© Frances Marshall
ELIZABETH LLEWELLYN
SOPRANO
Specialising in the Italian repertoire, Elizabeth’s roles have centred around the operas of Puccini and Verdi. Known for her vivid portrayals of Puccini heroines and for her full, distinctive voice, Elizabeth has risen through the ranks since making her debut as Mimi La bohème, for which The Telegraph named her “Best newcomer in opera in 2010”. Elizabeth's recent notable highlights include role debuts as Aida for Theater Bielefeld and as the title role Luisa Miller for English National Opera, a return to the role of Mimì La Bohème for her company debut at Scottish Opera, as well as making her Metropolitan Opera debut as Bess Porgy and Bess, and her solo recital debut at the Wigmore Hall, London.
News
Debut solo album release: Heart & Hereafter
Heart & Hereafter reaches no. 5 on the iTunes chart!
May 2021, Elizabeth Llewellyn launched her debut solo album, Heart & Hereafter. Curated and recorded in collaboration with renowned pianist Simon Lepper and Orchid Classics, the album is a collection of songs by British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, many of which have never been recorded before.
As a project that has been evolving since 2013, Elizabeth first performed many of the works publicly at St James Church, London in January 2019, in a programme that included works by Coleridge-Taylor's contemporaries, Mahler and Strauss. Elizabeth has since performed variations on this programme in her recital debut at the Wigmore Hall, and at Snape Maltings in Aldeburgh. Looking ahead she brings the programme back to Snape Maltings this summer, with further performances next season at Sheffield University, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and Stapleford Granary.
In the run up to the album launch, from 3 May Elizabeth has released daily videos in a series of 'Inside Heart & Hereafter' episodes, exploring the elements that went into making the album, and shining a light on all things Coleridge-Taylor. Episodes can be viewed on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
This album was recorded and produced during lockdown period in the UK, and released on 28 May 2021, reaching Top 5 in the iTunes album charts. The disc is available to buy or stream through Orchid Classics, Amazon, Presto Classical and more, all available via the link here.
Media
Repertoire Includes
OPERA
BIZET
Carmen (Mïcaela)
BOITO
Mefistofele (Margherita/Elena)
BRITTEN
Turn of the Screw (Governess)
The Rape of Lucretia (Female Chorus)
Peter Grimes (Ellen Orford)*
DVOŘÁK
Rusalka (Rusalka)*
GERSHWIN
Porgy & Bess (Bess)
HANDEL
Rodelinda (Rodelinda)*
Alcina (Alcina)*
LEHAR
The Merry Widow (Hanna Glawari)
MOZART
La Clemenza di Tito (Vitellia)*
Idomeneo (Elettra)
Così fan Tutte (Fiordiligi)
Le Nozze di Figaro (Contessa)
Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira/Donna Anna)*
Die Zauberflöte (First Lady)
PUCCINI
La Bohème (Mimì)
Tosca (Tosca)
Suor Angelica (Suor Angelica)
Il Tabarro (Giorgetta)
La Rondine (Magda de Civry)
Madama Butterfly (Madama Butterfly)
Manon Lescaut (Manon Lescaut)
PREVIN
A Streetcar Named Desire (Blanche DuBois)*
STRAUSS
Der Rosenkavalier (Marschallin)*
Elektra (Chrysothemis)
Capriccio (Countess Madeleine)
Arabella (Arabella)*
TCHAIKOVSKY
Eugene Onegin (Tatiana)
VERDI
Simon Boccanegra (Amelia)
Aida (Aida)
Don Carlo (Elisabetta)*
Luisa Miller (Luisa Miller)
Il Trovatore (Leonora)*
Un Ballo in Maschera (Amelia)
Otello (Desdemona)*
Falstaff (Alice Ford)
WAGNER
Lohengrin (Elsa)
Die Meistersinger (Eva)*
Tannhaüser (Elisabeth)
WEBER
Der Freischütz (Agathe)*
* in preparation
Concert
BEETHOVEN
Mass in C
Missa Solemnis
Symphony No. 9
BERNSTEIN
Mass
BRITTEN
War Requiem
Our Hunting Fathers
ELGAR
The Spirit of England
Caractacus
HANDEL
Messiah
MAHLER
Symphony No. 8 (2nd Soprano)
Das Klagende Lied
Rückert Lieder
MENDELSSOHN
Elijah
MOZART
Requiem
POULENC
Gloria
R. STRAUSS
Vier Letzte Lieder
SZYMANOWSKI
Stabat Mater
TIPPETT
A Child of Our Time
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Serenade to Music
A Sea Symphony
VERDI
Requiem
WALTON
A Song for The Lord Mayor’s Table
Press
Mozart REQUIEM / English National Opera
“...the superbly focused singing of the four soloists: Gerald Finley, Ed Lyon, Sarah Connolly and particularly Elizabeth Llewellyn, whose timbre throughout was aptly angelic."
Richard Morrison, The Times (November 2020)
"Elizabeth Llewellyn's lustrous soprano shone brightly and warmly in her every contribution"
Martin Kettle, The Guardian (November 2020)
"...the four soloists, singing without the scores customary in oratorio, could hardly be bettered: Elizabeth Llewellyn the shining soprano..."
