Emma studied at the Royal Academy of Music. Recent and forthcoming engagements include Rossweisse Die Walküre and covering Erda Das Rheingold and Siegfried at Royal Opera House‚ Maddalena Rigoletto, Orlofsky Die Fledermaus‚ Third Lady The Magic Flute, Mercedes (and covering title role) Carmen (Welsh National Opera)‚ 3rd Secretary Nixon in China (Scottish Opera), Hippolyta A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Nefertiti Akhnaten (English National Opera)‚ Baba the Turk The Rake’s Progress (Santiago‚ Chile)‚ Konchakovna Prince Igor (Chelsea Opera Group)‚ Schwertleite Die Walküre(Opera North at Leeds Town Hall‚ Birmingham Symphony Hall‚ The Sage Gateshead and the Lowry)‚ Mazet in Gounod’s La Colombe(Buxton Festival)‚ Ježibaba Rusalka (Grange Park Opera)‚ Sorceress Dido and Aeneas and Matilda/George in the world premiere of The Cautionary Tales (Opera North)‚ Salty Sue Captain Blood’s Revenge (Brighton Festival and Glyndebourne on Tour) and BBC’s Friday Night is Music Night Ten Pieces Prom.
Engagements postponed or cancelled due to Covid include 1st Maid Elektra (ROH, and with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra) and 3rd Secretary Nixon in China (English National Opera).
Further appearances include Farzana in Wagner’s Die Feen and Ursula Béatrice et Bénédict (Chelsea Opera Group)‚ Marcellina The Marriage of Figaro (conducted by Sir Colin Davis)‚ Third Lady (British Youth Opera)‚ Older Woman in the London premiere of Dove’s Flight‚ Mistress Quickly Falstaff (Nevill Holt)‚ Kabanicha Katya Kabanova‚ Remembrance Day and White (Scottish Opera)‚ Juno Semele at the Amersham Festival‚ Feklusa Katya Kabanova and Altichiara Francesca da Rimini at Opera Holland Park and Miss Baggot The Little Sweep for Jubilee Opera. She also covered the roles of Jezibaba and Third Nymph Rusalka (Glyndebourne)‚ Pauline The Queen of Spades (Opera North)‚ Storge Jephtha and Ursula Béatrice et Bénédict (Welsh National Opera).
On the concert platform‚ Emma has performed St. Matthew Passion‚ Monteverdi’s Vespers‚ Handel’s Messiah‚ Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms‚ Bach’s Christmas Cantatas‚ Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Walpurgisnacht‚ Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle‚ Haydn’s Nelson Mass‚ Vivaldi’s Gloria‚ Schubert’s Mass in E Flat‚ Tippet’s A Child of Our Time‚ Britten’s Spring Symphony at Salisbury Cathedral and Janacek’s Diary of One Who Disappeared at the Wigmore Hall.
As usual with this company, the minor parts are no less strongly cast... Emma Carrington plays just the right, vulgar, slightly overdone sister such a man might have.
...while British mezzo Emma Carrington is superbly seductive in the role of Maddalena, the woman who persuades her brother Sparafucile (the hired killer) to spare the Duke. It is the Act Three quartet ‘Bella figlia dell’amore’, sung by the Duke, Gilda, Rigoletto and Maddalena, that is the musical climax of the opera. It was, for me, the highlight of the evening, sung and staged superbly. It is example, par excellence, of how opera enables different emotions to be conveyed simultaneously in a dramatic and clear way.
With Emma Carrington’s Maddalena a brazen hussy who yet showed traces of conscience.
In support of these main roles was a strong and well-coordinated chorus, and two singers of note; James Platt as Sparafucile and Emma Carrington as Maddalena. The bass notes of Platt were almighty, weighty and vibrant. Carrington gave a charismatic performance and her vocal blended in superbly well with the famous quartet “Bella figlia dell’amore”, the highlight of the performance. All these musical highlights were mounted atop a solid and flawless orchestral performance by the WNO Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Joel.
