Susan Gritton

Susan Gritton (born 31 August 1965) is an English operatic soprano. She was the 1994 winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Award and has sung leading roles in a wide ranging repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Britten, Janáček and Strauss. Gritton was born in Reigate, Surrey. She was educated at the University of Oxford and the University of London, where she studied Botany. On the operatic stage, her roles include Ellen Orford Peter Grimes (La Scala, Sydney & Tokyo); Blanche Dialogues des Carmélites (Bayerische Staatsoper); Countess Madeleine Capriccio and Tatyana Eugene Onegin (Grange Park); Micaela Carmen and Liù Turandot (Covent Garden); Donna Anna Don Giovanni (Bolshoi & Opera de Montreal & Scottish Opera); Elettra Idomeneo (Netherlands Opera) and Konstanze Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Deutsche Staatsoper & Bayerische Staatsoper). Title roles include Theodora (Glyndebourne); Rodelinda (Bayerische Staatsoper); The Bartered Bride (Covent Garden) and The Cunning Little Vixen (ENO). On the concert platform her work spans many periods and styles and includes Ravel's Shéhérazade (RLPO/Mackerras); Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem (Berlin Philharmonic/Rattle & Philharmonia/von Dohnànyi); Berg's Bruchstücke aus Wozzeck (Swedish Radio Orchestra/Harding) and Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher (Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia/Pappano). Other highlights include Handel's Messiah (ROH Orchestra/Pappano); Elgar's The Kingdom (LSO/Elder); Shostakovich's Blok Romances (Nash Ensemble); Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri at the Edinburgh Festival (SCO/Norrington) and in Vienna (Vienna Philharmonic/Rattle) and Britten's Les Illuminations – including the world premiere of Britten's three additional Rimbaud settings (BBCSSO/Brabbins). A Grammy nominated artist, she has recorded prolifically for Chandos, Hyperion, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, Decca, Philips and Collins Classics among others. Gritton is married to the opera director Stephen Medcalf.