Vyvyan

Jennifer Vyvyan was one of the most revered sopranos of her generation. Her career was particularly associated with Britten operas, for which she premiered many roles. But the scope of her talent was particularly wide, and she also excelled in early music and sacred works. Here she is featured in the rare Magnificat of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach conducted by Geraint Jones.

"How Words Mean" introduces a new approach to the role of words and other linguistic units in the construction of meaning. It does so by addressing the interaction between non-linguistic concepts and the meanings encoded in language. It develops an account of how words are understood when we produce and hear language in situated contexts of use. …

Jennifer Vyvyan is the star of Handel’s Semele in an early recording of the opera conducted by Anthony Lewis and recorded for L’Oiseau-Lyre in 1956; this pioneering Handel recording of the 1950s in a new digital remastering, released on Decca CD for the first time.

The soprano Jennifer Vyvyan was taught at the Royal Academy of Music in London by Roy Henderson, coach of Kathleen Ferrier. With Henderson’s help she formed a secure technique, and quickly won acclaim for both operatic and oratorio roles in a wide variety of repertoire. Best known now as a singer favoured by Benjamin Britten, Vyvyan was also a leading figure in the revival of Baroque repertory: a celebrated interpreter of Purcell, Rameau, Bach and Handel who starred in landmark 1950s/60s reappraisals of the Handel operas at Sadlers Wells, Covent Garden and elsewhere.