www.matthewsprizzo.com
Vocalists
In recital on the distinguished Vocal Arts Society series in Washington, D.C.:
“She sang with intense personal involvement, a tone both sweet and plaintive, and a deep sensitivity to the power and meaning of the words.”
-The Washington Post
With André Previn and the NDR Sinfonieorchester:
“She is a phenomenon: Roberta Alexander possesses the kind of voice that is able in concert to remain utterly devoid of the strains of the opera stage. The agile, radiant soprano of this American singer carries marvelously in the extraordinarily tender passages of Ravel’s Shéhérazade, creating an atmosphere of intimacy.”
-Hamburger Morgenpost
Kirchner’s of things exactly as they are with the Boston Symphony:
“The singing of Roberta Alexander, in the soprano part, went beyond them to touch the very soul of the music.”
-The Boston Globe
Britten’s War Requiem with Keith Lockhart and the Utah Symphony:
“Roberta Alexander was magnificent. She has a powerful, dramatic voice that is also lush and warm. She shone in her solos.”
-The Deseret News
New Porgy and Bess recording under Nikolaus Harnoncourt:
“Happily, Roberta Alexander’s Maria is glorious.”
-(London) Times Online
Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking in Vienna:
“Roberta Alexander took on the small but important role of Sister Rose, adding an authentic touch of gospel to her Act I hymn, her vocal luster and luminous presence undiminished more than thirty years after her professional debut.”
-Opera News Online
Act 2 Jenufa with Sir Simon Rattle and the Philadelphia Orchestra:
“Powerful singing…Alexander’s sweet sound and floating way with the wondering text heightened the drama.”
-The Philadelphia Inquirer
Among the most compelling singing actresses of our time, American soprano, Roberta Alexander, enjoys international renown for her riveting, incisive characterizations, miraculous vocal and dramatic range. Reared in a musical family, she studied at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and with Herman Woltman at the Royal Conservatory of Music at The Hague.Roberta Alexander’s early operatic success include Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Houston Grand Opera, the title role of Strauss’ Daphne in Santa Fe, Elettra in Mozart’s Idomeneo in Zürich and a debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Among the operatic heroines she has unforgettably portrayed in the years since are the title role of Janácek's Jenufa and especially the great Mozart heroines: Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito. She has performed principal roles at Glyndebourne, the Royal Opera House/Covent Garden, and the major Houses of Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Zurich and Venice. She also sang concert performances of Jenufa, Act 2 with Sir Simon Rattle and the Philadelphia Orchestra, in Philadelphia and at Carnegie Hall.
Equally esteemed as an orchestral soloist, Roberta Alexander recently performed Ravel's Shéhérazade with André Previn and the NDR Sinfonieorchester, telecast throughout Europe; and Britten’s War Requiem with Keith Lockhart and the Utah Symphony; She has also been guest soloist with the Vienna, London and Royal Philharmonics; Royal Concertgebouw, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Bavarian Radio Orchestras; Cincinnati, Atlanta and Dallas Symphonies; and collaborated with such distinguished conductors as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Andrew Litton, Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davis, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Carlo Maria Giulini, Leonard Slatkin, Jesús López-Cobos, Edo De Waart and David Zinman. She reunited with Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream and Tchaikovsky's Romeo & Juliet and the rapturously-received world premiere of Kirchner's Of things exactly as they are. In addition she sang Copland's In the Beginning with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting the San Francisco Symphony.
An uncommonly communicative recitalist, Roberta Alexander has offered acclaimed programs at New York's Carnegie Recital Hall, the Vienna Musikverein, London's Wigmore Hall and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and on the premier art-song series of Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. An especially ardent and persuasive interpreter of American masterworks, her latest recordings include Songs My Mother Taught Me and With You (the latter an anthology of Broadway songs).
Roberta Alexander's voluminous discography on the Etcetera, Philips, Sony, Teldec and BMG reflects her astonishing mastery of varied vocal styles: songs by Barber, Mozart, Bernstein, Ives, Copland, Strauss, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Puccini and Villa-Lobos; Händel's Giulio Cesare, Apollo e Daphne, Samson and Theodora; Mozart's Don Giovanni and Idomeneo; and such rarities as Goldschmidt's Der Gewaltige Hahnrei and Beatrice Cenci, Heppener's Four Songs of Ezra Pound and an Edison-winning recording of Andriessen's Songs with Orchestra.
Available upon request E-mail MSprizzo@aol.com. are “live” recordings of Ms. Alexander performing Beethoven’s Ah, perfido!, Mozart’s Parto, parto, or song anthologies Songs My Mother Taught Me and With You (Broadway songs). Audio/video links also at www.robertaalexander.com
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Mahler #2 with Giancarlo Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony, June 2011:
"The memorable moment of Thursday's performance came during the middle of the fifth movement. After a brief silence, the Nashville Symphony chorus, singing a cappella, intoned the command Aufersteh'n (Arise). This sound--round, pure, seemingly weightless and transparent--created the perfect backdrop for soprano soloist Janice Chandler-Eteme, who took up the command and sang with urgency and deep emotion."
-Nashville Scene
Strauss Vier letzte lieder with Thierry Fischer and the Utah Symphony, May 2011:
"...soprano Janice Chandler-Eteme and the orchestra gave a radiant performance of Strauss' valedictory songs. Chandler-Eteme's voice became like another instrument in the orchestra, which accompanied her with a warm, golden glow."
-The Salt Lake Tribune
Strauss Four Last Songs with Andrew Constantine and the Reading Symphony, November 2010:
“Soprano Janice Chandler-Eteme joined the RSO for a stunning performance of Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs, written at the very end of his life. Eteme has a voice that is like liquid gold, with endless breath control and the ability to squeeze every drop of meaning from a song…Eteme gave a subtle, truly autumnal interpretation, with her voice darkening and becoming more burnished as the songs went on.”
-Reading Eagle/Reading Times
Mahler #2 with Jahja Ling and the San Diego Symphony, December 2010:
"Susan Platts' creamy, room-filling mezzo made the fourth movement, Urlicht ("Primal Light") glow with breathtaking spiritual intensity, and Janice Chandler-Eteme's complementary, radiant soprano seemed to grow right out of Platts' voice, forming a gleaming concord that floated above the orchestra. Mahler singers of uncommon sensitivity in phrasing and articulation, each displayed formidable strength and a completely unforced technique."
-San Diego.com
Barber Knoxville: Summer of 1915:
“In Knoxville, soprano soloist Janice Chandler-Eteme sang with an exquisite warmth of tone and a sensitivity of phrasing that deftly conveyed the essence of this memory of childhood, family and internal uncertainty.”
-The Baltimore Sun
Górecki Symphony No. 3:
“Janice Chandler-Eteme was a spellbinding soprano soloist in all three movements, thrilling in her big moments and commanding even in her silences. “
-Delaware Online
Mahler Symphony No. 2:
“... soprano Janice Chandler-Eteme was radiant in the finale.”
-The Salt Lake Tribune
Lokumbe Dear Mrs. Parks:
“All three soloists were splendid. Soprano Janice Chandler-Eteme imbued the second letter - Around your soul shall be placed a shawl whose cloth is made of light, wind, song and sky - with a cosmic sparkle.”
-The Detroit News
Händel Messiah:
"Still, the best thing about this Messiah or shall we say the most extraordinary was the soloists; Chandler-Eteme has one of those luminous, clear voices, and diction and conviction to go with, that made arias like He shall feed His flock into, well, religious experiences."
-The Ann Arbor News
“Among the four, soprano Janice Chandler-Eteme was a standout, her recitatives as calming as bedtime stories, her arias more like invitations than proclamations. Seldom have words, “Fear not,” sounded so soothing. And every seemingly softly sung note could be heard at the back of the Basilica.”
-The Saint Paul Pioneer-Press
Mahler Symphony No. 8:
“Janice Chandler-Eteme, as the transformed Gretchen, was poised and radiant.”
-The Montreal Gazette
Gershwin Porgy and Bess (Bess):
“Soprano Janice Chandler-Eteme and bass-baritone Alvy Powell were joined by the Choral Arts Society of Washington in a spectacular version of Porgy and Bess. Veterans of this music, the soloists totally lived their roles both dramatically and vocally in knockout performances. The orchestra met them head-on, completely involved in the passion of the moment.”
“The surprise of the evening came in the stunningly superb performance by Janice Chandler-Eteme (Bess): well-versed in concert and gospel repertoire, the soprano dominated the stage with remarkable theatrical confidence. She clearly captured the black diction of the South, delivering the dialect with appropriate coloring and accuracy. Besides her ability to speak the words, she proved to be an astonishing and sincere actress.”
-Resmusica
“In the role of Bess, Janice Chandler-Eteme created several layers of emotion. Sometimes she was weak and addicted, other times strong and wanting to improve herself. The ambiguity demanded a very mature talent, and she had it abundantly.”
Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasileras No. 5:
“Using the American Soprano Janice Chandler-Eteme, her voice interlaced with eight cellos, whispering like a Brazilian breeze, seductively enveloped our ears. Her voice, as clear as water, harmonized sensually with the cellos.”
-Le Courrier de l’Ouest
Mozart Vespers:
“…both works proved to be wonderful vehicles for Chandler-Eteme, whose technique was secure in her coloratura arias, and who radiated a simple joy in her phrasing. The Laudate Dominum of the Solemn Vespers, in particular, was enchanting for its effortless serenity.”
-The Cincinnati Enquirer
Strauss Four Last Songs:
"The concert would have been worth attending just for the opportunity to hear such a sumptuous, affecting account of the Four Last Songs of Strauss. Janice Chandler-Eteme has an ideal voice for these pieces, with a distinctively rich timbre that holds steady in all registers. The soprano truly soared through in this music, but not for the mere sensual pleasure of climbing melodic peaks. She got deep into the poetry that Strauss immortalized in song. Chandler-Eteme produced an ecstatic release of tone and feeling in the Beim Shlafengehen. And the way she molded the word Abendrot (dusk) in the final song, pouring everything she had into each syllable, was the stuff of genuine catharsis.”
