![Collage of four vintage album covers featuring Janet Baker with red curtain as background: "Janet Baker sings Popular Schubert Songs;" "Arie Amorose;" "Gustav Mahler [orchestral song cycles];" and "Purcell: Dido & Aeneas."](https://www.wfmt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/janet-baker-collage-962x541.png)
Drew Minter joins WFMT to pay tribute to one of his favorite artists, Dame Janet Baker (b.1933). Minter has curated a playlist to showcase the iconic English mezzo-soprano’s technical prowess, stylistic versatility, and superior musicality, including 18th century arias, Brahms’s Alto Rhapsody, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, and Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder.
All selections feature mezzo soprano Dame Janet Baker.
Hubert Parry: Jerusalem
Philip Ledger, organ
Christoph Willibald Gluck: “Adieu, conservez dans votre âme” from Iphigénie en Aulide
English Chamber Orchestra/Raymond Leppard
George Frideric Handel: “Dopo notte” from Ariodante, HWV 33
English Chamber Orchestra/Raymond Leppard
Johannes Brahms: Alto Rhapsody, Op. 53
John Alldis Choir
London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult
Edward Elgar: “In Haven” from Sea Pictures, Op. 37
London Symphony Orchestra/Sir John Barbirolli
Elgar: “Softly and gently” from The Dream of Gerontius, Op. 38
Ambrosian Singers
Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus
Hallé Choir and Orchestra/Sir John Barbirolli
Gustav Mahler: “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen” from Rückert-Lieder
Hallé Orchestra/Sir John Barbirolli
