Danielle de Niese

Danielle de Niese

From This Cultural Life by BBC Radio 4

April 16, 2026 · 44 min

About this episode

John Wilson interviews opera singer Danielle de Niese about her career and achievements.

John Wilson talks to the Australian born opera singer Danielle de Niese. A soprano renowned for her vibrant stage presence, she made her professional operatic debut with the Los Angeles Opera at the age of 15 and, and four years later she became one of the youngest singers to perform at Metropolitan Opera in New York. Her international breakthrough came in 2005 at the Glyndebourne Festival, where her performance as Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare established her as a major operatic star. Since then she has sung leading roles at opera houses around the world, specialising particularly in Baroque repertoire, and has recorded six studio albums of music by composers including Handel and Mozart. She is the recipient of the 2026 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera. Producer: Edwina Pitman

People in this episode

Host: John Wilson

Guest: Danielle de Niese

Topics covered

  • opera
  • Baroque repertoire
  • soprano
  • performing arts
  • music

Keywords

  • Danielle de Niese
  • opera
  • soprano
  • Baroque
  • Glyndebourne
  • Metropolitan Opera
  • Handel
  • Mozart

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Los Angeles Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Glyndebourne Festival

Books & works: Giulio Cesare

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