-The Baltimore Sun
“The highlight of this concert, for this reviewer, was Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs, sung by local soprano Janice Chandler-Eteme. [She] was a perfect choice to sing these poems. The lyrical quality of her soprano range transported us to a state of contented bliss. It is easily understandable why she would be one of the favorites for Maestro Temirkanov. Each time I have heard this artist I have been completely mesmerized!”
-The Baltimore Times
Verdi Requiem:
"Chandler-Eteme made a chilling dramatic display of her recitative-like passages in the final Libera Me and sang elsewhere with rich vibrant sound."
-The Chautauquan Daily
Brahms Requiem:
"Janice Chandler brought a backlit radiance to the soprano solo, and molded its lines exquisitely."
-The Dallas Morning News
Mozart Exsultate Jubilate:
"The opening moments of the Mozart immediately established her as a singer of accuracy and style. Each phrase emerged with a clarity and confidence of purpose. Chandler-Eteme paid highly specific attention to the words, treating the piece as personal, intimate expression, as if she were singing, metaphorically speaking in her first language.”
-The Philadelphia Inquirer
Britten War Requiem:
“Soprano Janice Chandler-Eteme brought a voice of haunting clarity and strength to the Requiem texts, never more stunningly than in the lambent phrases of the Lacrimosa.”
-The San Francisco Chronicle
Mozart Don Giovanni:
“Singing with a muscular, centered voice, Janice Chandler-Eteme excelled in the lyrical arias of Donna Elvira."
-The Washington Post
Tippett A Child of Our Time:
“The most stirring contribution came from soprano Janice Chandler-Eteme, with a performance of soaring intensity and tonal grace.”
-The San Francisco Chronicle
Haydn Creation:
"Conlon's relaxed sense of joy spilled over to the three soloists, who created some truly inspired moments. As Gabriel, Janice Chandler-Eteme was radiant, floating, an agile golden toned soprano."
-The Cincinnati Enquirer
Vaughan-Williams A Sea Symphony:
“Chandler-Eteme and Williams had a sublime duet on the line “Caroling free, singing our song of God.” Both soloists had the uncanny ability to be heard above and through the orchestra and chorus with great clarity and expressiveness."
-The St. Petersburg Times
American soprano Janice Chandler-Eteme recently enjoyed great success as Bess in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess in Lyon, Edinburgh and London. In addition she sang Clara in the Dallas Opera production of the same opera and remains the most in-demand soprano for the Bennett concert version of the piece, including upcoming performances with the Milwaukee and Vancouver Symphonies and at the Vail Music Festival, all under Jeffrey Tyzik. Other forays into operatic literature have included a first-ever Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni with the National Philharmonic.Versatility has long been the hallmark of the soprano, whose astonishing range of concert literature includes Strauss' Four Last Songs (Reading, Baltimore, Syracuse and Utah Symphonies; Florida Orchestra, Grand Teton Music Festival; Fort Wayne Philharmonic); Philip Glass' Passion of Ramakrishna with the Pacific Symphony; Mahler's Second Symphony with the San Diego, Baltimore, Nashville, Cincinnati, Colorado and Pacific Symphonies and Rome's Santa Cecilia Orchestra; Haydn's Die Schöpfung with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony, Gilbert Levine and the Pittsburgh Symphony and James Conlon and the Cincinnati Symphony; Lokumbe's Dear Mrs. Parks with the Detroit Symphony (Naxos recording); the Brahms Requiem with Jahja Ling and the San Diego Symphony; Mahler's Eighth Symphony with Andreas Delfs and the Milwaukee Symphony and Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony; Beethoven #9 with the New Jersey Symphony under Neeme Järvi and Houston Symphony under Hans Graf; and the Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and the Brahms Requiem with the Baltimore Symphony under Marin Alsop. She has sung Tippett’s A Child of Our Time with Andrew Litton and the Dallas Symphony, and toured France with the Orchestre National de la Pays de la Loire, performing Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras, No. 5 to unanimous acclaim.
As a young soprano, international prominence came as a favorite of the great Robert Shaw. She continues to work with many distinguished conductors: including Christoph von Dohnányi, Charles Dutoit, Claus Peter Flor, Jeffrey Kahane, Carlos Kalmar, Raymond Leppard, Christof Perick, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vladimir Spivakov, Edo de Waart and Hugh Wolff, to name just a few. She has been guest soloist with the Los Angeles and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestras; Boston, NHK (Japan), Vancouver, Phoenix, Kansas City and Santa Rosa Symphonies; Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Rochester Philharmonics; and Philadelphia Orchestra. Festival invitations include Bard, Grant Park, Aspen, Chautauqua, Prague Autumn and Blossom. Ms. Chandler-Eteme's recordings include an inspirational solo disc (Devotions), and the Dvorák Te Deum with Zdenek Mácal and the New Jersey Symphony, She holds degrees from Oakwood College and Indiana University and has studied with Virginia Zeani, Margaret Harshaw, Ginger Beazley and Todd Duncan.
Bess, You is My Woman Now from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess
Beim Schlafengehen from Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder
Available upon request by E-mail MSprizzo@aol.com are recordings of Ms. Chandler-Eteme singing Haydn’s Die Schöpfung, Dvorák’s Te Deum, Mahler’s Second Symphony, Strauss Vier letzte Lieder, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess and more!
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2011 return to the Monadnock Music Festival, Previn's Emily Dickinson Songs :"Everything, though was beautifully sung by soprano Ilana Davidson, who had a sleek, agile voice that seemed perfect for both works."
-The Boston Globe
Händel’s Messiah at Duke University 2010:
“Wynkoop always fields a group of fine vocal soloists and this year’s quartet was a royal flush! Soprano Ilana Davidson was an elegant, polished singer with a winning tone and a very evenly supported voice across its range. Her quiet singing was particularly subtle and her highest notes rang gloriously throughout the chapel. All four singers could give master classes in perfect diction!"
-Classical Voice of North Carolina
At the 2010 Bard Festival:
“Berg on this program was represented by his iridescent treatment of a Theodor Storm poem, Schliesse mir die Augen beide. Soprano Ilana Davidson and pianist Anna Plonsky were the superb performers, both of the Berg and of Ernst Krenek’s Durch die Nacht, a gleaming setting of poetry by Karl Kraus that proved to be another stunner.”
-The Boston Globe
Concert version Orfeo with Yoav Talmi and the Québec Symphony 2010:
"Ilana Davidson as Amore, possesses beautiful musicality and the ideal timbre for this type of role."
-Le Soleil (Québec)
Philip Glass and Robert Moran's The Juniper Tree in Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center:
"Ilana Davidson's crystalline soprano, scrupulous musicianship and expressive diction--all evoking comparison with Dawn Upshaw in her radiant early years--made the doomed Wife an appealing figure of dignity and pathos."
-Opera News
World-Premiere of Libby Larson’s Everyman Jack at the Sonoma City Opera:
“Soprano Ilana Davidson, as the young girl, had a voice of lyric beauty that soared off the stage, and she moved with the grace of a ballerina."
-The Sonoma Index-Tribune
Ernest Krenek Lieder CD:
“Davidson is a frighteningly strong singer, but there is subtlety to her voice, too, evident in the delicately shaded lower passages.”
-Time Out (Chicago)
Fauré Requiem with Thierry Fischer and the Charlotte Symphony:
"The music gained a more personal side from the soloists: Soprano Ilana Davidson gave the Pie Jesu an almost childlike gleam."
-The Charlotte Observer
Carmina Burana with the Reading Symphony:
“Davidson, whose silvery, sweet soprano was a perfect contrast to [baritone Leon] Williams's voice, also had to slip into the stratsophere in Dulcissime; she was both technically superb and moving.”
-The Reading Eagle
Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance with Stuart Malina and the Harrisburg Symphony:
“Another find that weekend was Ilana Davidson, the soprano who played Mabel. Davidson produced vocal flourishes that were agile, secure and beautiful, even in the highest range.”
-Sunday Patriot-News
American soprano Ilana Davidson brings a crystalline soprano, assured musicality and interpretive insight to repertoire spanning the 12th to the 21st centuries. She has closely collaborated with composers John Zorn and Bright Sheng, and conductors Alan Gilbert, Jaap van Zweden, Keith Lockhart, Reinbert de Leeuw, Oliver Knussen, Stuart Malina, Harry Bicket, Carl St. Clair, Michael Riesman, Lothar Zagrosek, Lawrence Renes and Claus Peter Flor.Ms. Davidson's association with the music of the Austrian composer Ernst Krenek began with rapturously received performances as the Queen in Das Geheime Königreich at the Krenek Festival in Vienna and Die Nachtigall with the Austrian Chamber Symphony. The former spawned a series of projects dedicated to the composer's works including solo debut recording of his lieder, a recital tour, and multiple New York City performances and a recording of his opera What Price Confidence.
Ms. Davidson’s operatic experience includes the world premiere of Libby Larson's opera Everyman Jack, and an Alice Tully Hall debut as the Wife in Philip Glass/Robert Moran's The Juniper Tree. Other roles include Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Amor in Gluck's Orfeo, Chef der Gepopo in Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre, and Erste Blumenmädchen in Parsifal, all performed in the Netherlands; Flora in The Turn of the Screw and Amore in L'incoronazione di Poppea with the Florida Grand Opera.
