Paul Lawrence Vincent Esswood (born 6 June 1942) is an English countertenor and conductor. He is best known for his performance of

Bach cantatas This is a sortable list of Bach cantatas, the cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. His almost 200 extant cantatas are among his important vocal compositions. Many are known to be lost. Bach composed both church cantatas, most of them for ...

and the

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 libr ...

s of Handel and

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is consider ...

. Along with his countrymen

Alfred Deller Alfred George Deller, CBE (31 May 1912 – 16 July 1979), was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularising the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th century. He is sometimes referr ...

and James Bowman, he led the revival of countertenor singing in modern times.

Life and career

Paul Esswood was born in

West Bridgford West Bridgford is a town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Rushcliffe in the county of Nottinghamshire, England. It lies immediately south of the city of Nottingham, from which the River Trent divides it. Forming part of the Not ...

, England. He studied at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...

in London from 1961 to 1964 after which he sang in the choir of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

. His professional debut was in a performance of Handel's ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

'' for

Angel Records Angel Records was a record label founded by EMI in 1953. It specialised in classical music, but included an occasional operetta or Broadway score. and one Peter Sellers comedy disc. The famous Recording Angel trademark was used by the Gramophon ...

, conducted by

Charles Mackerras Mackerras in 2005 Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; 1925 2010) was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the Engli ...

(1967). Esswood has participated in over 150 recordings, including the alto parts of many Bach cantatas in the complete Teldec series by conductors Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Gustav Leonhardt. He has recorded ''Messiah'' four times, as well as extended works by Henry Purcell, Claudio Monteverdi, Francesco Cavalli,

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'', ''Marche en rondeau''. This theme is still us ...

and others. Among the roles in contemporary works written for Esswood are the title role in Philip Glass's '' Akhnaten'' and Death in

Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', '' ...

's '' Paradise Lost''. He also sang in the première of Schnittke's Second Symphony. Paul Esswood is a co-founder of

Pro Cantione Antiqua Pro Cantione Antiqua of London (PCA) is a British choral group which was founded in 1968 by tenor James Griffett, counter-tenor Paul Esswood, and conductor and producer Mark Brown. Their first concert was at St Bartholomew's, Smithfield with Bri ...

, an all-male a cappella group specializing in early music. He has also established a reputation as a conductor of

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

. In particular, Esswood has worked extensively in Poland as both a conductor and teacher. In Krakow he has conducted Capella Cracoviensis in works such as Purcell's '' The Fairy Queen'' and Vivaldi's '' Gloria'', while in Bydgoszcz he has conducted the Capella Bydgostiensis in works including Handel’s ''Messiah''. Other roles Esswood has held in the country include Visiting Professor of Baroque Vocal Music at the Academy of Music in Gdansk and Chief Conductor of the Polish Orchestra of the XVIII Century. 2020 saw him conduct Jean-Baptiste Lully's '' Armide'' for the

Warsaw Chamber Opera The Warsaw Chamber Opera ( pl, Warszawska Opera Kameralna, WOK) is a Polish opera company founded in 1961 by Stefan Sutkowski, its managing and artistic director from its inception until his retirement in 2012. On 15 October 1986, the Warsaw Cham ...

. In 2023, he helped to inaugurate the Poznań Grand Theatre's artistic season by conducting Handel's ''

Jephtha Jephthah (pronounced ; he, יִפְתָּח, ''Yīftāḥ''), appears in the Book of Judges as a judge who presided over Israel for a period of six years (). According to Judges, he lived in Gilead. His father's name is also given as Gilead, ...

''.

Selected recordings

* Jean-Sébastien Bach, ''Passion selon saint Matthieu'', avec Kurt Equiluz, Karl Ridderbusch, Paul Esswood, Tom Sutcliffe, James Bowman, Nigel Rogers, Max van Egmond, Michael Schopper, Concentus Musicus Wien, Chœur de garçons des ''Regensburger Domspatzen'', Chœur du King's College, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt - 3 CD Teldec (1970). * Georg Friedrich Haendel, ''Serse'', avec Carolyn Watkinson, Paul Esswood, Barbara Hendricks, Ortrun Wenkel, Anne-Marie Rodde, Ulrik Cold, Ulrich Studer, La Grande Écurie et la Chambre du Roy, conducted by Jean-Claude Malgoire - 3 CD Sony Music (1979). * Marc-Antoine Charpentier, ''David et Jonathas'' H.490, avec Paul Esswood (David), Colette Alliot-Lugaz(Jonathas), Philippe Huttenlocher (Saül), Roger Soyer (Achis), Antoine David (Joabel), René Jacobs (La Pythonisse), Pari Marinov ( L'Ombre de Samuel), Maitrise de L'Opéra de Lyon, Enfants de la Cigale de Lyon, et du lycée musical, English Bach Festival Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Michel Corboz - 2 CD Erato (1981).

References

External links

*
Paul Esswood (Countertenor)
Bach Cantatas Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esswood, Paul 1942 births Living people Operatic countertenors Alumni of the Royal College of Music People from West Bridgford Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music People educated at West Bridgford School