The Seckerson Tapes: Soprano Corinne Winters

From Traviata to Benvenuto Cellini: the ENO's new American star

by Edward SeckersonSunday, 01 June 2014

In February 2013 Corinne Winters created an absolute sensation in her operatic European debut when Peter Konwitschny’s starkly intense staging of Verdi’s La Traviata arrived at English National Opera. Vocally, physically, dramatically her Violetta (“the whore who gets all the best tunes”, according to Konwitschny) was so “complete”, so unanimously greeted by superlative reviews, that it marked a highly significant arrival on the international opera scene.

According to the American-born Winters, 12 important contracts arose directly from that run of performances.

In this podcast she discusses life before and after the ENO Traviata; about growing up with rock and pop music and something close to a resistance of opera. She talks most eloquently about the development and health of her voice, of the support team of trusted advisors who help steer her choices. She is currently back at ENO in Terry Gilliam’s hotly anticipated staging of Berlioz’s rarely performed Benvenuto Cellini which she believes further ratchets up the excitement and pushes the possibilities of operatic staging. Her Royal Opera debut beckons in 2016 - a new production of a challenging classic.

Benvenuto Cellini is at the London Coliseum from 5 June
Corinne Winters' website
Edward Seckerson's website

This text will be replaced

If you would prefer to download and listen offline, please download

Explore topics

Share this article

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

more Opera

Help to give theartsdesk a future! Support our GoFundMe appeal

Rigoletto, English National Opera review - another hit for Miller's Mob More tragic than gimmicky, this classic staging can still succeed

theartsdesk at Wexford Festival Opera - let's make three operas Donizetti triumphs, with help from Bernstein, Rossini, two stars and director Orpha Phelan

Albert Herring, Scottish Opera review - fun, frivolity, and fine music-making A witty production of Britten's clever comedy that's bound to leave you smiling

Le nozze di Figaro, The Mozartists, Page, Cadogan Hall review - cogency, intelligence and reverence A celebration of Mozart from the supreme stylists

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Opera North review - one of the best and funniest Perspex and bubblewrap for a Sixties take on Britten's Shakespeare

The Turn of the Screw, English National Opera review - Jamesian ambiguities chillingly preserved Pity and terror in Ailish Tynan’s anguished Governess and Isabella Bywater’s production

Trouble in Tahiti/A Quiet Place, Linbury Theatre review - top cast plays unhappy families Mini-masterpiece and splashy sequel carried off with as much conviction as they can take

Blond Eckbert, English Touring Opera review - dark deeds afoot in the woods Judith Weir’s chamber opera explores Freudian themes through a modern lens