Print Version of Julianne Baird's Discography (2000)

Julianne Baird's Discography

Dr. Julianne Baird's oeuvre of almost 100 recordings have established her, according to one music researcher, as one of the 10 most recorded women in the world. However, her place in the top ranks of classical recording artists, has not been achieved by sheer numbers. Many of her CD's have generated the highest praise from music critics in respected newspapers and periodicals around the globe.

"If Spring sunlight could be translated into sound, it would probably be a lot like Julianne Baird. The soprano's voice has a natural, unforced but moderate warmth that makes the listener pull closer. . . And it gives a distinctive incandescence to everything she sings." Opera News, 1995

"Julianne Baird is a vocal phenomenon. . . a rare and wondrous voice guided by an extraordinary musical intelligence." Fanfare, 1989

"Julianne Baird has an exquisite voice, which she uses with the intelligence of a scholar. . . the best voice on any living musicologist." Washington Post,1989

"The breathtaking pure, lovely Julianne Baird, would be enough reason for listening to Handel's rarely performed Berenice." **** (four stars) CD Review, 1994

"Baird's extraordinary technique and musicianship find expression in a voice . . . ideal for this period of music." High Performance Review, 1993

"At times, the taste she [Joan Sutherland] shows in performing ornaments approaches Baird's." Opera News, 1995

"Julianne Baird as Rosmene gives what is surely one of the three or four finest accounts of a Handel operatic role yet on record." New York Times, 1987

"It is no surprise that it is Julianne Baird who delights us with the best moments of the CD. In Cantata 51 with trumpet, she is literally radiant, and performs the difficult passages with brilliance even while demonstrating a burning expressivity in the contemplative passages." Diapason, (Paris) 1992

"Baird offers a keenly intelligent reading, most imaginative in Irrlicht and Einsamkeit." Opera News, 1998

Many of Julianne Baird's CD's have been honored as among the best releases for their respective years by the New York Times, Diapason, Gramophone, Fanfare and others.

SOLO RECORDINGS: RECITALS AND COLLECTIONS:

The New York Philharmonic celebrated the entrance to the new millenium with a 10 CD set highlighting its best performances of 20th century composers. Dr. Baird is featured in the World Premiere orchestral recording of Steve Reich's Tehillim with Zubin Mehta conducting. In the recently released Jane's Hand, Dr. Baird sings English arias culled from the personal hand- copied musical notebooks of the authoress. The CD, Jane's Hand as well as a CD featuring Fanny Mendelssohn Lieder was recorded in the Gordon Theater on the Camden Campus. Winterreise is the first and only recording of Schubert's original 1827 version of his monumental song cycle--a project made possible by a Rutgers Research Council Grant. English Lute Song was given an Ovation Nomination for best Solo Vocal Album. Lullabies: . . . from The Metropolitan Museum of Art was commissioned by the Museum. Dance on a Moonbean (issued in July 2000) features Dr. Baird, Meryl Streep, Dawn Upshaw and Frederica von Stade in a project to benefit children. Among the recordings of Dr. Baird's to be released in Fall 2000 are Passionate Pavans and Galliards: The Music of John Dowland, recorded in New York's Town Hall, and the premiere recording of the modern composer John Freeman: settings of poetry by John Donne.

New York Philharmonic Orchestra: Steve Reich's Tehillim, World Premiere Recording, Julianne Baird, soprano soloist, Zubin Mehta, conductor

Dance on a Moonbeam: Meryl Streep, Julianne Baird, Benjamim Luxon, Dawn Upshaw, Frederica von Stade, London Symphony Telarc CD-80554

Passionate Pavanes and Galliards: Lyrichord LEM8046 ***

Glorious Handel: Soprano Arias Newport Classic NPD 85646

Shakespeare's Music Dorian DOR-90017

Elizabeth's Music (Queen Elizabeth I) 1533-1603) Dorian DOR 90015

Angels of Antiquity: Music from the Middle Ages to the Age of Enlightenment. Dorian: DOR 09990

Anon Lullabies: A Songbook Companion from The Metropolitan
Museum of Art ESS. AY CD 1054

***Caccini The Italian Lute Song Baird:McFarlane Carissimi . Dorian: DOR 90236

Dowland Awake Sweet Love: The Music of John Dowland - DeCormier singers. Arabesque Z-6622