Emma Carrington as the assassin’s sister Maddalena, bringing a sleazy touch of humour to proceedings.
Support come from the enormously menacing voice of James Platt (Sparafucile), and the richly toned, seductive Emma Carrington (Maddalena).
Credit must also go to Emma Carrington for her robust and affecting performance as Maddalena, another victim of the Duke...
Emma Carrington as Maddalena completes the texture of the quartet in the final act, with a set of performances expertly interlaced with each other that is one of the highest points in the production.
James Platt and Emma Carrington, in the lesser but nevertheless important roles of the mercenary killer Sparafucile and the drug-taking tart Maddelana are both excellent.
Wonderfully supported by James Platt’s cavernous Sparafucile and Emma Carrington’s conflicted, drug-addled Maddelena.
The Act 3 quartet was a dramatic and musical highlight, Emma Carrington’s Maddelena descending from atop the tawdry inn to seduce a Duke she seemed to truly love, just as blindly as Gilda.
The three ladies‚ clad in black dresses and white pinafores‚ provided a gleefully oestrogen-fuelled contribution in their lustful advances on the unconscious Tamino‚ and sang with pleasing balance as a trio...
Anna Siminska, a firebrand Queen of the Night already seen at Covent Garden, nailed her glittering high notes in both arias and was attended by one of the best-sung trios of ladies I can remember: Jennifer Davis, Kezia Bienek and Emma Carrington.
The gorgeously costumed Theseus and Hippolyta from respectively Andrí Björn Róbertsson and Emma Carrington complete the consistently strong line-up.
In the final scene Andri Björn Robertsson and Emma Carrington as Theseus and Hippolyta provide a welcome vocal contrast to the lovers...
Even the normally bored Prince Orlofsky‚ sung with an admirable Russian accent by Emma Carrington‚ looks slightly amused at the chaos.
Prince Orlofsky is a tough role‚ and Emma Carrington is particularly good with dialogue and at evincing the boredom of the Russian millionaire: ‘Ich lade gern mir Gäste ein’‚ about an adolescent experiencing issues with a breaking voice‚ was stylishly sung.
Emma Carrington seemed to have conquered her announced cold to provide an impassioned and vocally sensuous account of Konchakovna‚ her duet with Andrew Ree’s subtly voiced Vladimir Igoryevich being one of several genuine highlights.
The score calls for relatively solo singing‚ but the two women completing the central trio were well taken by Emma Carrington (sculpting a warm mezzo line as Nefertiti) and Rebecca Bottone (bright - toned as Queen Tye.
Emma Carrington and Bottone as Nefertiti and Queen Tye‚ respectively‚ match Costanzo with their beautiful sound. When singing together – like in the Window of Appearances scene – the three become one polyphonic sound that moves and soothes. The powerful love duet between Akhnaten and Nefertiti is a masterclass in balance and sound quality‚ carrying the melody with ease and soul.
...Add to this Anthony Roth Costanzo’s extraordinary other-wordly voice – made even more extraordinary when combined with Emma Carrington’s beautiful‚ statuesque Nefertiti
His bittersweet timbre mingles voluptuously with the darker tones of Emma Carrington‚ playing his wife Nefertiti
Emma Carrington was a rich-toned Queen Nefertiti
wife Nefertiti was sung with warm vibrancy by Emma Carrington‚ both of them with concentrated levels of intensity. The intermingling lines of Akhnaten and Nefertiti’s Act II love duet were a particular musical highlight
they are serenely sung by Emma Carrington and Rebecca Bottone
No praise too high for Emma Carrington’s luscious Nefertiti
Emma Carrington‚ new to ENO‚ impresses as Nefertiti
Emma Carrington’s Nefertiti‚ by contrast‚ radiates sensuality‚ bringing a richness to the duets...
There was also an impressive trio of ladies – nicely individual and yet formidable as a team
The ensemble support was fine too: including the splendidly lascivious Three Ladies
And the vocal prowess of every performer matched that of the orchestral players‚ starting with an impressive band of warrior maidens. Each and every one was full-blooded in their singing but there was also something else. Perhaps it was the obvious enjoyment these eight singers conveyed singing as ensemble‚ but there was not only a sense of sisterly camaraderie but also a real sense of competition between these maidens. And special mention must go to Katherine Broderick‚ Meeta Raval‚ Camilla Roberts and Emma Carrington. Superb
The appearance of the aproned Three Ladies got things racing along with excited high-spiritedness. First Lady Camilla Roberts’s crystal clear tone and vibrancy delivered a strong lead for the individually differentiated but well-blended trio of ‘maids’‚ while Emma Carrington’s Third Lady provided a well-centred foundation for Roberts’ and a vivacious Máire Flavin. All three made the most of Jeremy Sams’s engaging translation to hook us into the absorbing quest ahead‚ their lively rivalry and sincere concern for Tamino stimulating our own curiosity and compassion
...the Queen’s Three Ladies. Well sung by Camilla Roberts‚ Máire Flavin and Emma Carrington
This was altogether a strong cast...her three ladies (Camilla Roberts‚ Máire Flavin‚ Emma Carrington) equally attractive in tone‚ lifting their skirts to entice Tamino into breaking his vows and losing Pamina
...excellent‚ as were the three ladies (Emma Carrington‚ Camilla Roberts and Máire Flavin)
Camilla Roberts‚ Máire Flavin and Emma Carrington are perfect. They all sing with great clarity and have great delight in their roles
Gorgeous of voice and sensual by nature are the Three Ladies (Camilla Roberts‚ Emma Carrington and Maire Flavin)
...and his servant Mazet‚ a travesti role impressively sung by Emma Carrington
Mazet‚ a trouser role for alto Emma Carrington... Carrington was excellent throughout the work‚ singing and acting with aplomb and squeezing as much humour as possible from her ample part
The cast nevertheless give it their all...manfully supported by Emma Carrington as his mezzo male servant
The disgruntled servant Mazat‚ a travesty role sung by Emma Carrington‚ delivers a misogynistic rant that is as ferocious as the tirades of Mephistopheles in Faust
Emma Carrington was brilliant in the travesty role of Mazet‚ convincing from the word go as a rather grubby servant boy‚ full of charm and cunning. A truly outstanding performance. She/he gets the operas opening aria as Mazet sings whilst feeding the live dove (here in a cage)
In the travesti role of his servant Emma Carrington sang and acted with conviction
The whole production is splendidly played...but Emma Carrington steals the show with her comedic gifts as Mazet
All the recipients were women‚ including two in trouser roles. One of these was the mezzo-soprano Emma Carrington who in La Colombe made such a fine job of showing us the comic servant Mazet that it was a genuine surprise when this short-trousered urchin began to sing. Until the spoken dialogue came‚ when the female timbre of the voice could be recognised‚ I had thought (programme unconsulted) that we were listening to a counter-tenor
Good things too from Emma Carrington’s trousered servant Mazet
The Valkyries acquitted themselves confidently‚ not least in their final ensemble
It is the third act that confirms the success of the concert staging. The full nine strong chorus of Valkyries fill the stage and merge with the massive orchestra lead by conductor Richard Farnes in the magnificent "Ride of the Valkyries." This is the aural equivalent of starting with an earthquake and building to a climax. Heard live and benefiting from the superb Lowry acoustics it is an awesome experience and you just sit back‚ close your eyes and enjoy. Really‚ when the music and vocals are this good‚ elaborate staging is superfluous and might even be a distraction
