"Atherton’s voice is now not just a lush instrument but a superbly communicative one"
[The Times]
Elizabeth Atherton has firmly established herself as one of Britain's leading sopranos, equally at home on the opera stage or concert platform.
Well known for her ability to inhabit a role, Atherton's versatility is such that her repertoire extends from Monteverdi, Handel and Mozart, collaborating with conductors such as Harry Christophers, Laurence Cummings and Paul McCreesh, through to Shostakovich, Debussy and Britten, working alongside Pierre Boulez, Richard Farnes, Vladimir Jurowski, Sir Charles Mackerras and Mark Wigglesworth.
Atherton's musical intelligence has meant that she is also at the forefront of contemporary music, having forged a close relationship with Sir Harrison Birtwistle who wrote the leading roles of Eurydice and Medea for her in his chamber operas The Corridor and The Cure, and regularly premièring new works with conductors such as Thomas Adès, Martyn Brabbins and Thierry Fischer.
The breadth of Elizabeth’s engagements has included a concert tour of Beethoven’s Choral Symphony with The Hallé and Sir Mark Elder, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and Jac Van Steen in Prague, Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs with the London Sinfonietta and David Atherton broadcast on BBC Radio 3, performances in Dubai with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Richard Farnes as part of the BBC Dubai Proms, Handel’s Messiah with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Jeannette Sorrell, Barber’s Knoxville with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Robert Spano, and Stravinsky’s Threni with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski. Elizabeth’s recording of Shostakovich’s 14th Symphony with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and John Storgårds for Chandos Records was released in July 2023.