New York’s Carnegie Hall welcomed her for Bolcom’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience with Leonard Slatkin and the Saint Louis Symphony, and Mahler's Second Symphony with Benjamin Zander and the Boston Philharmonic. She made her Avery Fisher Hall debut in Carl Orff's Trionfo di Afrodite with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra; sang Carmina Burana with the Houston, Edmonton, Reading, Alabama and Toledo Symphonies; and appeared at the Monadnock, Bard, Berkshire Choral and Staunton Music Festivals, the latter as Galatea in Händel’s Acis and Galatea. Her engagements with Yoav Talmi and the Québec Symphony include Amor in Gluck’s Orphée et Euridice and Mahler’s Second Symphony; she also sang the Fauré Requiem with the Charlotte Symphony under Thierry Fischer; J.S. Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium and the solo cantata Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s (with which she regularly performs as part of its Cantatas in Context series). Other baroque projects include Bach’s Cantatas BWV 49 and 58 with Boston's Händel and Haydn Society; Cupid in Purcell's King Arthur in Stuttgart, Amor in Legrenzi's La Divisione del Mondo conducted by Thomas Hengelbrock in a co-production with the Austrian festivals of Innsbruck and Schwetzingen; Händel's Messiah with the Pacific, Ann Arbor, Alabama, Nashville Symphonies, and National Philharmonic; the Angel in Schütz's A Christmas Story at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (broadcast live on NPR); and Haydn's Creation with Philadelphia's Voces Novae et Antiquae. Her strong affiliation with the music of Mozart has been heard in programs of the composer's arias with the Nieuw Sinfonietta Amsterdam; Zerlina in Don Giovanni with the National Philharmonic; Papagena in Die Zauberflöte with the Vlaamse Opera and Staatsoper Stuttgart; the Requiem with the Schleierbacher Chamber Orchestra and Harrisburg Symphony; and an especially memorable Mass in C Minor at the Berkshire Choral Festival which led to an immediate reinvitation for the composer’s Solemn Vespers of the Confessor. In October 2011 she sang Mahler's Fourth Symphony with Miguel Harth-Bedoya and the Fort Worth Symphony.
Her recording of William Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and of Experience conducted by Leonard Slatkin won four Grammy Awards including Best Classical Album. Other releases include Kurt Weill's Down in the Valley (Capriccio), Stanley Kubrick's Mountain Home by Paul Elwood and What Price Confidence by Ernst Krenek (Capriccio).
Ms. Davidson is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music. She was a vocal fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and a participant in the Aston Magna Early Music Academy
Stanley Kubrick's Mountain Home by Paul Elwood released on Innova Recordings in April 2011.
with Ilana Davidson, soprano, The Callithumpian Consort, Steve Drury and fiddler Matt Combs.
A wide range of audio samples for Ilana Davidson can be found here.
Recordings upon request E-mail MSprizzo@aol.com.
"Mrs. Grose was sung by the 70-year-old Helen Donath, who was not only performing the role for the very first time, but was returning to the venue where, as a young singer at the opera studio, she had embarked on her career. She could still easily sing the part of the Governess, as she did years ago under Colin Davis, since her voice still commands exemplary clarity, freshness and range; nonetheless, the passage of time has brought her to Mrs. Grose, and hers was a remarkably compelling interpretation." -Opera Magazine (UK)
"[one] can only dream of the vocal freshness of Helen Donath, who threw herself into the role of Despina with a comic will and vocal ease. Ms. Donath’s top notes should be required listening for all young singers tempted to try parts that are too heavy for them. She has resisted that temptation throughout her career, and one result was this fine performance – which the audience greeted with a roar that led her to hug herself in delight at her curtain call.”
“…a passionate, soul-stirring performance by Helen Donath…at an age when most sopranos are winding down careers, or should be, she still sings with the ease and ardor of a woman half her age. Hers wasn’t a long-breathed approach to the Strauss songs, but one whose every line pulsed with emotion. From wine-rich chest voice to great surges of tone to breathtaking waftings on high, this was amazing vocalism.”
Haydn's Die Schoepfung with Helmuth Rilling at Festival Miami:
"Haydn's solo vocal writing requires tremendous flexbility. After more than three decades, soprano Helen Donath's gleaming timbre and flawless coloratura remain miraculous. Her exquisite spinning of a vocal line is a model of great artistry.”
Lehár’s Merry Widow at the Staatsoper Hannover:
“Who wouldn’t marry this widow? She can sing, dance, be funny and is filthy rich on top of that! For three performances internationally renowned soprano Helen Donath revives one of her earliest great successes at the Hannover Staatsoper. Her voice has lost absolutely none of its youthful gleam, even in the highest register.”
Britten’s War Requiem with Osmo Vänska and the Minnesota Orchestra:
“Soprano Helen Donath’s performance and material were equally noteworthy. She was the only soloist not center stage, but it was a wise bit of staging that put her between the choruses, where she blended nicely with the other vocalists but ably soared above them when called upon to do so.”
“With her soaring lyric soprano voice and multi-hued vocal palette, she is an American cultural treasure…the audience was spellbound by her exquisite high notes and ruminative, lyrical line…Donath offered a rapturous traversal of O Mio Babbino Caro from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi that was pure vocal velvet. Her version of Vissi d’arte from Tosca was a model of superb musicianship and fervent artistry…Her rendition of Vilja from Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow was pure vocal magic. Donath’s gorgeous legato line and ethereal soft tones were mesmerizing.”
“The outstanding Zerlina of Helen Donath--celebrating the 45th anniversary of her stage debut!--had great, infectious fun, singing with more freshness, emotion and individuality than her much younger colleagues.”
Texas-born soprano HELEN DONATH recently returned to North America for Strauss’ Four Last Songs and Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Dallas Symphony under Philippe Jordan and Claus Peter Flor, respectively. In addition she performed Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate with the National Philharmonic, Britten’s War Requiem with the Minnesota Orchestra/Osmo Vänska and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Brooklyn Philharmonic/Michael Christie. In Europe she has enjoyed great success as Despina in Così fan tutte (Vienna and Salzburg), and Aethra in Strauss’ Die Ägyptische Helena (Salzburg). A Kammersängerin (highest honor a singer can earn in Germany or Austria) represented on over 100 recordings, she has sung principal roles at the Metropolitan, Florida Grand, Seattle, Washington and Atlanta Operas; Michigan Opera Theatre; and Opera Pacific. Her roles include Agathe in Der Freischutz, the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser. She has given acclaimed recitals in New York (Alice Tully Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art), Miami, Washington, D.C., San Diego and Toronto, and sung with the Montreal Symphony under Charles Dutoit and Zdenek Mácal, James Judd and the Florida Philharmonic, Jesús Lopez-Cóbos and the Cincinnati Symphony, James Levine and the Chicago Symphony, Leonard Slatkin and the Boston Symphony, Marek Janowski and the Minnesota Orchestra and John De Main and the Madison Symphony. Festival appearances include Ravinia, Bard, Chautauqua, and New York’s “Mostly Mozart.” 
Available upon request (MSprizzo@aol.com) are recordings of Mrs. Donath performing Mozart's Exsultate, jubilate; Strauss' Vier letzte Leider, Mendelssohn's Elijah.
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Martha Guth brings breathtaking technical mastery of a wide-ranging, expressive soprano voice to a remarkable range of musical styles and periods.
“SOPRANO MERITS STARRING ROLE. Hoch showed the considerable versatility of her mesmerizingly silken soprano. Hoch’s luminous voice is so edgeless and well-controlled that she both invigorates and owns whatever she sings.” -The Wichita Eagle
“Beverly Hoch earned a lot of new fans, singing with an agile and well-focused coloratura voice that is particularly impressive in the highest register.”
-The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Hoch gave full dramatic flavor to the texts, which she seemed to understand thoroughly (and to pronounce idiomatically). She made each song into a little dramatic performance, with characterization, gesture, emotional expression, and the creation around her solitary self of a full (although invisible) dramatic situation, as though in an opera.”
-Los Angeles Reader
Beyond her lovely, florid soprano voice, and engaging personality, Kansas-born BEVERLY HOCH is one of the world’s great chamber musicians, having made national tours with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, as well as appearing on several Alice Tully Hall programs with such distinguished colleagues as David Shifrin, Charles Wadsworth and André Watts. She has also sung with the Bach Aria Group and countless orchestras, especially esteemed for her interpretations of Händel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Creation and Orff’s Carmina Burana which she recorded for Decca with Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony and has sung with Mto. Dutoit and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Alessandro Siciliani and the Columbus Symphony, Zdenek Mácal and the Houston Symphony, as well as with the Colorado Symphony and Florida Orchestra. A frequent soloist of choice of conductor Christopher Seaman, she has sung with him the Brahms Requiem (Rochester Philharmonic), Messiah (Seattle Symphony) and Mahler’s Fourth Symphony (Naples Philharmonic). Other orchestral credits include the Brahms Requiem with Gerhardt Zimmermann and the Canton Symphony; Christmas concerts with the Dallas Symphony; and New Year’s Eve concerts with the Detroit and Cincinnati Symphonies. A favorite on the festival circuit, she has been warmly welcomed at the Bard, Newport, Ravinia, Wexford, Marlboro, Aldeburgh, Glyndebourne, Kuhmo, Santa Fe, Aspen, Carmel Bach, American and Italian Spoleto Festivals and sung principal roles with the Washington and Arizona Operas, earning particular acclaim two consecutive seasons as Adele in the Strasbourg Opera’s Die Fledermaus. Ms. Hoch’s discography include The Art of the Coloratura, Händel’s Imeneo and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Norrington/London Classical Players). She also participated in a Messiah performance in Bethlehem, shown at the Cannes Film Festival. Ms. Hoch is a winner of the Young Concert Artists international auditions. 
Il Trovatore at the Orlando Opera:“Turid Karlsen’s Leonora was a lesson in breath management, spinning out long lines in beautifully shaped phrases. Her delivery of the high-lying piano notes in the cadenza at the end of the cavatina D’amor, sull’ali rosee was masterful and earned a well-deserved ovation.”