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph (November 2020)
"Elizabeth Llewellyn made another wonderful impression with her variety of vocal colours, expressivity, and the immense depth and richness of her tone. She brought radiance to ‘Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine’ before the resounding chorus brought the Requiem to a rousing conclusion."
Jim Pritchard, Seen and Heard International (November 2020)
"In February, Llewellyn was tremendously impressive in ENO's wonderfully sung Luisa Miller. Returning to that same stage after such a catastrophic year for live music-making was, she explained to Culture Whisper, a powerful moment. Her warm, luminous tone and Finley's seemingly effortless ability to make light work of the deepest, richest notes are to be marvelled at in their solo passages."
Claudia Pritchard, Culture Whisper (November 2020)
"Elizabeth Llewellyn undoubtedly shone in the performance with a gentle, delicate sound that felt solid. It consoled, too."
Jon Jacob, Thoroughly Good blog (November 2020)
Verdi LUISA MILLER / English National Opera
“Llewellyn has been absent from the Coliseum for too long, but she returned in triumph, singing throughout with a full-throated ease that amply filled the auditorium and portraying the character with a vivid naïvety that even the production’s vacuity couldn’t blur.”
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph (February 2020)
“…in Elizabeth Llewellyn we get a gorgeously-sung Luisa.”
Michael Church, The Independent (February 2020)
“With her compellingly focused voice, Elizabeth Llewellyn is superb in the title role.”
Hugh Canning, The Times (February 2020)
“Elizabeth Llewellyn’s Luisa, richly and subtly voiced, still manages to exude passion and sincerity.”
Yehuda Shapiro, The Stage (February 2020)
“If Elizabeth Llewellyn has done anything better than this Luisa, then I regret not being there. Llewellyn’s singing had secure coloratura, fearless top notes, as well as much vocal elan and her acting had both energy and passion. However well she started, she finished even more strongly with a heart-wrenching Act III ‘La tomba e un letto’ and the poignancy of her closing duets with Miller and Rodolfo.”
Jim Pritchard, Seen & Heard International (February 2020)
“Above all this, Elizabeth Llewellyn’s silvery, supple soprano brings out all Luisa’s goodness and pain, …it soars where it counts.”
Erica Jeal, The Guardian (February 2020)
Verdi AIDA / Theater Bielefeld
“Elizabeth Llewellyn, daughter of Jamaican parents, gave an Aida of enormous dramatic urgency….The highly dramatic British soprano effortlessly outshines the concentrated sound of the choir and orchestra, and has a poignant vocabulary of lamentation – an ideal piece of casting for this Bielefeld staging.”
Johannes Vetter, Neue Westfalische (December 2019)
“…the great Elizabeth Llewellyn, who has just hurried from her New York debut at the Met to Germany succeeds as an Aida bringing her innermost feelings out. Her soprano has tremendous power and size, but she also masters the delicate, heart-breaking singing.”
Uta Jostwerner, Westfallen Blatt (December 2019)
“Elizabeth Llewellyn chose Theater Bielefeld for her role debut as Aida… and she has given a gift to the theatre! For her interpretation of this role was highly expressive, touching, and vocally of the very highest quality. She was at the centre of this production at all times, even when she had nothing to sing. Her gestures, her body language, were always like a mirror of her interpretation of Aida. Her solo scenes were sung in a grand and penetrating manner, outstanding in the ensembles. The way she used vocal means to express the feelings of the Aida was an experience. A really great debut as Aida, for which she was celebrated by the opening night audience with ovations. BRAVO!”
Detlef Obens, Das Opernmagazin (December 2019)
Puccini MANON LESCAUT / Opera Holland Park
“she relaxed and released a wonderfully expressive and dramatic flood of glorious colour, the wait was proven more than worthwhile. In fact, the slight frailty at the start was not inapt, capturing as it did some of the innocence of the young Manon […] and the blossoming of Llewellyn’s soprano in the final two Acts communicated the maturity and growth borne of Manon’s experiences. Llewellyn exploited the full range of her soprano, including a rich chest voice, encompassing a vast emotional spectrum and sensitively capturing Manon’s femininity. As Manon finds herself at the limits of her resilience, so Llewellyn pushed her soprano to its limits, though never sacrificing her creamily smooth legato, with compelling power and effect. As her voice recovers fully, Llewellyn’s performance will be a persuasive reason to see this production.”
Claire Seymour, Opera Today (June 2019)
“Elizabeth Llewellyn has an exciting voice for Puccini, silvery and vital. […] The final act brought more power, and a tantalising glimpse of what this fine singer might offer later in the run.”
Erica Jeal, The Guardian (June 2019)
“Llewellyn […] gives full rein to her powerful soprano that never loses the crucial fragility it requires to illustrate Manon’s disastrous decision making.”
Gary Naylor, Broadway World, (June 2019)
“Star quality comes at last with the elegant and slightly sphinx-like presence of Llewellyn’s Manon”
David Nice, The Arts Desk (June 2019)
