Vivian Tierney

Vivian Tierney (born London, 26 November 1957) is an English operatic soprano, who has sung across a wide range of repertoire in the United Kingdom and Europe, and made several recordings.

Life and career Tierney was born in Highgate, London, but grew up in Manchester and attended the Manchester Grammar School for Girls. From an early age she appreciated music, but was most interested in "the more emotional stuff ... verismo and 20th-century music". From the age of 14 Tierney took singing lessons with Rita Crosby.

Tierney also sang with companies such as the Montpellier Festival (Mimì and Donna Anna), Flanders Opera, and Opera North (The Merry Widow). As a member of the Freiburg Opera, she sang Ellen Orford, Giulietta, Jenny, Marschallin and Renata.

An only child, Tierney's father died when she was still young. Her marriage to Jones ended in divorce; her son David played the part of Marie's son alongside his mother in the Baylis Programme Wozzeck. Tierney later married the Canadian tenor Alan Woodrow.

Recordings Her recordings include Lehár's Der Graf von Luxemburg (Juliette Vermont), Britten's The Turn of the screw (Miss Jessel) and Peter Grimes (Ellen Orford), Mozart's Don Giovanni (Elvira) in English, and Nyman's Man and Boy: Dada (Michael's Mother, Old Woman, Bus Conductress, British Museum Guard, BBC Interviewer). She is also heard on the 1982 D'Oyly Carte Opera Company "Last Night" recording and seen in a concert video, "Gilbert & Sullivan's Greatest Hits", recorded at Royal Albert Hall in October 1982.