Esswood, Paul (Lawrence Vincent)
Esswood, Paul (Lawrence Vincent)
Esswood, Paul (Lawrence Vincent), English countertenor; b. West Bridgford, June 2, 1942. He studied with Gordon Clinton at the Royal Coll. of Music in London (1961–64), and then was a lay vicar at Westminster Abbey until 1971. In 1965 he made his formal debut as a countertenor in a BBC performance of Handel’s Messiah; his operatic debut followed in Cavalli’s Erismena in Berkeley, Calif., in 1968. In 1967 he co- founded the Pro Cantione Antiqua, an a cappella male vocal group, but he also continued to pursue his solo career, appearing at many major European festivals. He also was a prof, at the Royal Coll. of Music (1977–80) and at the Royal Academy of Music (from 1985). While he was best known for his performances of such early masters as Monteverdi, Cavalli, Purcell, Bach, and Handel, he also appeared in modern works, including the premieres of Penderecki’s Paradise Lost (Chicago, Nov. 29, 1978) and Glass’s Akhnaten (Stuttgart, March 24, 1984).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire