Gallery: Stars of the Glyndebourne Chorus

Gallery: Stars of the Glyndebourne Chorus | reviews, news & interviews

Gallery: Stars of the Glyndebourne Chorus

They had to start somewhere. Meet the stars who were once part of the crowd

by TheartsdeskSaturday, 26 April 2014

Thomas Allen starred in The Cunning Little Vixen at Glyndebourne in 1977. But in 1969 he was in the Chorus© Philip Ingram

Its constituent parts come in all sizes, tall and small, compact or full-bodied, and span the ages. But put them all together and an operatic chorus is a vast but single organism that sings – and moves – as one. The current Glyndebourne Chorus consists of 15 sopranos, 12 mezzos, 13 tenors and 18 basses. The longest-serving member has been singing with the Chorus for 18 years, but there is an annual intake from music colleges which will include several aspiring soloists.

Not everyone will make it all the way to the top, but our gallery of greats supplies ample proof that the Glyndebourne Chorus is a finishing school of rare excellence. To open our coverage of the 2014 season, theartsdesk invites you to cast an eye over the chorus’s greatest graduates.

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge

Anne Howells in Arabella, 1996. Chorus: 1964-66. © Mike Hoban, The Hoban Gravett Archive

John Tomlinson in Pelléas et Mélisande, 1999. Chorus: 1970-73 © Mike Hoban, The Hoban Gravett Archive

David Rendall in Otello, 2001. Chorus: 1974-75 © Mike Hoban, The Hoban Gravett Archive

Susan Bullock in The Queen of Spades, 1995. Chorus: 1983-84 © Mike Hoban, The Hoban Gravett Archive

Peter Rose in The Magic Flute, 2004. Chorus: 1986 © Mike Hoban, The Hoban Gravett Archive

Sarah Connolly (with Danielle de Niese) in Giulio Cesare in Egitto, 2009. Chorus: 1992-1993 © Tristram Kenton

Gerald Finley in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, 2011. Chorus, 1986-88 © Alastair Muir

Emma Bell in The Cunning Little Vixen, 2012. Chorus: 1998 © Bill Cooper

Kate Royal in Don Giovanni, 2010. Chorus: 2003 © Bill Cooper

An operatic chorus is a vast but single organism that sings – and moves – as one

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