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Born: May 1, 1959 - Rochester, Kent, England
Died: May 19, 2025 - England |
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The English counter-tenor, David Cordier, was initially a boy soprano in the Cathedral Choir of his home town and a member of King’s College Choir in Cambridge. After studying mathematics at the University of Cambridge, graduating with a master's degree, he studied voice at the Royal College of Music in London.
David Cordier moved to Berlin in the 1980's where he regularly performed with Gustav Leonhardt and Musica Antiqua Köln. He later took residence in Cologne. He was internationally known for the extremely natural quality of his counter-tenor voice. The range of his repertoire is impressive, for he was equally involved in early music and in new music. His repertoire includes music of the 16th and 17th centuries, and contemporary music. He was one of the most important George Frideric Handel's singers of the 1980's and 1990's, including the title roles of Giulio Cesare, Ezio, Ottone, Radamisto and Flavio. He appeared as Hamor in a staged version by Dietrich Hilsdorf of G.F. Handel's oratorio Jephtha at the Theater Bonn. Roles in contemporary opera included Edgar in Aribert Reimann's Lear, Oberon in Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre and one of the three sisters all scored for counter-tenor in Tri sestry by Péter Eötvös.
David Cordier can be heard in many commercial recordings. He was an alto soloist in the first recording by Gustav Leonhardt of J.S. Bach's Matthäus-Passion BWV 244, released in 1989, with the Tölzer Knabenchor and the men's choir and orchestra of La Petite Bande, Christoph Prégardien as the Evangelist and Max van Egmond as the vox Christi. In 1995, he recorded J.S. Bach's cantata for Ratswahl (council election), Gott ist mein König, BWV 71, with Wolfgang Unger conducting the Thüringischer Akademischer Singkreis, Pauliner Barockensemble and Leipzig Bläser-Collegium. He performed the role of La Musica in Monteverdi's L'Orfeo at Het Muziektheater in Amsterdam in July 1997 which was recorded on DVD, directed by Pierre Audi and conducted by Stephen Stubbs, with John Mark Ainsley in the title role. A reviewer described his opening as "very arresting". He took part in a live recording of G.F. Handel's oratorio Gideon at Eberbach Abbey in 2003, with the Junge Kantorei and the Barockorchester Frankfurt conducted by Joachim Carlos Martini, and Knut Schoch singing the title role. Entitled "My Mind to Me a Kingdom Is", he recorded English songs for counter-tenor, some of which were accompanied by harpist Andrew Lawrence-King, others by the ensemble Tragicomedia conducted by Stephen Stubbs Stubbs, some with Stephen Stubbs as lutenist.
David Cordier died after a long illness on May 19, 2025, at the age of 66. |