A telling example of what is lost and what is gained vocally comes in the Ride of the Valkyries: with the singers lined up across the front of the stage the individual vocal lines come through with unusual clarity to exciting dramatic effect
Equally impressive were her eight Valkyrie sisters‚ all of whom had a ferocious presence‚ both vocally and in character. Together‚ Miriam Murphy‚ Katherine Broderick‚ Jennifer Johnston‚ Emma Carrington‚ Meeta Raval‚ Madeleine Shaw‚ Antonia Sotgiu and Catherine Hopper made a fiercely resonant sound which carried over the orchestra‚ even when they were playing with all their might
There was a crack team of Valkyries
...the Valkyrie pack all held the stage well
...Eva Ganizate and Emma Carrington complemented each other as respectively sympathetic and scheming fairies Zemina and Farzana
All the principals did well...The dramatic mezzo of Emma Carrington‚ as Farzana‚ also caught the ear
This concert performance from the Chelsea Opera Group‚ conducted by Dominic Wheeler‚ featured some stunning solo singing...As the fairies Farzana and Zemina‚ Emma Carrington’s rich mezzo-soprano contrasted well with Eva Ganizate’s soprano
My favourite characterization of the whole evening‚ however‚ came from Emma Carrington‚ who imbued the role of the meddling fairy Farzana with a degree of heavy irony that was delicious to behold. In addition‚ her mezzo is wonderfully dusky
I absolutely adored (a word I rarely use in a review) the two fairies‚ Farzana and Zemina‚ they obviously had completely rehearsed and were wonderful. As Farzana‚ Emma Carrington’s facial expressions revealed the full gamut of her character’s emotions and hers was a totally engaging performance
...conviction proved to be all‚ as it was for a villainess fairy suddenly thrust to the fore as his enemy‚ resplendent mezzo Emma Carrington as devious Farzana
Emma Carrington in the role of Francisca had some lovely moments and it is a much bigger voice than I previously supposed
Emma Carrington was a lively and committed Francisca
Chelsea Opera Group fielded a strong cast with Nelly Miricioiu as Maria de Padilla‚ Marianne Cornetti as her sister Ines‚ Emma Carrington as Francisca
Best of all was Emma Carrington who made quite an impact in the short role of Francisca; she has a wonderfully rich imposing sound that I look forward hearing in something more worthwhile sooner rather than later.
Emma Carrington brought her luxuriously velvety mezzo to Ursule; the duet at the end of Act I was the musical highlight of the evening.
Carrington is possessed of an extremely striking contralto voice and I would love to have heard more of her.
Labin and Carrington’s voices combined superbly... All three women combined in another highlight‚ the trio in Act 2. Again the 3 voices blended beautifully and these two female ensemble pieces were the stand out moments in the performance.
Emma Carrington contributed a genuinely scary Jezibaba: her elegance and hauteur made the session with the meat cleaver somehow more frightening‚ and she sang with passion and conviction
Emma Carrington’s suave platinum blonde Witch
...the wonderful quartet of Francesca’s maid servants‚ Emma Carrington...
Classier performances were to be found among Francesca’s retinue. Gail Pearson‚ Madeleine Shaw‚ Emma Carrington and Anna Leese were an endearing and vocally sumptuous quartet as her four ladies-in-waiting‚ with Carrington’s warm mezzo and Leese’s honeyed soprano particularly memorable
Musical highlights include the delightful Act III spring song from Francesca’s ladies (Madeleine Shaw‚ Emma Carrington‚ Anna Leese and Gail Pearson)
Each of the singers - Madeline Shaw‚ Emma Carrington‚ Anna Leese and Gail Pearson deserves equal praise for coaxing the diversions to life...
