
, singing-teacher and author.
Life and career
Clapton was born in
Worcester, England and read music at
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...
. He studied singing with David Mason and Diane Forlano, and made his professional debut at the
Wigmore Hall in 1984. In the following year, he was a double prize-winner at the Concurso "Francisco Viñas" in
Barcelona, and in 1987 won the English Song Award.
Clapton is particularly known for countertenor roles in contemporary opera, the heroic
castrato
A castrato (Italian, plural: ''castrati'') is a type of classical male singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice is produced by castration of the singer before puberty, or it occurs in one who, due to ...
repertoire of the eighteenth century, and romantic art song (in partnership with the pianist Jennifer Partridge). He has performed in major
opera houses and
concert hall
A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats.
This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that may ...
s around the world, and has given over forty world premières (including six operas).
Unusual events in his career have included: a
Purcell concert in that composer's tercentenary year in a former Palace of Culture in
Siberia; playing three different reincarnations of the great castrato
Farinelli
Farinelli (; 24 January 1705 – 16 September 1782) was the stage name of Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi (), a celebrated Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera. Farinelli h ...
; and accompanying himself on the
castanets in
Simon Holt's ''Six Caprices''. In concert and oratorio, as well as major works by
Bach and Handel, Clapton's repertoire includes
Wagner's ''
Wesendonck Lieder'',
Elgar's ''
Sea Pictures'',
Vaughan Williams' ''
Five Mystical Songs
The ''Five Mystical Songs'' are a musical composition by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958), written between 1906 and 1911. The work sets four poems ("Easter" divided into two parts) by seventeenth-century Welsh poet and Anglic ...
'' and the
Verdi ''Requiem''.
Having taught for several years at
Trinity College of Music
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...
in London, Nicholas Clapton was also a professor of Singing at the
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...
until 2015. He gives regular master-classes at the
Dartington International Summer School, and until 2013 was a Visiting Professor at the
Zeneakadémia in
Budapest. He has also taught in
Prague,
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
and the Netherlands. His 2004 biography of
Alessandro Moreschi was chosen by the ''Tablet'' magazine as one of its Books of the Year for 2005; (it was re-issued in a larger second edition as ''Moreschi and the Voice of the Castrato'' in 2008). In June 2005 Clapton became a Doctor of Liberal Arts of the Liszt Ferenc Music University. In 2006 he presented the documentary ''Castrato'' for
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002 television, and curated the exhibition ''Handel and the Castrati'' at the
Handel House Museum, London. His second book, ''Budapest, City of Music'', was published in March 2009.
Discography
*
Gerald Barry: ''The Intelligence Park'' (NM
and ''The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit'' (Largo)
*
Maurice Duruflé: ''Requiem'' (CRD)
*
Nicola LeFanu: ''Canción de la Luna'' (Naxos)
*
Nicola Porpora: ''Cantatas'' (Hungaroton)
References
biography of Clapton from his websitearticle about castrati, quoting Clapton* Clapton, Nicholas: ''Moreschi, the Last Castrato'' (Haus Publications, Life and Times series, London, 2004)
External links
article about ''Handel and the Castrati'' at the Handel House Museum, London, curated by Nicholas Clapton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clapton, Nicholas
1955 births
Living people
Writers from Worcester, England
English male singers
Operatic countertenors
Academics of the Royal Academy of Music
Academics of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance
Musicians from Worcester, England