-Opera News
Il Trovatore at Opera Pacific:
“Karlsen has a soprano with dramatic heft yet capable of delicacy and an attractively fresh tone quality. She brought out the vulnerability in Leonora, and her singing performance just got stronger all evening. Karlsen was able to do some voluptuous shaping of Verdi’s musical phrases. The high point of the evening was a shimmering performance of the aria Leonora sings before going to her imprisoned Manrico.”
-The Orange County Register
Beethoven’s Ah, perfido! And Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder at Canada’s Euphonia Festival:
“…no surprise that the highlight was soprano Turid Karlsen from Berlin. Karlsen opened the concert with a familiar indulgence for opera lovers, Beethoven’s aria Ah, perfido. Karlsen did well to balance the sweetness of her voice (especially in the higher ranges – she soars!) with the storytelling of a woman scorned through passionate and confident singing. It was a lively warm-up to the Strauss, in which Karlsen sang the rich and meditative works with depth and goosebump-worthy dynamics.”
-Canada.com/Times Colonist
Salome at Opera Pacific:
“Making her North American opera debut, the Norwegian soprano , Turid Karlsen, sounds as fresh and sturdy as she acts…Karlsen’s freshness never diminishes. She is completely in command of Strauss’ punishing music, and her voice is thrilling. And by the end, she captivates, winning us over not so much as Salome but as a singer mastering great music with aplomb. Seldom is an audience so encouraged to sympathize with Salome.”
-The Los Angeles Times
“Another Ljuba Welitsch? Ideal voices for Salome are hard to come by, so Turid Karlsen may be just what lovers of Richard Strauss have been waiting for. From beginning to end, the soprano provided exactly what Strauss wanted: a voice big enough to carry, yet still girlish, capable of spot-on high notes, supple phrases and superb dynamic control from one end of her range to the other, with dramatic skill to project the heroine’s complex pathology.”
-Opera News
Gala Opening of the Oslo Opera House:
“The high point of the evening was saved for last, with Terje Stensvold and Turid Karlsen in highlights from Wagner’s Flying Dutchman, bringing to their roles vocal assurance and overwhelming dramatic conviction.”
-Das Opernglas
Title role of Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos at the Dallas Opera:
“Vocally, the Dallas Opera has one of its best and most consistent casts in recent seasons. Norwegian soprano Turid Karlsen is a glorious Ariadne, her tone spun gold, effortlessly strung out, elegantly draped around every phrase.”
-The Dallas Morning News
Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony:
“The Norwegian soprano Turid Karlsen is particularly beguiling—most definitely matching Zemlinsky’s ideal of a jugendlich-dramatisch vocal character.”
-BBC Music Magazine
As Giorgietta in Puccini’s Il Tabarro at the Opéra de Montréal:
“The Norwegian soprano Turid Karlsen projects a genuine Italianate voice and is an utterly natural actress.”
-La Presse, Montreal
as Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde:
"Vocally outstanding was Turid Karlsen's Isolde. The right role at the right time and place, her singing distinguished by beautifully round tone, exemplary text articulation and ease in the highest register. She sings with a lyrical foundation that sounds effortless and shows not the slightest fatigue straight through to the deeply moving Liebestod.”
-Neue Westfaelische Nachrichten
Winner of the prestigious Kirsten Flagstad prize, TURID KARLSEN starred in three productions at Opera Pacific, performing some of opera’s most challenging roles: Strauss' Salome, Leonora in Verdi's Il Trovatore and Puccini's Turandot, the latter a role she also performed with the Opéra de Québec, Goteborg (Sweden) and Madison Operas. She made hugely successful debuts at the Dallas and Montreal Operas, as Strauss' Ariadne and Giorgietta in Puccini's Il Tabarro, respectively; opened the new Oslo opera house as Senta in Der fliegende Holländer (also doing the role at the Zeeland Nazomer Festival in Terneusen, Holland, and at the Münster and Madison Operas), sang her first-ever Isolde (Bielefeld), made her Palm Beach Opera debut as Leonore in Beethoven's Fidelio and her Orlando Opera debut as Verdi's Leonora in Il Trovatore.The Norwegian dramatic soprano’s extensive repertoire includes Wagner (Elsa in Lohengrin, Eva in Die Meistersinger, Elisabeth and Venus in Tannhäuser, Gutrune in Götterdämmerung), Richard Strauss (the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, Arabella, Ariadne and Salome), Mozart (Countess in Figaro, Elettra in Idomeneo), Johann Strauss (Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus); her “signature” role of Leonore in Beethoven’s original and revised versions of Fidelio; Verdi’s Aida, Janácek’s Jenufa, and Agathe in Weber’s Der Freischütz. In Germany she has performed at the opera companies/festivals of Kassel, Freiburg, Augsburg, Kiel, Bonn, Karlsruhe, Hannover, Stuttgart, Mannheim, Düsseldorf, Cologne and was recently seen by thousands in an all-Wagner concert at Berlin’s Gendarmenmarkt. Conductors with whom she has collaborated include Daniel Barenboim, Leon Botstein, John DeMain, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Eliahu Inbal, Hermann Michael, Christof Perick, Eve Queler, Dennis Russell Davies, Yoav Talmi and Samuel Wong; stage directors include Götz Friedrich, Werner Herzog, Tony Palmer, Jurij Ljubimov and Giancarlo del Monaco. The soprano has also been welcomed at Switzerland’s Lucerne Festival, New York’s Bard Festival (performing the music of Beethoven, Mahler and Janácek) as well as London’s Royal Festival Hall, Vienna’s Musikverein and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.
Ms. Karlsen’s astonishingly varied concert repertoire includes Mahler’s Eighth Symphony (which she sang with the Québec, Madison, Vancouver and Montreal Symphonies, as well as with orchestras in Austria and Portugal), Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Missa solemnis (the latter sung to high acclaim with both the Milwaukee Symphony/Andreas Delfs and Phoenix Symphony/Michael Christie); Janácek’s Glagolitic Mass, Poulenc’s Gloria, the Dvorák Requiem and the Verdi Requiem (performed with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra). She made a much-acclaimed Oslo Philharmonic debut, performing Grieg Songs with Mariss Jansons on the podium, sang Beethoven #9 with both the Hong Kong and Oslo Philharmonics; was twice guest soloist with the distinguished Berlin Radio Choir and debuted with the London Symphony Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas.
Ms. Karlsen began her musical studies at Holland’s Maastricht Conservatory. Private studies followed with the renowned Ingrid Bjoner in Norway. Her recordings include Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony with Antony Beaumont and the Czech Philharmonic and Krenek’s Karl V with the Orchester der Beethovenhalle Bonn under Marc Soustrot.
Video from opening the Oslo opera house as Senta in Der fliegende Holländer
Two selections from Turandot:
One
Two
Two selections from Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony:
One
Two
Available upon request (MSprizzo@aol.com) are recordings of Ms. Karlsen.
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Recording of Stanford Requiem:“Frances Lucey’s pure, radiant soprano and limpid diction set the standard for the well-blended, discreetly gentle quartet of soloists.”
-Opera News
Haydn’s The Creation with the Florida Orchestra:
“A trio of strong soloists didn’t hurt. Soprano Frances Lucey sang with a freshness so critical to the role of Uriel.”
-The Tampa Tribune
Mahler #4 with the Portland Symphony:
“Soprano Frances Lucey was warm and impassioned in the final movement of the Mahler, a childlike vision of heaven from the folk poetry collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn.”
-The Oregonian
Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera at the Munich Staatsoper:
“A soprano with a highly individual voice that is beyond merely beautiful in the high register.”
-Süddeutsche Zeitung
Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the Seattle Opera:
“It’s almost too much to expect that the second cast, in which every singer is replaced, could equal the first one in vocal and theatrical finesse. But Sunday’s cast was very nearly there…Frances Lucey’s clever Despina”
-The Seattle Times
Rosalba in Daniel Catán’s Florencia in the Amazons at the Seattle Opera:
“Frances Lucey’s sweet, lightly tremulous soprano in the role somehow perfectly suggests a life of sheltered bookishness.”
-Seattle Weekly
Recital on the Vocal Arts Society series in Washington, D.C.:
“Lucey has a voice that is light, clear and apparently without any upper limit. What caught and held the audience’s attention above all was a personality as bright, spontaneous, and joyful as a 10-year-old showing off for the grownups and having the time of her life. Under that charming surface, for connoisseurs to relish, was a keen musical intelligence with which she chose her songs with great care, skillfully mixing the familiar with the unfamiliar.”
-The Washington Post
Recital on the Frick Collection series in New York City:
“…a distinctiveness and allure that kept a listener riveted. Ms. Lucey’s greatest asset is a truly expressive personality.”
-The New York Times
“From the first minutes of Irish soprano Frances Lucey’s North American debut concert at the Frick Collection it was clear that she turns nearly everything into a sparkling Fourth of July experience…Her musical ideas bloom everywhere—with the enthusiasm of first discovery…”
-USA Today
Renowned for her uncommonly charismatic personality, keen musical intelligence and expressive, highly individual voice, the Irish soprano FRANCES LUCEY’S North American career includes recitals at New York’s prestigious Frick Collection and Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theatre, as well as on Washington, D.C.’s Vocal Arts Society series and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center series; several concerts with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall; Händel’s Messiah with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with the Oregon Symphony, Mozart’s C Minor Mass with David Loebel and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Haydn’s The Creation with the Florida Orchestra and the roles of Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Despina (Mozart’s Così fan tutte) and Rosalba (Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas) at the Seattle Opera. Ms. Lucey’s roles at Munich’s Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz have included Sandrina in La Finta Giardiniera, Maria in West Side Story, Gabrielle in La vie parisienne, and Gretel in Hansel und Gretel. As a member of the Bavarian State Opera (at the invitation of Wolfgang Sawallisch), her roles included Oscar (Un Ballo in Maschera), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare), Gretel in Hansel und Gretel, and Atalanta in Xerxes. She also participated in the world-premiere performances of Hans-Jurgen von Bose’s Slaughterhouse Five. Other opera credits include the Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Stuttgart and Bonn Staatsopers. In addition she has been guest soloist with the Munich Philharmonic, Japan's NHK Symphony, Südwestdeutsche Kammerorchester and Mozarteum Orchestra (the latter for Mahler #4 at the Salzburg Festival under Mto. Davies). Especially esteemed in her native Ireland, she earned particular praise for her performances of Paisiello's Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Marschner's Der Vampyr at the Wexford Festival. Her many concerts with Dublin's RTE Orchestra include a televised Carmina Burana and a much-acclaimed recording of C.V. Standford's Requiem. Her solo CD Off to Philadelphia, features Irish folksongs, Gershwin, Cole Porter & Spirituals.
