  dame janet abbott baker, ch, dbe, frsa (born 21 august 1933) is an english mezzo-soprano best known as an opera, concert, and lieder singer.blyth, alan, "baker, dame janet (abbott)" in sadie, stanley, ed.; john tyrell; exec. ed. (2001). new grove dictionary of music and musicians, 2nd ed. london: macmillan; isbn 978-1-56159-239-5 (hardcover)  (ebook). she was particularly closely associated with baroque and early italian opera and the works of benjamin britten. during her career, which spanned the 1950s to the 1980s, she was considered an outstanding singing actress and widely admired for her dramatic intensity, perhaps best represented in her famous portrayal as dido, the tragic heroine of berlioz's magnum opus, les troyens.janet baker biography at musicianguide.com, retrieved 12 december 2010. "in the mid 1960s ... she became known for her impressive handling of dramatic roles such as that of dido in french composer hector berlioz's opera les troyens". as a concert performer, dame janet was noted for her interpretations of the music of gustav mahler and edward elgar. david gutman, writing in gramophone, described her performance of mahler's kindertotenlieder as "intimate, almost self-communing."david s. gutman in gramophone, april 1995, p. 60; retrieved 30 november 2009. ==biography and career== ===early life=== janet abbott baker was born in hatfield, south yorkshire, where her father was an engineer as well as a chorister. members of her family worked at bentley pit, in doncaster, south yorkshire. she attended york college for girls and then wintringham girls' grammar school in grimsby. the death of her elder brother, peter, when she was 10 years old, from a heart condition, was a formative moment that made her take responsibility for the rest of her life, she revealed in a bbc radio 3 lebre
1933_births Benjamin_Britten Chancellors_of_the_University_of_York Dames_Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire Edward_Elgar English_mezzo-sopranos English_opera_singers Female_Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society_of_Arts Grammy_Award-winning_artists Honorary_Members_of_the_Royal_Philharmonic_Society Living_people Members_of_the_Order_of_the_Companions_of_Honour Operatic_mezzo-sopranos People_from_Doncaster RCA_Victor_artists Recipients_of_the_LA(c)onie_Sonning_Music_Prize Royal_Philharmonic_Society_Gold_Medallists Shakespeare_Prize_recipients Singers_awarded_knighthoods