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In 2006 he sang Gerontius at
the Berlin Festival and recorded it with the City of Birmingham Symphony
Orchestra on a CD released for the Elgar 150th anniversary celebrations in
2007. This recording was the Editor’s Choice in Gramophone magazine: Alan
Blyth wrote, “The best modern Gerontius… Justin Lavender
surpasses all recent interpreters.”
Justin’s many recordings include solo CDs with the Bournemouth Symphony
of Mozart, Rossini and Donizetti arias as well as leading roles such
as Arturo in Bellini’s Puritani, Fernand in Donizetti’s La
Favorite, Mark in Smyth’s The Wreckers and Pierre Bezuhov
in the only complete recording of Prokofiev’s War and Peace.
As well as Gerontius with the CBSO he has just recorded Schnittke’s Faust
Cantata with the Hamburg Symphony. A new recording of Janáček’s Otčenáš (The
Lord’s Prayer) will be released shortly. He appears in Alan Parker’s
film The Life of David Gale, recently on general release.
For eight years Justin wrote a regular column for The Irish Examiner,
and he has contributed articles and book reviews to newspapers and professional
journals. He is a Professor of Vocal Studies at the Royal College of Music,
London; has given singing masterclasses and lectures all over the world, and
has a private teaching practice based at his home in Thames Ditton where he
also rows and sails regularly on the Thames.