Available upon request (MSprizzo@aol.com) are recordings of Ms. Lucey performing works by Bach, Mozart or her "popular" CD Off to Philadelphia.
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As Eva in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Dresden State Opera:“She is the bright spot in the new production, the warmth that melts the cold. The talk of the town is Ute Selbig’s first Eva. We know her from countless local appearances not only the Mozart for which she is famed but also as an acclaimed Micaela. She is also a renowned concert singer perhaps even better appreciated outside of Dresden. She has successfully moved into this heavier repertoire at exactly the right time and the public enthusiastically embraced her. She brings to this role a clear soprano, radiant high notes and seamlessly integrated registers. The voice carries, even in pianissimo, and altogether gloriously in the famous third-act quintet!”
-Dresden Neueste Nachrichten
As the Countess in the Nürnberg Opera’s production of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro:
“Ute Selbig sang the Countess with artistocratic bearing, embodying the character’s realization that in love’s marketplace there are, alas, losers.”
-Nürnberger Zeitung
Beethoven’s Mass in C Major and Ah! perfido with the Charlotte Symphony:
“Especially when the music was lyrical, soprano soloist Ute Selbig sailed above everyone with a dove-of-peace purity…Selbig proved that she had fervor, too, when she took center stage in Beethoven’s Ah! Perfido, an opera-style scene depicting a woman abandoned by her sweetheart. When the heroine raged, Selbig captured the fury through vibrancy and pointedness rather than brute force. When tenderness took over, Selbig’s voice was as quiet as if she were singing to herself. Yet it let the entire audience in.”
-The Charlotte Observer
As Pamina in the San Diego Opera production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte:
“German soprano Ute Selbig has been seen with San Diego Opera many times before, but never as impressively as on this visit as the heroine Pamina. Big voices don’t always mean beautiful voices, but Selbig has both, and her aria Ach, ich fühl’s, es ist verschwunden is among the most moving moments of the evening.”
-NCTimes.com
Mahler’s Fourth Symphony and Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate with Kent Nagano and the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden:
“The excellent, seamlessly perfect performance of Ute Selbig more than compensated for the last-minute program change from Mahler #4 to Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate.”
-Suddeutsche Zeitung
As Fiordiligi in the Vancouver Opera’s production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte:
“Making her Vancouver debut as Fiordiligi, Dresden-based Ute Selbig gets some of the most multifaceted solo music in the opera, and responds with a sound that fills the theatre while retaining an aura of purity and elegance, all the while projecting a certain vulnerability.”
-The Vancouver Sun
Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri with Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony:
“The four principal soloists were superb singers, who could articulate the German decisively and give breadth to Schumann’s lyricism. German soprano Ute Selbig, who made a huge impression at her debut in Seattle Opera’s Der Freischütz, was the Peri, a sort of Persian fairy. She sang with customary clarity, dramatic impetus and beauty of tone.”
-The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
As Ilia in Mozart’s Idomeneo with Sir Colin Davis at the Staatsoper Dresden:
“Absolutely perfect was Ute Selbig’s Ilia, with a masterfully controlled voice, beautiful line and dynamic interpretive and coloristic range. One can hear how her extensive oratorio experience serves her brilliantly in opera.”
-Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten
Brahms Requiem with Christof Perick and the Indianapolis Symphony:
“SUPERB TONE COULD SHATTER GLASS. Soprano Ute Selbig, making her ISO debut this week, gets just one lyrical outing in Brahms’ Requiem. But it’s a difficult test for a soprano, calling for high, sustained singing that musn’t depart from a message of tender concern. Breaking into anything dramatic would deform it. Selbig never fell into that error, and the choir supported her smoothly.”
-The Indianapolis Star
As Marzelline in the San Diego Opera production of Beethoven’s Fidelio:
“German soprano Ute Selbig was charming and consistently delightful to hear as the clueless Marzelline.”
-Opera News
The leading soprano of the Dresden State Opera, German soprano UTE SELBIG has achieved international renown for her radiant voice, superb musicianship and dramatic conviction. Her North American career includes concerts with the New York Philharmonic (returning for Händel’s Messiah under Peter Schreier in 11-12), Chicago, Saint Louis, Milwaukee and Indianapolis Symphonies; and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; and an acclaimed recital at Boston's Gardner Museum. Collaborations with Gerard Schwarz include debuts at the Seattle Opera (Ännchen in Weber’s Der Freischütz), a “Mostly Mozart” Mozart Requiem telecast “Live from Lincoln Center,” and the title role in the Seattle Symphony’s performances of Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri. She also sang her first-ever Agathe in Weber's Der Freischütz, the Brahms Requiem, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung and Beethoven’s Ah! Perfido and Mass in C with the Charlotte Symphony, Marzelline in Beethoven's Fidelio at the San Diego Opera, Tippett's A Child of Our Time, the Brahms and Mozart Requiems in Dresden; Bach's St. Matthew Passion in Rome, Japan and Leipzig, and Bach's Magnificat in Florence. In opera, Ms. Selbig is an especially celebrated Mozart interpreter, her roles including Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Ilia (Idomeneo) and Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), enjoying particular success in many of these roles at the San Diego Opera. In addition she scored tremendous successes as Zdenka in Strauss' Arabella at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, and in the title role of Puccini's Suor Angelica in Dresden. She made her Canadian debut, performing Fiordiligi with the Vancouver Opera, earning unanimous critical acclaim. But she has also been praised for new roles like Mozart’s Countess at the Berlin State, Dresden and Nürnberg Opera and Eva in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Dresden State Opera.
An equally accomplished concert soloist, Ms. Selbig's repertoire includes the great Bach Masses, Cantatas, Oratorios and Passions; Mendelssohn's Elijah and Lobgesang Symphony; Beethoven's Mass in C and Ninth Symphony; the Brahms, Dvorák, Fauré and Mozart Requiems, Haydns Die Schöpfung, and Mahler's Fourth Symphony. She regularly appears with the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Dresden Staatskapelle and Turin Radio Orchestras; Berlin Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de France and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Sir Colin Davis, Edoardo Müller, Peter Schreier, Peter Schneider and Franz Welser-Möst are among the distinguished conductors with whom she collaborates. In addition she has been welcomed at the Salzburg, Luzern and Ludwigsburg Festivals.
Ms. Selbig's awards and distinctions include the Christel-Goltz-Preis for her consistently outstanding contributions to the Dresden State Opera; and First Prize in Leipzig's International Johann-Sebastian-Bach Competition. She was made a Kammersängerin, the highest honor a singer can receive in Germany and Austria.
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Ute Selbig Audio~Video
As Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni
As Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni
As Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte
As Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte
As Countess Almaviva in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro
As Micaela in Bizet's Carmen
Upon request (MSprizzo@aol.com) are recordings of Ms. Selbig performing Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Tippett’s A Child of Our Time, Sibelius’ Luonnotar, Beethoven’s Ah! perfido, the Brahms Requiem and more!
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Leonora in Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera in Poznan:
"Listening to the brilliant voice of Joanna Kozlowska is always an absolute delight. This marvelous artist really can sing and also knows very well what she is singing about - no wonder, then, that using the volume of her voice she was able to impart splendor and power of expression to the part of the unhappy Amelia."
-Ruch Muzyczny
Leonora in Verdi’s La forza del destino in Bremen:
"What a wonderful feast of song! It was such an amazing evening in the first half dominated for a strong, fascinating soprano voice of Joanna Kozlowska. She performed Pace, pace with such supernatural pianos people lost their sense of reality and ascended to heaven, heartbroken.”
-Weser Kurier
Forza in Zürich:
"Joanna Kozlowska, with her warm and deeply resounding soprano of wide timbre, was able to perform dramatic passages with ease. Despite the difficulties abounding in this part, her pianissimo voice wasn't remotely compromised in La Vergine degli angeli or the exposed start of Pace, pace."
-Das Opernglas
Giorgietta in Puccini’s Il Tabarro, in Warsaw:
"An excellent performance! The artist has chosen her repertoire wisely so her maturely beautiful soprano voice doesn't show a sign of wear. Her Giorgietta is lyrical, sensual. She is dramatic in the duet with Luigi and moving in the tragic finale!"
-Ruch Muzyczny
Rachmaninoff’s The Bells, Grant Park Music Festival, Chicago:
"The symphony mirrors this with heavily moody vocal solo parts, highlighted by an effortless performance from Polish soprano Joanna Kozlowska."
-Chicago Sun-Times
Amelia in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera in Bremen:
"Prima donna assoluta was Joanna Kozlowska. Her Amelia, torn between two men, radiated emotion, her pianos heartrendingly beautiful."
-Weser Kurier
Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni in La Coruna:
“Joanna Kozlowska was able to give meaning to this character, her clear voice and dramatic fevor making her the most lucid of the female characters.”
-Mundoclassico
Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugen Onegin in Sevilla:
"Her voice, expansive, bright and uniform in every register, her excellent projection and ability to perfectly shape the tone, her fervent passion - all this makes her thoroughly convincing, both in her girlish joy at the beginning of the opera, in the wave of emotion during the letter-writing scene and in the great finale."
-L’Opéra
Alice Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff in concert with the Minnesota Orchestra:
"Polish soprano Joanna Kozlowska revealed a rich, vibrant voice and gave a playful characterization of Alice."
