What is Anthony Rolfe Johnson?
'''Anthony Rolfe Johnson,''' [[CBE]] (born 5 November 1940; died 21 July 2010) was an [[England|English]] operatic [[tenor]]. He was especially famous for singing the music of [[Monteverdi]], [[Mozart]] and [[Benjamin Britten]]. He sang many of the operatic roles which Britten had written for [[Peter Pears]] to sing. ==Life== Anthony Rolfe Johnson was born in [[Tackley]] in [[Oxfordshire]]. When he was a child he enjoyed singing, but did not think of taking it up as a career. He started to work in [[farm]] management. Then, in his late twenties, he decided to study singing at the [[Guildhall School of Music and Drama]]. He started his singing career by singing in [[opera]]s in the [[choir (music)|chorus]] and in small roles at the [[Glyndebourne]] Festival between 1972 and 1976. His first big operatic part was Vaudémont in [[Tchaikovsky]]’s ''Iolanthe'' in 1973 with the [[English Opera Group]]. Then he sang the part of [[Albert Herring]] in Britten’s opera. In 1978, he joined [[English National Opera]]. He sang several roles in Mozart and Monteverdi operas, then he sang the Male Chorus (a solo part) in Britten’s ''The Rape of Lucretia'' and Aschenbach in ''[[Death in Venice (opera)|Death in Venice]]''. Later he sang the title role in ''[[Peter Grimes]]''. He sang in opera houses all over the world, including including the [[English National Opera]], [[Royal Opera House]], [[La Monnaie]] in [[Brussels]], [[La Scala]], [[Milan]], the [[Metropolitan Opera]] in [[New York City]], the [[Vienna State Opera]], and the [[Palais Garnier|Paris Opera]]. Rolfe Johnson sang other music besides operas. He sang in several [[oratorio]]s, and he sang the role of [[Evangelist]] in [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J. S. Bach]]'s ''[[St John Passion]]'' and ''[[St Matthew Passion]]'', as well as in Britten’s ''[[War Requiem]]''. He also sang on the concert platform, and he gave [[recital]]s of [[Lieder]]. He helped find a group called “The Songmakers’ Almanac” who sang classical songs. . He was made a [[Commander of the Ord