Emma Carrington made a vocally sumptuous Kabanicha
Emma Carrington a vocally impressive but overly glamorous Kabanicha
As the malevolent Kabanicha‚ Emma Carrington may not have the authority of an older figure‚ but her arch sexiness is disturbing in its own way
Emma Carrington as Kabanicha‚ the mother-in-law from hell‚ was deliciously vampish. Instead of the usual hectoring morality and outraged Hyacinth Bucket type creation we are all used to seeing‚ Miss Carrington’s Kabanicha was a touch seedy‚ morally bankrupt and personally dangerous. More Mae West than Mrs Bucket‚ her slow destruction of her daughter-in-law’s life was pretty vicious
Emma has taken full possession of her part and is acting with the harrowing weight of past loss: I couldn’t imagine the character any better than this
The soiltary Older Woman – a touching portrayal by Emma Carrington – faces the future with great equanimity
Emma Carrington’s Older Woman completely reinvented the Nuala Willis role with her lovely big alto and total stage-assurance
The mezzo Emma Carrington stood out in the dual role of the goddess Diana and as Giove disguised as Diana‚ projecting strongly
Emma Carrington was glorious as the pantomime-dame Marcellina and worth looking out for in the future
Emma Carrington’s Marcellina‚ which was astonishingly generous in tone and projected a vivacious stage presence
I especially admired Emma Carrington’s Marcellina
Of other singers who caught my ear and eye: the Characterful and fruity voiced Marcellina of Emma Carrington
Frasquita and Mercédès were well portrayed by Samantha Hay and Emma Carrington
Frasquita (Amy Freston) and Mercédès (Emma Carrington) were sharply characterised and brightly sung
Emma Carrington’s Mercédès gave notice of a future Carmen
There were elements which charmed the audience...such as the comic fortune-telling duet between Frasquita and Mercedes in Act Three
It’s testimony to the singers in the smaller roles‚ particularly Samantha Hay and Emma Carrington‚ packing pleasingly contrasting voices as Frasquita and Mercedes‚ that the ensembles like the Card Trio and quintet had more show-stopping quality than the familiar arias
...good support from Amy Freston (Frasquita)‚ Emma Carrington (Mercedes)
Amy Freston as Frasquita and Emma Carrington as Mercedes‚ provide some much needed verve
Dentro de las estupendas voces del elenco de cantantes‚ debemos destacar nitidamente la del tenor estadounidense Jonathan Boyd‚ como Tom Rakewell; la soprano australiana Anita Watson‚ como Ann Trulove; la mezzosoprano británica Emma Carrington‚ como Baba the Turk y el bajo-barítono estadounidense Wayne Tigges‚ como Nick Shadows (El Diablo) /// Among the great voices of the cast of singers‚ we must emphasize the US tenor neatly Jonathan Boyd‚ as Tom Rakewell; Australian soprano Anita Watson‚ as Ann Trulove; Emma Carrington British mezzo-soprano as Baba the Turk and American bass-baritone Wayne Tigges‚ as Nick Shadow (El Diablo)
...the International cast was outstanding. The leading quartet of Jonathan Boyd (Tom‚ the libertine)‚ Anita Watson (Anne Trulove)‚ Wayne Tiggers (Nick Shadow) and Emma Carrington (Baba)‚ gave life to their characters and dazzled with their powerful voices
De las actuaciones femeninas‚ fue la de Emma Carrington como Baba la Turca la más llamativa‚ tanto por su caracterización física como por el empoderamiento mostrado en su papel‚ que más de alguna sonrisa arrancó de los auditores con su jocosa interpretación...La actuación de Emma Carrington‚ como Baba la Turca acaparó todas las miradas /// Of all the female performances Emma Carrington as Baba the Turk was the most striking both for its physical characterization as shown in her empowering the role‚ which started more than a smile and with humorous interpretation...Emma Carrington ’s performance ‚ as Baba the Turk captured all eyes
La mezzo Emma Carrington fue un deleite con su intensa y divertida Baba la Turca /// The mezzo Emma Carrington was a delight with her intense and fun Baba the Turk
The mezzo Emma Carrington was a delight with her intense and fun Baba the Turk
...Emma Carrington‚ en su papel de Baba‚ se roba mucho de la película ///...Emma Carrington‚ in her role as Baba‚ steals the show
Emma Carrington‚ fue Baba la Turca‚ ella que tiene un físico estupendo‚ impacta enormemente al ser convertida en un travesti‚ cantó con poderosa y bella voz /// Emma Carrington as Baba the Turk‚ has a great physical‚ impact (turned into a transvestite) and sang with powerful and beautiful voice