-Opera News
Lisa in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades in Zurich:
"As Lisa, Joanna Kozlowska exhibited exceptional sensitivity, her youthful, firm, shining tone flavored with a slightly mournful twang that suited the character. Her Act III midnight aria was thrilling."
-Opera News
Liù in Puccini’s Turandot at the Deutsche Oper Berlin:
"The best musical moments were Joanna Kozlowska's. This theatre has not heard such a shattering performance of the slave's death for many years. And it was not the princess but the slave that was the heroine of the night. The audience appreciated and rewarded her outstanding voice with a great ovation."
-Tagesspiegel
The superb Polish soprano JOANNA KOZLOWSKA made a superb Atlanta Opera debut recently as Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, though her career in recent years has been most closely associated with the Verdi heroines, performed most often at the renowned Zürich Opera. She has earned the highest acclaim for Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Leonora in both Il trovatore and La forza del destino, Desdemona in Otello and Elisabetta in Don Carlo. Her concert repertoire includes Górecki's Third Symphony, which she recorded to high acclaim with the Warsaw Philharmonic, and has sung with the San Francisco Symphony, Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder, Mahler #2 and #4 (the latter the piece with which she recently made a Grand Rapids Symphony debut under David Lockington) and Rachmaninoff’s The Bells, with which she made her first Grant Park Music Festival appearance (Chicago). She is also in demand for the Mozart Requiem, Poulenc Gloria and Britten War Requiem. Conductors with whom she has worked include Sylvain Cambreling, Nello Santi, James Conlon, David Zinman, Lorin Maazel and Lawrence Foster.
She first gained international attention by winning the top prize in the Benson and Hedges International Voice Competition in London, which was followed by winning the International Vocal Competition in Rio de Janeiro. Her presence on European opera stages includes La Scala, Covent Garden, the Vienna, Munich and Hamburg State Operas, Buenos Aires’ Teatro Colón, Venice’s La Fenice, Berlin’s Deutsche Oper, Geneva’s Grand Théâtre, Brussels’ Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, and Florence’s Teatro Comunale. In the United States she earned spectacular acclaim for Mozart’s La finta giardiniera at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Los Angeles Opera and as Alice Ford in a concert version of Verdi’s Falstaff with the Minnesota Orchestra under Jeffrey Tate.
Available upon request (MSprizzo@aol.com) is Mme. Kozlowska’s studio recording of Puccini/Verdi Arias or live recordings of her Mahler #4 and Strauss Vier letzte Lieder. Also available is her celebrated joint recital with contralto
.A wide array of opera highlights
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Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Washington Opera:
“Aficionados interested in diva futures might think about investing in Theresa Santiago. This young soprano sang Pamina with appealing warmth, poignancy and control. Any singer who commands her kind of power and can still project fragile innocence can look forward to a big career.”
-The Baltimore Sun
Liù in Puccini’s Turandot at Opera Colorado:
"Soprano Theresa Santiago made the most of the small yet vital role of Liù, communicating her innocent power during a third-act aria of real subtlety and poignancy."
-The Denver Post
Verdi concert with the Cincinnati Symphony:
"And a rich experience it was, with soprano Theresa Santiago in three exquisitely sung arias from Verdi’s Shakespeare operas,…Ms. Santiago rendered Desdemona’s final scene from Otello in clear, sweet tones, superbly modulated from top to bottom."
-The Cincinnati Post
New York-based American soprano THERESA SANTIAGO has attracted international attention for her highly individual style and beautiful, seamlessly integrated lyric soprano voice. Recently issued on the Musical Heritage label is her first solo CD featuring works by Spanish composers. She has sung recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall, New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Frick Collection, Washington, D.C’s Kennedy Center, Boston’s Gardner Museum and on the distinguished Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and Detroit Pro Musica series.
Opera remains a special love, and she has enjoyed particular success as Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème, a role for which she was engaged by the New York City, San Francisco and Piedmont Operas, Opera Omaha and the New Jersey Symphony. Other Puccini roles include Liù in Turandot with Opera Colorado and the Virginia Opera, Magda in La rondine at the Washington Opera, and the title role of Suor Angelica at the Longview Opera. She has also sung Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, as well as at Michigan Opera Theatre and the Washington and Toledo Operas. She has also appeared at Opera Theater of St. Louis and the Connecticut Grand Opera.
An equally accomplished concert singer, Ms. Santiago has been guest soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic (Schubert’s Salve Regina), New York Philharmonic (Mendelssohn’s Elijah), Colorado Symphony (Berlioz’ Les nuits d’été and Poulenc’s Gloria), Seattle Symphony (Mendelssohn’s “Lobgesang” Symphony), American Symphony (Rachmaninoff’s The Bells), Cincinnati Symphony (Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Mahler’s Fourth Symphony and a program of Verdi Arias), Louisville Orchestra (Elijah), Phoenix Symphony (Brahms Requiem), Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (Bach’s B Minor Mass) and Puerto Rico Symphony (Haydn’s Die Schöpfung and Bach’s Magnificat). She also performed a Stravinsky chamber program with members of the New World Symphony. Among the distinguished conductors with whom she has collaborated are David Atherton, Leon Botstein, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, John DeMain, Klaus Donath, Hal France, Heinz Fricke, Eugene Kohn, Kurt Masur, Hermann Michael, Gerard Schwarz, Uri Segal, Duain Wolfe and Hugh Wolff. Recent highlights include Poulenc’s Gloria with the Mississippi Symphony, a Puccini program with the Queens Symphony, Vaughan-Williams’ A Sea Symphony with the Illinois Symphony, the Verdi Requiem with the Santa Rosa Symphony and Orlando Philharmonic and Concert Artists of Baltimore. In addition she made her National Philharmonic debut in Bach's St. Matthew Passion, her Harrisburg Symphony debut in Vaughan-Williams' Dona nobis pacem and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony; and her Delaware Symphony debut in the Mozart Requiem.
Awards include placing first in the Naumburg Competition and prizes in the D’Angelo and Puccini Foundation Competitions. Ms. Santiago holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School.
Available upon request (MSprizzo@aol.com) are a recital disc or “live” recordings of the Verdi Requiem and Vaughan-Williams’ A Sea Symphony.
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Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with the Victoria Symphony, 2011:
"Since the first time I heard Susan Platts sing Mahler, and on every subsequent occasion, I have wanted, nay yearned, to hear her singing Das Lied. It is rare enough that the reality of a long-anticipated event meets one's expectations, but Platts's singing on Saturday exceeded mine (already high) by a considerable margin. From the moment she started to sing I was spellbound. Clearly the music means a great deal to Platts, as it has to many of the great mezzos of the last century. This was evident from the way she caressed every phrase, her magnificent voice completely at the service of the music, running the gamut of emotion...Platts was quite wonderful here."
-islandnet.com
First-ever Ravel Shéhérazade with the Louisville Orchestra, 2011:
"...La Flute enchanteé is a mesmerizing chant that requires the vocalist to weave in and out of flute melodies, and L'indifférent is a languid love poem of ambiguous gender. Beautifully performed by mezzo-soprano Susan Platts, however, these three pieces haunt and captivate."
-theartslouisville.com
Mahler's Second Symphony, September 2011 with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony:
"The ensuing Urlicht movement bathed the hall in a wonderful glow, thanks to the lush tone and poignant phrasing of mezzo Susan Platts."
-The Baltimore Sun
Mahler's Third Symphony, May 2011, with the Rhode Island Philharmonic:
Mahler's Second Symphony, April 2011, with Roberto Minczuk and the Calgary Philharmonic:
"The solo Urlicht movement featured some truly first-class singing by Susan Platts, whose rich voice is eminently suited to this music."
-The Calgary Herald
Mahler's Kindertotenlieder and the world premiere of Mozetich's Under the Watchful Sky November 2010 with the Québec Symphony:
"Informed by the sensitivity and intelligence of the interpreters, the audience was able to fearlessly penetrate the dark obscurity of the human soul. Featured in both the Mahler and Mozetich, mezzo-soprano Susan Platts was the embodiment of one who, subjected to destiny and fate, survives it with courage and faith. In three parts the Mozetich cycle fully exploited the possibilities of the orchestra, punctuated with precision by Ms. Platts, getting to the heart of the matter with great artistry. In the Mahler she was intensely reflective, in the last song using chest tones to fully convey the anger and helplessness of losing a child."
-Le Soleil
Mahler #2 with Jahja Ling and the San Diego Symphony, December 2010:
"Susan Platts' creamy, room-filling mezzo made the fourth movement, Urlicht ("Primal Light") glow with breathtaking spiritual intensity, and Janice Chandler-Eteme's complementary, radiant soprano seemed to grow right out of Platts' voice, forming a gleaming concord that floated above the orchestra. Mahler singers of uncommon sensitivity in phrasing and articulation, each displayed formidable strength and a completely unforced technique."
-San Diego.com
-Sign On San Diego
"...the brief Urlicht movement was beautifully sung by mezzo-soprano Susan Platts."
-The Toronto Globe and Mail
Mahler #2 with Peter Oundjian and the Toronto Symphony:
"Platts sang with dark and creamy tone in Urlicht...her capable voice carried over the orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir with good phrasing, intonation and clear diction."
-La Scena Musicale
Mozart Requiem with the Baltimore Symphony:
“The ripe and communicative singing of mezzo Susan Platts made the strongest impression among the soloists.”
-The Baltimore Sun
Mahler #8 with Bramwell Tovey and the Vancouver Symphony:
"Yet it was the wonderful Susan Platts who sang with the most impressive Mahler style and with moving depth and intensity."
