Opera Scotland

Yvonne Kenny Suggest updates

Australian soprano.

Yvonne Kenny won the Kathleen Ferrier Award in 1975. Early in her career, she sang with Opera Rara as Eduige in Offenbach's Robinson Crusoe, and three Donizetti parts, the title roles in Rosmonda d'Inghilterra and Emilia di Liverpool, and Amy Robsart in Il Castello di Kenilworth.

From the outset she appeared regularly with the Royal Opera, starting with short roles such as the Woodbird in Siegfried. She created three of the enormous list of solo characters in We Come to the River (Henze 1976). Her repertoire at Covent Garden included Mozart (Ilia, Susanna, Aspasia in Mitridate, Pamina), Handel (title roles in Alcina and Semele), Beethoven (Marzelline), Donizetti (Adina) and Puccini (Liù). Appearances at Glyndebourne include Alice in Falstaff as well as more Mozart (Konstanze, Ilia and Donna Anna).

Her debut with Scottish Opera was as Pamina, and she returned as Konstanze before singing Maria Stuarda. She appeared in both runs of the famous Edinburgh Festival Carmen production, as Frasquita in the first run, and as Micaëla at the revival. For ENO she appeared as Romilda in Handel's Xerxes.

With the Australian Opera her appearances include Handel (Cleopatra, Alcina); Mozart (Pamina, Susanna, Fiordiligi), Donizetti (Maria Stuarda); Verdi (Gilda) and Lehàr (Hanna Glawari). With the Washington Opera she sang Countess Almaviva.

Appearances on the continent include many roles in Zurich as well as the Berlin Staatsoper (Countess in Capriccio); Munich (Romilda); Vienna Staatsoper (Cinna in Lucio Silla, Susanna, Countess in Capriccio); Venice La Fenice (Semele, Aspasia, Ilia); and Donna Elvira in Paris. She also appeared at the Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence Festivals.

She was awarded the Order of Australia in 1989.