David Cordier
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David Cordier | |
|---|---|
.jpg) David Cordier, c. 2000 | |
| Born | 1 May 1959 |
| Died | 19 May 2025 (aged 66) |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Countertenor |
| Organizations | King's College Choir |
David Cordier (1 May 1959 – 19 May 2025) was an English countertenor. He made an international career based in Germany, and appeared both in concert and opera. While focused on roles by Handel such as Radamisto, he also performed in contemporary opera, including works by Aribert Reimann and Péter Eötvös.
Born in Rochester, Kent, on 1 May 1959,[1] Cordier was initially a boy soprano in the Cathedral Choir of his home town[2] and a member of King's College Choir in Cambridge.[3] 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.[3]
He moved to Berlin in the 1980s where he regularly performed with Gustav Leonhardt and Musica Antiqua Köln.[3] He later took residence in Cologne.[2] Cordier's repertoire includes music of the 16th and 17th centuries, and contemporary music.[3][2] He is known for his interpretations of roles in operas by Georg Friedrich Handel, including the title roles of Giulio Cesare, Ezio, Ottone, Radamisto and Flavio.[2] He appeared as Hamor in a staged version by Dietrich Hilsdorf of Handel's oratorio Jephtha at the Theater Bonn.[4]
Roles in contemporary opera included Edgar in Aribert Reimann's Lear, Oberon in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream,[2] Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre and one of the three sisters all scored for countertenor in Tri sestry by Eötvös.[3][5]
Cordier died after a long illness on 19 May 2025, at the age of 66.[5]
