Karen Cargill

Karen Cargill is a Scottish operatic mezzo-soprano singer. She has performed with the Metropolitan Opera and at the Edinburgh International Festival.

Early life

Cargill was born in Arbroath, Scotland.^[1] Her father was a plumber and her mother worked in a bank.^[2] She attended Carnoustie Academy. She studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama with an exchange year in Toronto, Canada.^[3]

Music career

She was joint winner of 2002 Kathleen Ferrier Award, with bass-baritone Jonathan Lemalu.^[4] She made her Scottish Opera debut in September 2007 with the part of Rosina in The Barber of Seville.^[5]

In April 2012, she recorded Berlioz's Les Nuits d'été with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Robin Ticciati (Linn records). In December 2012 she appeared in the supporting cast with the Metropolitan Opera for Berlioz's Les Troyens.^[6] In April 2013 she appeared with the Metropolitan Opera performing as Waltraute in the Götterdämmerung.^[7] The same year, she recorded Berlioz's La Mort de Cléopâtre with Valery Gergiev conducting.^[8] In April 2015 she appeared at the Weill Recital Hall to perform Mahler's Rückert-Lieder, billed as her New York debut in songs.^[9]

In 2016, she performed at the Edinburgh International Festival.^[10] In September of that year she performed at the Proms in the Park at Glasgow Green.^[11] In 2017 she performed "Um Mitternacht" (Rückert Lieder) at the Edinburgh International Festival.^[12]

In September 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cargill played Judith in Bluebeard's Castle in a London Symphony Orchestra performance which was made available online. She wrote about the experience and the role of Judith for The Guardian.^[13]

References

^ "Classical: Karen Cargill – 'We laughed about it – the logic was to cast me as SCO featured artist' ". The Scotsman. 2 February 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^ "Mezzo Karen Cargill reveals her forte". The Scotsman. 4 October 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^ Smith, Mark (4 April 2011). "When I was a teenager, opera seemed a million miles away, something I could possibly do – but my voice wasn't mature enough". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^ Jack, Adrian (1 May 2002). "Lemalu, first among equals. Kathleen Ferrier Awards, Wigmore Hall, London". The Independent. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^ "Popping offstage to the Barber". The Scotsman. 28 September 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^ Tommasini, Anthony (14 December 2012). "Different War Horse Does the Trick.Berlioz's Troyens Returns to Metropolitan Opera". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^ da Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna (24 April 2013). "Welcoming the Gods Back to Their Majestic Gloaming". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^ "Berlioz – Harold en Italie/La mort de Cléopâtre, Chandos Records
^ Allen, David (13 April 2015). "Review: Sarah Connolly and Karen Cargill in Separate Performances of Mahler's Rückert Lieder". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^ Bruce, Keith (15 August 2016). "Festival Music review: RSNO, Usher Hall, Edinburgh". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^ Gunn, Marianne (11 September 2016). "Music review: Proms in the Park at Glasgow Green". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^ Bruce, Keith (28 August 2017). "Festival Music review: BBC SSO, Usher Hall". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
^ Cargill, Karen (31 October 2020). "Behind closed doors: does love and isolation make Bartók's Bluebeard the opera for our times?". the Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2021.