Eleanor Dennis

Introduction

We are delighted to announce the representation of Scottish soprano Eleanor Dennis, a recent graduate of the Royal College of Music Opera School.  She recently made her professional debut at the English National Opera in a new production of Vaughan Williams' A Pilgrim's Progress and she returns to the house next season as Erste Dame in a new production of Die Zauberflöte.

Her appearances at the London Handel Festival first brought her to the attention of London audiences, and it was in the title role of Rodelinda in March 2011 that she made her first major break through.  The critics were unanimous in their praise.  Fiona Maddocks, reviewing her performance in The Observer, wrote "she has a marvellous future. I'm not sure I can ever remember one who so obviously deserves to be a star".  In the 2012 Festival she appeared as Costanza in Riccardo Primo prompting Hugh Canning to call her "a big talent" and, this year, she returns to the Festival to sing Oresia in a concert performance of Telemann's Orpheus with Classical Opera and Ian Page. 

She has also sung the Fiordiligi Così fan tutte at the Royal College, Contessa Le nozze di Figaro for British Youth Opera, Romilda Xerxes for English Touring Opera and Lucio Cinna Lucio Silla for Classical Opera (of which she is an Associate Artist) at Cadogan Hall.

Her forthcoming concert engagements include The Creation with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias and Benjamin Bayl, Handel arias with the Early Opera Company and Chrisian Curnyn, Mozart's Requiem with the English Chamber Orchestra and David Hill and Erste Dame in concert performances of Die Zauberflöte at the Drottningholm Court Theatre with the Swedish Radio Orchestra and Daniel Harding.  

She has also sung the Fox The Cunning Little Vixen with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Jurowski, the title role in Francisco António de Almeida's Ippolito at the Festival de Sablé with the Orquestra Barroca Casa da Música and Laurence Cummings and Strauss arias with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and John Georgiadis.  

Please contact Keiron Cooke for an up-to-date biography.

Read More >

Repertoire

BACH
Cantata: Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen (BWV 11)
Cantata: Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis (BWV 21)
Magnificat
Mass in B Minor
Mass in G Major

BERNSTEIN
West Side Story (Maria)

BRITTEN
On This Island
The Turn of the Screw (Governess)

BRUCKNER
Te Deum

DVORAK
Te Deum

FAURE
Requiem

GOUNOD
St. Cecilia Mass

HANDEL
Alessandro (Lisaura)
Arodante (Ginevra)
Dixit Dominus
Il Pastor Fido (Amarilli)
Messiah
Rodelinda (Rodelinda)
Xerxes (Romilda)

HAYDN
Nelson Mass
Scena di Berenice

JANACEK
The Cunning Little Vixen (Fox)

MAHLER
Symphony no. 2

MOZART
Coronation Mass
Così fan tutte (Fiordiligi)
Exsultate Jubilate
Le nozze di Figaro (Contessa)
Lucio Silla (Lucio Cinna) 
Requiem

OFFENBACH
Orpheus in the Underworld (Diana)

POULENC
Gloria

PURCELL
Dido & Aeneas (Belinda)
O Come Ye Sons of Art

SCHUBERT
Mass in G

SULLIVAN
The Mikado (Yum-Yum)
The Pirates of Penzance (Mabel)

VIVALDI
Gloria

Read More >

Media Player

Audio

Press

Telemann

Orpheus

London Handel Festival

Orasia must have represented to 18th-century audiences roughly what the Queen of the Night signifies to subsequent generations of opera-goers. Eleanor Dennis gave a performance that was powerful, magnificent and terrifying; she gave all the signs that Orasia is only to be crossed at one’s peril. Not the least part of her achievement was her secure handling of the virtuoso lines and the stratospheric notes which Telemann calls for at the most dramatic moments. Curtis Rogers, Classical Source, 18 March 2013
Eleanor Dennis's firebreathing Orasia... Tim Ashley, The Guardian, 20 March 2013

Vaughan Williams

A Pilgrim's Progress

English National Opera

Dennis in particular makes a memorable ENO debut. Showcased over the past few years in Royal College of Music productions, here the powerful young soprano comes of age, showing just how far she has outgrown the chamber space of the Britten Theatre. Surely we will be seeing much more of her in future.

Alexandra Coghlan, The Arts Desk, 06 November 2012
Eleanor Dennis's full-throated Voice of a Bird stands out among the multiplicity of supporting roles. Anna Picard, Independent on Sunday, 11 November 2012
The trio of ‘Shining Ones’ in the House Beautiful introduced a trio of promising ENO debuts: Aoife O’Sullivan, Eleanor Dennis and Kitty Whately all in fine voice... Mark Pullinger, Opera Britannia, 06 November 2012

Handel

Riccardo Primo

London Handel Festival

Dennis, who reminds me of the young Anne Evans, is clearly a big talent, headed for ENO next season. Hugh Canning, Opera, June 2012
Festival-goers will be delighted at the return of Eleanor Dennis as Costanza, whose tone only seems to grow in colour and depth. Alexandra Coghlan, The Arts Desk, 28 March 2012
Eleanor Dennis, whom I heard in last year’s London Handel Festival 'Rodelinda', is vocally mature with secure top notes.
Nahoko Gotoh, One Stop Arts, 29 March 2012

Mozart

Lucio Silla

Classical Opera/Page at Cadogan Hall

Eleanor Dennis as Cinna well nigh sung everyone off stage in the vocal radiance, intelligence, poise and polish of her performance. Hilary Finch, The Times, 13 March 2012

Handel

Rodelinda

London Handel Festival

Scottish soprano Eleanor Dennis singing the title role of the grief-stricken queen. Statuesque and restrained in manner, yet always expressive, she has a voice resplendent in colour, with great reserves of stamina, a rich tone, and the fexibility to deal with all the tricky coloratura Handel throws at her. If all goes to plan, she has a marvellous future. I'm not sure I can ever remember one who so obviously deserves to be a star. Fiona Maddocks, Observer, March 2011
Dennis has matured into her stage presence, delivering a performance of serious vocal class that set the curve for her colleagues. Dispatching the likes of 'Mio Caro Bene' and 'Se’l mio duol with emotive skill and silken tone, it was in the punchier coloratura of 'L’empio rigor' and the glorious 'Morrai, si' that she really showed her quality and new-found control. Alexandra Goghlan, The Arts Desk, 15 March 2011
Eleanor Dennis was impressive as Rodelinda from the very start, tragic in her opening scene of two arias, imperious in 'Morrai, si', and nobly covering all the emotional bases on her way to a joyful reunion with her husband. Her voice is powerful, characterful, dazzling in all the coloratura, and with a very attractive gleam, and she has that undoubted advantage of being tall, so she has a naturally commanding presence.
Peter Reed, Opera Magazine, May 2011
...it was clear from the start that we had a first-class soprano in the title role...Eleanor Dennis has the look and manner of a grand tradegienne.
Michael Church, Independent, March 2011
Eleanor Dennis's fluent Rodelinda rises to an exciting top register. George Hall, Guardian, March 2011
Above all, Eleanor Dennis's Rodelinda shows how a pure soprano with a sharp edge can make Handel's music speak. Richard Fairman, Financial Times, March 2011
As the grieving queen, wife and mother, Eleanor Dennis's...powerful soprano made the eardrums shake...[a] talent to watch. Geoff Brown, The Times, March 2011