-The Vancouver Sun
Debut Solo Album on the Atma label:
“Canadian mezzo-soprano Susan Platts is one of the very few classical singers who chooses to devote herself exclusively to recitals and concerts - and there is none more accomplished. With a plush but elemental sound that's hauntingly reminiscent of Kathleen Ferrier, Platts inhabits each of these German art songs as if it's a world of its own, operatic in scope, every phrase bristling with life. Though always an artist of exceptional literacy with innate storytelling ability, she has studied in recent years with Jessye Norman. As a result, an artistic evolution that might have taken fifteen years has happened in rather less time, this recording being the irrefutable evidence.”
-The Philadelphia Inquirer
-The Toronto Globe and Mail
Recital at New York's Frick Collection:
"...she sang with a naturalness and lack of artifice reminiscent of Kathleen Ferrier's, and with a dark, richly toned voice that seemed at ease both in its strong upper register and when plummeting to the depths of a contralto."
-The New York Times
Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with the Vancouver Symphony:
"Purcell lavishes the best of his material on his tragic heroine, and Susan Platts took Friday's performance to an entirely different level of artistry. Platts' voice has a rich timbre coupled with an affecting purity--a combination that immediately brings to mind several great British mezzos and altos of past generations. Her Dido exuded patrician dignity."
-The Vancouver Sun
British-born Canadian mezzo-soprano Susan Platts brings a uniquely rich and wide-ranging voice to concert and recital repertoire for alto and mezzo-soprano. She is particularly esteemed for her interpretations of the Mahler symphonies and song cycles.In May of 2004, as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, world-renowned soprano Jessye Norman chose Ms Platts as her protégée from 26 international candidates, and has continued to mentor her ever since. With the generous support of Rolex, Ms. Platts recently commissioned a work for mezzo-soprano and orchestra from celebrated Canadian composer Marjan Mozetich: Under the Watchful Sky, comprised of three songs using ancient Chinese texts from Shi Jing (“The Book of Songs”) that explore the universal passions and tribulations of humankind, was premiered by the Québec Symphony under Yoav Talmi in November 2010.
Ms. Platts has performed at Teatro alla Scala, Teatro di San Carlo, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center as well as with the Philadelphia, CBC Radio, Cleveland and Minnesota Orchestras, Orchestre de Paris, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Montreal, Toronto, American, Detroit, Milwaukee, Baltimore and Houston Symphonies, Les Violons du Roy, Boston's Handel and Haydn Society, the Los Angeles and St. Paul Chamber Orchestras. She has collaborated with many conductors including Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Marin Alsop, Roberto Abbado, Leon Botstein, Sir Andrew Davis, Andreas Delfs, Christoph Eschenbach, Jane Glover, Eliahu Inbal, Jeffrey Kahane, Bernard Labadie, Kent Nagano, Sir Roger Norrington, Peter Oundjian, Itzhak Perlman, Bramwell Tovey, Osmo Vänska and Pinchas Zuckerman. Ms Platts has appeared on many distinguished art-song series including twice for both the Vocal Arts Society at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and Ladies Morning Musical Club in Montreal, and both the Frick Collection on Lincoln Center “Art of the Song” series in New York City.
Ms. Platts has recorded Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde for Fontec Records with Gary Bertini conducting the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, a CD of dramatic sacred art songs with pianist Dalton Baldwin, Gustav Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Smithsonian Chamber Players and Santa Fe Pro Musica for Dorian Records and Brahms Zwei Gesänge with Steven Dann and Lambert Orkis on the ATMA label. Her first solo disc of songs by Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms on the ATMA label enjoyed considerable critical acclaim.
| Argento: | Casa guidi |
| Bach: | St. John, Matthew Passions, Magnificat, B Minor Mass, Christmas Oratorio, Cantatas 10, 69, 172, 174, 177 |
| Beethoven: | Symphony No. 9, Missa Solemnis |
| Berlioz: | Les nuits d’été, Roméo et Juliette, La damnation de Faust |
| Brahms: | Alto Rhapsody |
| Bruckner: | Mass in D Minor |
| Chausson: | Poème de l’amour et de la mer |
| De Falla: | El Amor Brujo |
| Debussy: | La demoiselle élue, Le martyre de Saint Sébastien |
| Dvorak: | Requiem |
| Elgar: | Sea Pictures, The Dream of Gerontius |
| Händel: | Messiah |
| Mahler: | Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Kindertotenlieder, Des knaben Wunderhorn, Symphonies 2, 3, 8, Das Lied von der Erde, Rückertlieder |
| Mozart: | Requiem, Mass in C Minor |
| Prokofiev: | Alexander Nevsky |
| Ravel: | Shéhérazade |
| Schmidt: | Das Buch mit sieben Segeln |
| Schoenberg: | Gurrelieder |
| Verdi: | Requiem |
| Wagner: | Wesendonk Lieder |
___________________________________________
Susan Platts Audio~Video
Ms. Platts preparing Mozetich’s Under the Watchful Sky, the composer at the piano
Ms. Platts performs Brahms Viola Songs
Review more Susan Platts multimedia HERE
Top/ Susan Platts Top/ Vocalists Home
___________________________________________
2011 Cendrillon at Paris' Opéra Comique:
"No fear of attention deficit disorder when Polish diva Ewa Podleś' monstrous stepmother is in action. Her Madame de la Haltière is a seething ball of self-importance, firing off sturdy chest notes like cannon balls; a glorious sound and funny too."
“Carrying all before her, however, was Ewa Podleś, whose ripe chest tones, incisive articulation and over-the-top stage presence made her Madame de la Haltière a pure delight.”
-Opera News
"In less distinguished company, the great Polish contralto Ewa Podleś as Madame de la Haltière would have walked away with the entire show. Her lower register remains earth-shaking, but more to the point, she understands the critical importance of playing farce straight. Her final declamation of 'Ma fille'--when she finally sees fit to acknowledge Lucette as a daughter--brought the house down."
-Opera Today
"None is as terrifying as Ewa Podleś' Countess, the wicked stepmother. With her fruity contralto and magnificently upholstered derriere, Podleś threatens to steal the show; her comic acting, deadly serious, is spot on."
-The Guardian
"...the booming contralto Ewa Podleś offered a fearsome portrayal of Madame de la Haltière, making a choice moment of the aria in which she explains her imperious character by documenting her family pedigree."
-The New York Times
"...that magnificent contralto Ewa Podleś reveals an unexpected gift for comedy as Cinderella's stepmother..."
-The Telegraph
NOW ON DVD - Pique Dame from the Gran Teatre del Liceu, 2010!:
"But then there's the Queen of Spades herself, in the mesmerizing person of Ewa Podleś, who takes this good, if uninspired, show and breathes into it the air of mad operatic genius. If you're already an admirer of this great singer (shamefully underemployed at the Met--nine performances over three decades), you'll probably already own this treasurable addition to her still-too-skimpy discography. If you're not yet a convert, try sampling a bit of her big Act II scene, where (in those haunting, still-potent Podleś tones) the sleepy Countess revisits her fabled Parisian past with a parade of titled personages--the Duke of Orléans, the Duke of Auyen, the Countess of Estrades..."Those were names!" she deliciously asserts, and we believe her: with each one, she vividly evokes not just a person but her own sometimes venomous assessment of him or her. If it's a momentary disappointment that Deflo denies her a climactic ghostly appearance in the final scene, in the long run it doesn't much matter: Podleś is there for us just as uncannily as the Countess is there for poor Gherman, but to a decidedly happier end."
-Opera News
"Almost walking away with the show is Ewa Podleś as the Old Countess. Today, this part is mainly taken by sopranos on their way out, singing in slim but characterful voices. Podleś, on the other hand, is in full control of her considerable resources, the voice booming when it must and scaled back for her lovely ballad."
-Classics Today
2011 Elektra at the Opéra de Nice:
"As Klytamnestra, Ewa Podleś reaffirms her greatness as an artist. As regal as she is pitiable, frightened yet haughty and seductive in her white-ermine coat and wig of golden curls, she calls to mind Marlene Dietrich, appearing like a woman ready to confront a jealous rival. And with a cavernous voice to stir the soul, the Polish contralto misses not a single nuance of the role she inhabits."
-Forumopéra
London's Wigmore Hall recital with Garrick Ohlsson, pianist:
"Ewa Podleś recital last night was one of those rare, and very special occasions when a singer opened the lid of her soul and poured forth a stream of uninhibvited emotion. Uninhibited, by no means uncontrolled, and with an usual level of communication between performers.....A performance of rare stature."
-theoperacritic.com
“The astonishing Ewa Podleś returned to Wigmore Hall after an absence of sixteen years…the power and range of these tones were phenomenal. The middle register is a vast roundness, at first strangely sexless (something of the owl-like male alto in its timbre), but settling in as part of the voice’s fascinating repertoire of colours and textures…And her personality, outgoing and generous like the voice itself, warmed the hall. It was like hearing some fabled singer of the past, old Schumann-Heink perhaps.”
-Opera Now
As La Cieca in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Ponchielli’s La Gioconda:
“The primary attraction, perhaps unsurprisingly, was Ms. Podleś. The instant her throaty, androgynous tone gushed forth, the only question that remained was what took so long to get her back on the Met stage. During a performance in which little spark could be detected in the audience, Ms. Podleś’s only rivals for affection were Letizia Giuliani and Angel Corella, the lithe, beautiful dancers reprising their work in Mr. Wheeldon’s Dance of the Hours.”
-The New York Times
With the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center:
“If Ariadne, abandoned on Naxos, had lamented Theseus with anything like the power of Ewa Podleś, the gods would have surely cowered and sent him scurrying back to her. Ms. Podleś, the remarkable Polish contralto, sang Haydn’s magnificent cantata Arianna a Nasso…with eyes blazing and head thrown back, she stormed through Ariadne’s lament with plaintive misery and crazed anger. Her voice, with its unusual timbre, easily cascaded up and down her three-octave range, from dusky, startling lows to powerful top notes. Ms. Podleś also sang Il Tramonto for mezzo and string quartet by Respighi…she was in her element with the declamatory, emotional vocal part, narrating the story of two lovers with dramatic fervor.”
