# Stephen Varcoe > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Stephen_Varcoe > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Stephen_Varcoe.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Varcoe > Source revision: 1338790918 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|English singer (born 1949)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = Stephen Varcoe | birth_name = Christopher Stephen Varcoe | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1949|05|19|df=y}} | birth_place = [Lostwithiel](/source/Lostwithiel), Cornwall | death_date = | death_place = | education = {{Plainlist| * [King's College, Cambridge](/source/King's_College%2C_Cambridge) * [University of York](/source/University_of_York) }} | occupation = Classical [bass-baritone](/source/bass-baritone) | organization = [Betty Roe](/source/Betty_Roe) Society | awards = }} '''Christopher Stephen Varcoe''' (born 19 May 1949 in [Lostwithiel](/source/Lostwithiel), Cornwall) is an English classical [bass-baritone](/source/bass-baritone) singer, appearing internationally in opera and concert, known for Baroque and contemporary music and a notable singer of [Lied](/source/Lied)er. == Professional career == Stephen Varcoe was educated at [The King's School, Canterbury](/source/The_King's_School%2C_Canterbury) and [King's College, Cambridge](/source/King's_College%2C_Cambridge), where he sang in the [choir](/source/Choir_of_King's_College%2C_Cambridge). He later completed a PhD at the [University of York](/source/University_of_York). In 1977 he won a scholarship from the [Gulbenkian Foundation](/source/Gulbenkian_Foundation).{{cite web |url=https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Varcoe-Stephen.htm |title=Stephen Varcoe (Bass-Baritone) |year=2006 |accessdate=24 September 2010 |publisher=bach-cantatas.com}} On the opera stage he appeared in Haydn's ''[L'infedeltà delusa](/source/L'infedelt%C3%A0_delusa)'' in Antwerp, in Debussy's ''[Fall of the House of Usher](/source/La_chute_de_la_maison_Usher_(opera))'' in Lisbon and London, in [John Tavener](/source/John_Tavener)'s opera ''Mary Of Egypt'' for the [Aldeburgh Festival](/source/Aldeburgh_Festival), and he performed the part of Plutone in Peri's [Euridice](/source/Euridice_(Peri)) at the [Drottningholm Festival](/source/Drottningholm_Festival) in Sweden. He also performed the parts of Death in [Gustav Holst](/source/Gustav_Holst)'s chamber opera ''[Savitri](/source/Savitri_(opera))'', Demetrius in Britten's ''[A Midsummer Night's Dream](/source/A_Midsummer_Night's_Dream_(opera))'' and Salieri in [Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov](/source/Nikolai_Rimsky-Korsakov)'s ''Mozart & Salieri''. He performed [Alexander Goehr](/source/Alexander_Goehr)'s ''Sonata About Jerusalem'' with [Oliver Knussen](/source/Oliver_Knussen) and the Schoenberg Ensemble, Bach's ''[St Matthew Passion](/source/St_Matthew_Passion)'' with [Trevor Pinnock](/source/Trevor_Pinnock), [Ralph Vaughan Williams](/source/Ralph_Vaughan_Williams)' ''Sir John In Love'' with [Richard Hickox](/source/Richard_Hickox) and the Northern Sinfonia, and [Schubert](/source/Franz_Schubert)'s ''Mass in E flat major'' with [Roger Norrington](/source/Roger_Norrington) and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. In the field of [historically informed performance](/source/historically_informed_performance), Varcoe recorded in 1984 with [Hans-Martin Linde](/source/Hans-Martin_Linde) Bach's ''[Missa in A major](/source/Missa_(Bach))'' and the ''[Missa in G major](/source/Missa_(Bach))''.{{cite web |url=https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Linde.htm#RV |title=Hans-Martin Linde Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works |year=2010 |accessdate=24 September 2010 |publisher=bach-cantatas.com}} He recorded several [Bach cantata](/source/Bach_cantata)s with [John Eliot Gardiner](/source/John_Eliot_Gardiner), the [Monteverdi Choir](/source/Monteverdi_Choir) and the [English Baroque Soloists](/source/English_Baroque_Soloists), including an early 1990 recording of ''[Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140](/source/Wachet_auf%2C_ruft_uns_die_Stimme%2C_BWV_140)'', together with [Ruth Holton](/source/Ruth_Holton) and [Anthony Rolfe-Johnson](/source/Anthony_Rolfe-Johnson).{{cite web |url=https://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV140.htm |title=Cantata BWV 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme |year=2010 |accessdate=24 September 2010 |publisher=bach-cantatas.com}} He also recorded with the group Bach's ''[St John Passion](/source/St_John_Passion)'' and ''[St Matthew Passion](/source/St_Matthew_Passion)'' and participated in the group's [Bach Cantata Pilgrimage](/source/Monteverdi_Choir) in 2000. He recorded Bach's ''[Magnificat](/source/Magnificat_(Bach))'' and ''[Mass in B minor](/source/Mass_in_B_minor)'' with Hickox and the [Collegium Musicum 90](/source/Collegium_Musicum_90).{{cite web |url=https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Hickox.htm#RV |title=Richard Hickox & Collegium Musicum 90 Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Work |year=2008 |accessdate=24 September 2010 |publisher=bach-cantatas.com}} His recording of songs of [Charles Villiers Stanford](/source/Charles_Villiers_Stanford) with pianist [Clifford Benson](/source/Clifford_Benson) was acclaimed in the International Record Review in 2000:
He sounds as if he has been singing Stanford all his life, and his warm, natural baritone, finely judged legato and sensitivity to words are a joy throughout.{{cite web |url=http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=51932 |title=Songs Vol 1 / Stephen Varcoe, Clifford Benson |year=2008 |accessdate=24 September 2010 |publisher=arkivmusic.com}}
Varcoe wrote a book on the art of singing English song: ''Sing English Song: a practical approach to the language and the repertoire''.{{cite book | last = Varcoe | first = Stephen | title = Sing English Song: a practical approach to the language and the repertoire | publisher=[Thames Publishing](/source/Thames_Publishing) | location = London | year = 2000 | url = http://www.musicroom.com/se/ID_No/0201884/details.html | isbn = 0-905210-73-5}} He was appointed the President of the [Betty Roe](/source/Betty_Roe) Society in 2010.{{cite journal | author = Iain Sneddon | date = November 2010 | title = Let me Introduce Betty Roe | journal = [Musical Opinion](/source/Musical_Opinion) }} == References == {{Reflist}} == External links == * {{official|https://www.stephenvarcoe.co.uk/about-stephen/}} * [http://www.classicalarchives.com/artist/15276.html#tv=about Stephen Varcoe] on classicalarchives.com * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110717025700/http://www.signumrecords.com/artists/stephen_varcoe/index.shtml Stephen Varcoe] on signumrecords.com * [http://www.bettyroesociety.org.uk/ The Betty Roe Society] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Varcoe, Stephen}} Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Category:Alumni of the University of York Category:Choral Scholars of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge Category:English operatic baritones Category:English basses Category:Musicians from Cornwall Category:British operatic bass-baritones Category:People educated at The King's School, Canterbury Category:People from Lostwithiel --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Stephen Varcoe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Varcoe) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Varcoe?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.