Christine Rice

Christine Rice Mezzo-soprano

Biography

Christine Rice studied at the Royal Northern College of Music. She was awarded a MBE of the British Empire in 2022. Her many operatic roles include the title-role in Carmen, Kostelnicka (Jenůfa), Jezibaba (Rusalka), Giulietta (The Tales of Hoffmann), Emilia (Otello), the title-role in The Rape of Lucretia, Sonyetka (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), Blanca (The Exterminating Angel), Judith (Bluebeard's Castle), Maddalena (Rigoletto) and Jenny Smith (Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny). She was part of two world premieres: Ariadne in Birtwistle’s The Minotaur and Miranda in Adès’ The Tempest, both created at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York as Giulietta and then performed in many major international opera houses, including Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Teatro Real Madrid, Dutch National Opera, Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Seattle Opera, the Frankfurt, Zurich and Geneva opera houses, Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Glyndebourne Festival.

Her concert repertoire includes, among others, Verdi’s Requiem with the Philadelphia Orchestra, under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, St John’s Passion with Simon Rattle and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, L'Enfance du Christ with John Nelson and Das Lied von der Erde in Porto. Recent and future engagements include Gloriana and Erda (Das Rheingold) at English National Opera, Suzuki (Madama Butterfly) at Royal Opera House, Jezibaba at Garsington Opera and at the Edinburgh Festival, Kostelnicka in Rouen, Britten’s Phaedra at Royal Opera House and Royal Theatre Bath, L'Enfance du Christ in Lyon, The Messiah in Lyon and Federica (Luisa Miller) at English National Opera.