CALENDAR
2022
June 23, 25, 26, 28, 29
April 30
2021
June 10, 20, 23, 26
July 1, 5, 11, 18
2020
December 9 (online)
September 24 (online)
September 10, 15, 18, 21, 23, 27
May 28 - 30
2019
November 3
May, June & July
April
2018
December 14 -17
December 7 - 10
October 19, 22, 27 & 31 November 3, 7 & 10
June
April 17
April
2017
October, November & December
June
February
2016
March 1
May 22, 26, 28
June 1, 4, 8, 10, 17, 21, 24, 26
July 1, 7, 10, 14, 17
July 25
2015
January
October 8, 9
November 24 - 29
October 15, 16, 17
October 22, 23, 24
October 29, 30, 31
November 5, 6, 7
November 13, 14
November 19, 20, 21
2014
March 15
July12
June 13,15 mat,16,18
July 19
July 28 - August 3
August 15, 17
September 22, 25, 29
October 2, 5
November 21, 23, 25, 27
November 21, 23, 25, 28
2013
January 22, 24, 27, 30
February 1, 3, 4, 6
March 15,17
May 15
June 1,6,8,13,17,20,25,27,28
November 20, 25, 26
December 4, 6, 8
The Barber of Seville
Nevill Holt Opera
Playing Berta
Burns and Mozart – A Strange Concord Recital
The Enlightenment Festival, Belfast
Festival New Commission with Iain Burnside (piano)
Falstaff
Grange Park Opera
Playing Meg Page
Owen Wingrave
Grange Park Opera
Playing Mrs Coyle
A Feast in the Time of Plague 1
Grange Park Opera
Playing McGuire
The Marriage of Figaro
Royal Opera House
Playing Marcellina
Janis Kelly Vocal Masterclass
Spheres of singing
An interdisciplinary conference on singing and song
Poulenc : Voyages
Royal College of Music, Britten Theatre
A piece defied and narrated by Nick Sears and directed by Janis Kelly
Performed by Janis Kelly and students from the RCM
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Playing Berta
Jack the Ripper by Iain Bell (World premiere)
ENO
Playing Elizabeth Stride
Singing Masterclasses
Sapienza Travel
Vienna
Venice
Marnie by Nico Muhli (US premiere)
Metropolitan Opera
Playing Mrs Rutland
The Turn of the Screw
ENO at Regents Park
Playing Mrs Grose
Singing Masterclass
Opera Prelude, Cadogan Hall
The Marriage of Figaro
ENO
Playing Marcellina
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Glyndebourne on Tour
Playing Berta
Le nozze di Figaro
Garsington Opera
Playing Marcellina
WATCH BBC ARTS FILM OF PERFORMANCE HERE
Nixon in China
Omroep Muziek, Concertgeboux Amsterdam conducted by Kevin Edusei
Playing Pat Nixon
Prima Donna
Hong Kong Arts Festival
Playing Regine St. Laurent at Cultural Centre Concert Hall
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Playing Berta
Il Barbiere di Siviglia
BBC Proms
Playing Berta at the Royal Albert Hall
Prima Donna (Deutsche Grammophon recording)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Playing Regine St. Laurent
Sweeney Todd
Welsh National Opera
Playing Mrs. Lovett at the Wales Millennium Centre - Cardiff
Sweeney Todd
Welsh National Opera
Playing Mrs. Lovett at the Mayflower Theatre - Southhampton
Sweeney Todd
Welsh National Opera
Playing Mrs. Lovett at the Bristol Hippodrome - Bristol
Sweeney Todd
Welsh National Opera
Playing Mrs. Lovett at the Venue Cymru - Llandudno
Sweeney Todd
Welsh National Opera
Playing Mrs. Lovett at the New Oxford Theatre - Oxford
Sweeney Todd
Welsh National Opera
Playing Mrs. Lovett at the Liverpool Empire Theatre - Liverpool
Sweeney Todd
Welsh National Opera
Playing Mrs. Lovett at the Birmingham Hippodrome - Birmingham
SCHUBERT'S MIRJAMS SIEGESGESANG
KORNGOLD'S PASSOVER PSALM
NORTH LONDON CHORUS, ST JAMES CHURCH
Soprano Solo
VERDI REQUIEM
CADOGAN HALL
OWEN WINGRAVE
ALDEBURGH FESTIVAL
Playing Mrs Julian
VERDI REQUIEM
ST ALBANS ABBEY
DIRECTING OPERA SCENES
Oxenfoord International Summer School by Malcolm Martineau
OWEN WINGRAVE
EDINBURGH FESTIVAL
Playing Mrs Julian
THE BARBER OF SEVILLE
ROYAL OPERA HOUSE
Playing Berta
THE TURN OF THE SCREW
TOULOUSE
Playing Miss Jessel at Opera Toulouse
OWEN WINGRAVE
TOULOUSE
Playing Mrs Coyle at Opera Toulouse
THE PERFECT AMERICAN
MADRID
Playing Hazel George
DEAD MAN WALKING
OREGON, USA
SOUTHBANK SINFONIA / CONCERT
LONDON
THE PERFECT AMERICAN
ENO, LONDON
Playing Hazel George
SATYAGRAHA
ENO, LONDON
Playing Mrs Naidoo
REVIEWS
Il barbiere di Siviglia‚ Glyndebourne on Tour
Classical Source (October 2017)
'Janis Kelly (Bertha) produced a pearl from her single aria – and made clear that this ageing spinster is still up for it.'
MusicOMH (October 2017)
'Janis Kelly was the sole representative of the first cast‚ and she was a finely sung‚ lovingly detailed Berta despite having to carry out embarrassing actions.'
Le nozze di Figaro‚ Garsington Opera
Arts Journal (June 2017)
'Marcellina is luxury casting‚ the wonderful Janis Kelly makes the role rollickingly funny.'
BachTrack.com (June 2017)
'The smaller roles are given luxury 3D treatment‚ especially Janis Kelly’s garish but still-glamorous Marcellina (whose transformation from spiteful cougar to tiger-mother is at once hilarious and touching)...'
Fine Times Recorder (June 2017)
'Janis Kelly is an unusually loveable Marcellina‚ the old retainer with a guilty secret. Many years ago‚ when I started my journalistic career‚ I hated the tendency of older critics to compare performances with those they had seen in what seemed to be the “dark ages.” Now I join them. In the 1990s‚ in the unprepossessing setting of Reading Hexagon‚ Opera Factory brought their touring production of Figaro with Janis Kelly in the role of the Countess. In more than 20 live performances of the opera‚ and many more on records and CDs‚ her performance stood out for its extraordinary beauty‚ vulnerability and depth.Now she turns to the (usually) old battleaxe role with affection‚ wit and charm‚ again entrancing the audience.'
Forum Opera (June 2017)
'Janis Kelly est une Marcellina épatante dans ce qui lui reste de rôle (son air est‚ classiquement‚ coupé). /// Janis Kelly is an amazing Marcellina in what remains of her role (her aira is‚ traditionally‚ cut).'
MusichOMH (June 2017)
'Has either Timothy Robinson or Janis Kelly ever failed to inhabit a role to such a degree that it’s impossible to imagine it being bettered? Unlikely‚ if their Basilio and Marcellina here are anything to go by. Robinson’s suave‚ caustic‚ impeccably sung music master and Kelly’s hilarious‚ persuasive housekeeper are absolute classics‚ and they form the perfect trio with Stephen Richardson’s sonorous Bartolo.'
Opera Today (June 2017)
'The last time I saw Janis Kelly‚ at Glyndebourne in 2016 as Berta in Rossini’s Barbiere‚ she threatened to steal the show. And‚ the same was true here: her Marcellina was a cross between ’Hyacinth Bucket’ and Queen Elizabeth II‚ but her voice is still fresh and youthful. The Act 3 revelations of Figaro’s origins were expertly done - Kelly switched from financial grabbing matriarch to matronly concern in the twinkling of an eye; and‚ Kelly’s theatrical experience no doubt was of enormous help to the younger members of the cast.'
The Independent (June 2017)
'...and Janis Kelly extracts laughter of the sort one more usually expects from an Orton comedy‚ as the frumpy housekeeper Marcellina.'
The Stage (June 2017)
'Special commendation goes to the excellent Janis Kelly as the social-climbing Marcellina‚ whose forceful personality is well matched by her costumes.'
The Times (June 2017)
'Plentiful chuckles met the hide-and-seek shenanigans; the comic timing as Janis Kelly’s sharp Marcellina was revealed to be Figaro’s mother was delicious.'
Nixon in China‚ Omroep Muziek
BachTrack.com (February 2017)
'Soprano Janis Kelly gave us a winning characterisation of the First Lady‚ Pat Nixon‚ in turn touching or almost comically impressionable.'
Opera Today (February 2017)
'His diction was crystal-clear‚ as was Janis Kelly’s in the role of Pat Nixon. Kelly sang with irreproachable operatic technique and the subtleties of a musical actress‚ every accent and colour sounding natural. Her Pat was a likeable mixture of practicality and feminine warmth.'
Il barbiere di Siviglia‚ Glyndebourne Festival BBC Prom
Classical Source (July 2016)
'Janis Kelly proved as nimble a dancer as singer in her aria‚ and even though it is Berta’s only big vocal outing it brought the house down.'
