One of the most sought-after sopranos in Europe, Judith Howarth has consolidated a strong public following and critical appraisal for her work. She first came to public attention when she joined the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as a Principal. During nine seasons there she sang many roles including Oscar Un Ballo in Maschera, Musetta La Bohème, Liu Turandot, Gilda Rigoletto, Morgana Alcina, Norina Don Pasquale, Cressida Troilus and Cressida and Marguerite Les Huguenots. Subsequent engagements world-wide include Musetta in Cincinnati, Ellen Orford Peter Grimes in Toulouse and Santiago de Chile, Christine Intermezzo and Aithra Die ägyptische Helena in Santa Fe, Nedda I Pagliacci and all four soprano roles in Les Contes d’Hoffmann for Florida Grand Opera, Olga Fedora for the Washington National Opera, Violetta La Traviata for the Minnesota Opera, English National Opera and Glyndebourne and Liu at the Staatsoper, Berlin, Dalila Samson (Handel) for the Netherlands Opera, Marie La fille du régiment in Geneva and Madame Mao Nixon in China for ENO.
On the concert platform Judith has toured with Plàcido Domingo to Seattle, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Brussels and Amsterdam, going on to sing Strauss’s Four Last Songs in Vienna conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. Her festival appearances include Aix-en-Provence, The Proms, Tanglewood, Edinburgh and Salzburg. She has worked with many distinguished conductors including Georges Prêtre, Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Georg Solti, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Claudio Abbado, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Charles Mackerras, and Seiji Ozawa.
Judith has appeared on television all over the world and has a discography of more than 30 recordings including Troilus and Cressida, conducted by Richard Hickox, which won Gramophone Magazine’s Opera of the Year. Her latest recordings are Il Segreto di Susanna with the Oviedo Filarmonia under Friedrich Haider and the title role in Mercadante’s Maria Stuarda, Regina di Scozia for Opera Rara. Recent engagements include the title role in Madama Butterfly in Helsinki and title role Maria Stuarda in Minnesota.
In 2004 she sang the title role Madama Butterfly in a new production, staged for her by Colin Graham, at the Minnesota Opera. More recently she has sung Gilda for ENO, Elvira I Puritani with Chelsea Opera Group, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem in Florence under Stefan Anton Reck, a repeat of her critically acclaimed performance of Madame Mao Nixon in China for the Greek National Opera, Catherine La jolie fille de Perth with Chelsea Opera Group, Britten’s War Requiem and Mahler’s 8th Symphony at the Three Choirs Festival, Parasha in Stravinsky’s Mavra in Athens and, most recently, Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang with the Bergen Philharmonic. Other appearances have included Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony in Gloucester Cathedral, La Fee Cendrillon for Chelsea Opera Group and Baroness Freimann Der Wildschütz at the Buxton Festival.
Engagements in 2011/2012 include Philip Glass 1000 Airplanes on the Roof with Rednote Ensemble, Elgar Caractacus at the Three Choirs Festival with Sir Andrew Davis, Glagolitic Mass and Dvorak Te Deum with CBSO at Symphony Hall, Birmingham and Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes at Oviedo Opera. Judith returns to Finnish National Opera in autumn 2012 to sing Elisabetta Don Carlo and will sing further performances of Madama Butterfly for WNO in 2013.