***Dowland Greensleeves: A Collection of English Lute Songs Baird: Morely McFarlane. Dorian DOR 90126

***Gluck/Handel "Jane's Hand": The Jane Austen Songbooks. Vox Records 7537

Handel: Handel Favorites with America's finest Early Music Soprano.
Newport Classic 85568

***Handel Songs of Love and War. Works by Caccini, Frescobaldi, Handel, Monteverdi etc. Baird/Tilney. Dorian: DOR 90104

Handel: Where'er you walk: Favourite English Arias. Newport Classic NPD 85610

***Monteverdi: Musica Dolce: Music of Cavalli and Monteverdi - Baird: Tilney. Dorian DOR 90123

***Schubert Winterreise (original 1827 version) Baird/Willis. Newport Classic 85614

Teasin': Turn of the Century Parlour Songs and Rags. Helicon Classics HE1001

G.F. Handel: Italian Solo Cantatas and Clérambault Dramatic Cantatas were recorded in London and represent the first recordings of several of these composers' rarely heard cantatas. Hasse Cantatas and Ballads includes premiére recordings of the works of this oft-neglected composer. It was also recorded in London and fulfilled Dr. Baird's Noah Greenburg Award given through the American Musicological Society.

A Baroque Christmas was sponsored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City based on a program performed annually in the Met's Medieval Sculpture Garden by Dr. Baird and the Aulos ensemble about which the New York Times Music Critics wrote: "If you can attend but one Christmas concert this season, this is it".

Beginning with the acclaimed premiere recording Imeneo in 1987 Julianne Baird has collaborated with a group of American musicians and singers in a series of long-neglected operas by George Frideric Handel. Deidamia, Handel's last opera, is scheduled for release in November, 2000. Among the premiere recordings are Siroe, Muzio, Ezio, Sosarme, Faramondo and Berenice. In both Deidamia and Berenice, Dr. Baird realizes the title role.

In most cases, these important works of the great composer had lain forgotten since their London performances in the 18th century. The project has garnered attention from national and international music critics, and at times sparked a flurry of comparisons with the comparable European releases. Paul Turok , a classical music reviewer, calls the project "impressive." Stereo Review writes: "For Baroque music fans this release is an absolute must. Not only is the performance first rate, but it proves that a group of American musicians is just as capable of re-creating a large-scale Baroque vocal work as their English, French, or German colleagues are."

Dr. Julianne Baird was one of the original five singers who performed and recorded Bach's B-minor mass with one singer to a part-- realizing musicologist Joshua Rifkin's controversial theory of Bach's performing forces and launching a debate still current in musicological circles today. In fact Dr. Baird participated with Joshua Rifkin at the International Celebration of Bach in the year 2000 by performing the Magnificat in Bach's own Thomaskirche, Leipzig, Germany. Although the debate persists, the critics gave their "highest scores" to Julianne Baird, who "convinced with clear and firm arias."

Dr. Baird’s soprano solos in Handel's Messiah have garnered the highest praise from reviewers of both her recording and performances. Most recently, James R. Oestreich, in his comprehensive survey of recent recordings and performances of Handel's Messiah for the N.Y. Times, concluded with special praise for Julianne Baird's interpretative skills: "in that respect, Ms. Baird remains the model".

Based on the Mark Twain short story, The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is the first recording of 20th century composer Lukas Foss's Venice version of his opera. Likewise the intermezzo Pimpinone is heard here in a premiere recording. Master Peter's Puppet Show and the Orbon works comprise the last recording of the eminent Mexican conductor Eduardo Mata who died tragically. It represents part of his on-going project dedicated to documenting works of lesser known Latin composers and was recorded in Mexico City. Monteverdi's Orfeo, sponsered by Exxon, was performed in Oxford, England and in the Queen's Room in Trafalgar Square before being recorded at the Abbey Road Studios in London.

La Serva Padrona is based on a scholarly edition by a Milanese Pergolesi musicolgist Luciano Bertini..

Dido and Aeneas, with Christopher Hogwood conductor, brought together Dr. Baird, and Emma Kirkby, Decca's two early music sopranos. It was performed at the Barbicon, London before being recorded at Decca Studios in greater London.

Before becoming a soloist and recording artist of the Baroque Early Music movement, Dr. Julianne Baird was a member of the Waverly Consort, which specialized in Renaissance music and performed over seventy concerts a year internationally.