Opera Today (July 2016)
'Janis Kelly was rather luxury casting as Berta‚ and she made her single aria into a wonderfully show-stopping number.'
Seen & Heard International (July 2016)
'It was lovely to see the experienced Janis Kelly there as Berta‚ her Act 2 aria astonishingly characterful‚ her voice strong. '
Il barbiere di Siviglia‚ Glyndebourne Festival
Mundoclasico.com (June 2016)
'Una Janis Kelly vestida de traje sastre la cantó y bailó con el histrionismo necesario para merecer una de las mas grandes ovaciones de la noche // Janis Kelly dressed in a tailored suit sang and danced with the histrionics necessary to deserve one of the biggest ovations of the night.'
BachTrack.com (May 2016)
'Janis Kelly grabbed Berta’s little Act II aria and turned it into something quite wonderful.'
Financial Times (May 2016)
'Janis Kelly turns Berta’s little aria into a show-stopper.'
Mark Ronan.com (May 2016)
'Janis Kelly as Bartolo’s servant Berta inspiring spontaneous applause following her excellent Act 2 aria on the frenzy and craziness around her.'
Opera Today (May 2016)
'Janis Kelly showed that her Miss Marple-spinster’s outfit hid a rampant vivaciousness‚ and stole the show with Berta’s lament for missed romantic chances‚ ‘Il Vecchiotto Cerca Moglie’.'
The Stage (May 2016)
'Janis Kelly makes something of a showstopper out of her cleverly vocalised‚ wittily acted account of efficient housekeeper Berta’s aria.'
The Telegraph (May 2016)
'Janis Kelly’s outrageous scene-stealing as the housekeeper Berta drew genuine laughter.'
Sweeney Todd‚ Welsh National Opera
Opera (December 2015)
'Ultimately‚ though‚ this must be a paean to the exceptional Janis Kelly‚ whose portrayal of Mrs Lovett was simply outstanding and testimony to her consummate skills as a singing actress...the resonance Kelly brought to her characterization tipped the balance of power ever further in Mrs Lovett’s favour. Hers was the razor-sharp performance of the evening.'
Daily Post (November 2015)
'All the cast are excellent but a special mention for Janis Kelly as Mrs Lovett. She gets all the best lines and threatens to upstage Todd.'
Seen & Heard International (November 2015)
'The set‚ particularly the barber’s chair and cinematic effects are quite superb as are some of the performances. Particularly outstanding is that of Janis Kelly as Todd’s new woman. Hearing and seeing her as a singing actress reminded me of Eric Roberts as Doctor Bartolo in Rossini’s Barber‚ seen several times in Llandudno in the shared production with Opera North. Her every little tick‚ facial expression and body movement serving the creation of the part to perfection. She lives acts and portrays the role that is anything but appealing‚ but becomes the centre of the action creating a woman infatuated by the sadistic but imposing Todd as portrayed by David Amsperger – at least until she becomes a victim of the Demon Barber.'
BachTrack.com (October 2015)
'Clearest of all was Janis Kelly as an irresistibly comical‚ sinister Mrs Lovett‚ who seemed to be channelling Joan Sutherland‚ Fanny Craddock and Mary Berry in rapid succession‚ permed blonde wig sprayed firmly into place.'
Guardian (October 2015)
'Janis Kelly’s Mrs Lovett steals the honours‚ with fine comic timing'
Sunday Times (October 2015)
'Janis Kelly certainly isn’t the first opera singer to succeed with Mrs Lovett‚ but she’s the first in my experience not to sound anything like an opera singer. She’s one of the most creative artists in the business‚ a true theatrical chameleon‚ with plenty of rasp to her voice and a deft way with words to reveal the black wit of “Priest”. One of the joys of the staging is her appearance‚ after the success of the pie enterprise‚ as a ringer for Dick Emery’s peroxide drag persona‚ Mandy (readers of my age might remember her catchphrase‚ “Ooh‚ you are awful‚ but I like you”)‚ which Kelly carries off with delicious aplomb.'
The Arts Desk (October 2015)
'Janis Kelly catches this image with precision‚ from the slatternly but twinkly purveyor of “The worst pies in London” to the not wholly passive recipient of Tobias’s affection in “Not while I’m around”. And her vocalising – soprano when required – is consistently stylish and to the point.'
The Stage (October 2015)
'...authentically Cockney contributions of Janis Kelly’s desperate Mrs Lovett.'
The Times (October 2015)
'Janis Kelly’s equally convincing Mrs Lovett so compellingly rancid.'
Wales Online (October 2015)
'Janis Kelly was gruesomely entertaining as Mrs Lovett.'
For more reviews please see Musichall
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