-The New York Times
As Orsini in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia at the Gran Teatre del Liceu:
“A history-making Orsini by Ewa Podleś. The velvety lows and acrobatic highs, the transparency of a miraculous voice and artist whose every appearance is a privilege I don’t know that any of us deserve.”
-Ritmo
As Azucena in Verdi’s Il Trovatore at the Caramoor Festival:
“Podleś remains a force of nature. As Azucena, she exuded dramatic concentration, even in an evening gown. She exulted in the old gypsy’s wide-ranging obsessions, stalked the stage knowingly, bathed the line in voluptuous tone. She pointed the text with precise prowess, explored the lower vocal depths with chesty bravado and rose to the highest climaxes with lust sometimes marked by a hint of desperation. She managed to make the linear elaborations expressive, and, unlike her colleagues, actually sang softly for extended periods.”
-The Financial Times
As Klytämnestra in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Strauss’ Elektra:
“Ewa Podleś Klytämnestra appeared as monstrous but mortally injured bird of prey. Her huge voice, of seemingly immeasurable depth and resonance, and her subtly detailed shading of every phrase suited this larger-than-life character so perfectly that the feeling gripped the hushed audience that there could perhaps be no finer performance of this role.”
-Opera News
Title role of Rossini’s Tancredi at Opera Boston:
“…a star vehicle for the magnificent Polish contralto Ewa Podleś, in her debut. She did not disappoint. Apparently, Opera Boston leaders heard Podleś in a Jordan Hall recital in 2006 and decided on the spot they would try to sign her up for Tancredi, one of her signature roles. A smart move. Last night she sang with enormous dramatic presence and a bottomless font of deep and soulful tone…She showed off powerful high and low notes, but it was the middle range of her voice that was so remarkably moving, a sound drenched in an aching worldly sorrow that fit this role perfectly.”
-The Boston Globe
As Händel’s Giulio Cesare at the Seattle Opera:
“CONTRALTO REIGNS GLORIOUSLY. Ewa Podleś, a contralto of amazing power and agility, took command of the title role of Händel’s Julius Caesar the way Caesar himself took command of his legions. From Podleś opening aria to the triumphant conclusion, she poured on the powerful high notes, low notes and all the notes in between, singing the convoluted coloratura passages with unstinting accuracy and a real feeling for the words as well as the music. Podleś soared up into soprano territory, and she downshifted into low gear, displaying astonishing deep tones that would do credit to a baritone.”
-The Seattle Times
Recital in Baltimore’s Shriver Hall with Garrick Ohlsson, pianist:
“Among the unforgettable moments in recent Baltimore musical life was the local debut of Polish contralto Ewa Podleś at Shriver Hall Concert Series four years ago. Her return to that venue Sunday evening proved every bit as electrifying…Mussorgsky’s chilling evocation of Death picking off assorted victims inspired Podleś and partner to yet another height. In Lullaby, the contralto delineated the characters – a mother tends to a sick child as death promises sweet dreams – with remarkable fire. The extra punch she gave to the last, chopped-off word painted an all-to-clear picture of a little life snuffed out. And how spine-tingling her last, high and mighty note was in Serenade. She and Ohlsson kept things wonderfully tense and spooky in Trepak, and they produced tremendous force in The Field Marshall – Podleś even stomped onstage to drive home the image of Death crushing the wounded and dying.”
-The Baltimore Sun
Principessa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica at the San Francisco Opera:
“With the appearance of Ewa Podleś, the evening reached its apex; the voluptuous-voiced Polish contralto, making her long-awaited company debut as the flinty Princess, exuded authority.”
-Opera News
Rossini concert at Pesaro’s Teatro Rossini:
“…the extraordinary orchestral concert with Ewa Podleś at the Teatro Rossini on August 16, during which the Polish contralto cast into the shade all the other female singers in this year’s festival with her supremely individual voice and personality (displayed in Haydn’s Arianna a Nasso and a couple of Rossini arias). It was a profoundly moving display of technical and expressive mastery, employed with equal cogency in both tragedy and comedy, greeted with fanatical enthusiasm by an audience once again well able to distinguish real theatrical talent from mere window-dressing.”
-Opera News
Recording of Wigmore Hall recital with Garrick Ohlsson, pianist:
“Nobody can deny that Ewa Podleś earthy contralto is altogether unique. Here she gives a veritable masterclass to baritones with her sinister Songs and Dances of Death. The songs of Rachmaninoff and Chopin are also ideal for her. A rare opportunity to experience the singer beyond the realm of bel canto.”
-Die Welt Online
“The Polish contralto Ewa Podleś is an indomitable singer with a big, earthy, intensely expressive voice and an artistic personality to match. She has won an almost cultish following for her portrayals of operatic roles from Rossini to Strauss. You might think her oversize artistry would be unsuited to song literature, but she has a thriving recital career…If the size of her live sound does not come through so faithfully here, the vibrancy of her singing most certainly does. She opens with five songs by Chopin in Polish, sung with gripping intensity. Ms. Podleś sings piercing and impassioned accounts of songs by Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky. If you can adjust to the sweep and power of her singing, you will discover rich subtlety and keen attention to nuances of text in her work.”
-The New York Times
As Malcolm in Rossini’s La Donna del Lago with the Minnesota Opera:
“Minneapolis/St. Paul has already heard Ewa Podleś in concert and recital, but for her local staged opera she was met with ovations befitting a performance of stunning technical mastery and dramatic depth. This was Rossini singing at the highest level: heroic and expressive!”
-Opéra Magazine
The Marquise in the Houston Grand Opera production of Donizetti’s La fille du Régiment:
"An immense asset was a cast ready and willing to play the show to the hilt. The first to hit the stage was Polish contralto Ewa Podleś as the Marquise. She played the character as a scene-chewing dominatrix, and mugged and sang with delicious abandon but stupendous vocal skill. She dove deep into her low range, threw out a few high-voltage top notes and even started up the Habanera from Bizet's Camen during Marie's singing lesson opening Act. 2."
-The Houston Chronicle
Mahler #3 with the Seattle Symphony:
"Ewa Podleś sang the contralto role with the depth of sound we have come to expect from this Polish singer, both at the symphony and Seattle Opera, where she often appears. She has a remarkable voice and musicality, virtues she brought to the Mahler. Her singing was quietly powerful and emotionally resonant. The cheers at the end of the performance were well-deserved"
-The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Widely regarded as the world’s foremost contralto, Warsaw-born Ewa Podleś' engagements include the Metropolitan Opera (La Cieca in Ponchielli's La Gioconda), Seattle Opera (title role of Händel’s Giulio Cesare, Adalgisa in Bellini’s Norma and Erda in Wagner’s Ring cycle); San Diego Opera (Cesare; upcoming Marquise in Donizetti's La fille du Régiment); San Francisco Opera (Principessa in Puccini's Suor Angelica), Canadian Opera Company (Cesare, Jocasta in Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, Klytämnestra in Richard Strauss' Elektra and title role of Rossini’s Tancredi); Houston Grand Opera (Ulrica in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera and the Marquise); Dallas Opera (Bertarido in Händel’s Rodelinda and Erda); Milwaukee’s Florentine Opera (Azucena in Verdi’s Il Trovatore), Michigan Opera Theatre (Ulrica), Opéra de Monte Carlo (Countess in Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame), Madame de la Haltiere in Massenet’s Cendrillon at Paris’ Opéra Comique and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Minnesota Opera (Malcolm in Rossini’s La donna del lago) and Klytämnestra in Warsaw and Nice.
Appearances at New York’s Carnegie Hall include Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice with the Oratorio Society of New York, Ulrica with the Collegiate Chorale, baroque and Rossini programs with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Das Lied von der Erde with the Philadelphia Orchestra; and Szymanowski’s Three Hymns with Sinfonia Varsovia. Among her signature pieces is Rossini’s cantata Giovanna d’Arco which she performed with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra in Pittsburgh and at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall and Toronto Symphony. The University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, Michigan has presented her in recital, as Tancredi with the Detroit Symphony and as Orfeo in a semistaged version. Mme. Podleś has sung principal roles at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin and Deutsche Oper Berlin; Frankfurt Alte Oper; Gran Teatre del Liceu; Teatro Bellini; La Scala; La Fenice; Teatro San Carlo; Warsaw’s National Theatre; Théâtre Châtelet and Opéra Bastille. She remains a member of Warsaw's Teatr Wielki.
She has sung with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco, Detroit, Seattle, Montreal, American, Toronto, NHK, New World and Pittsburgh Symphonies; Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and National Arts Centre Orchestras; National Orchestra of Spain; Hong Kong and Dresden Philharmonics; under such conductors as David Atherton, Leon Botstein, Myung-Whun Chung, Gerard Schwarz, Nicholas McGegan, Neeme Jaervi, Lorin Maazel, Constantine Orbelian, Alberto Zedda and Pinchas Zukerman. A particularly acclaimed recitalist, she has been on the major art-song series of Cleveland, Atlanta, Vancouver, Philadelphia, St. Paul, Chicago, Paris, Amsterdam, London, Toronto, Moscow, Warsaw, Montreal, San Juan, Québec and New York (Alice Tully Hall and the 92nd Street Y). Festival invitations include New York’s Bard Festival, Aix-en-Provence, Flanders, Montpellier and Lanaudière. At Caramoor she has sung both Azucena and Tancredi and next performs Rossini's Ciro in Babilonia (summer 2012). Her many collaborations with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre includes two Deutsche Grammophon recordings: Händel’s Ariodante and Gluck’s Armide. Other issues include two acclaimed Delos recordings: Händel’s Arias and Russian Arias. She has made three recital discs with the pianist Garrick Ohlsson, including a new release recorded "live" at Wigmore Hall.
Mme. Podleś vocal study was with Alina Bolechowska at Warsaw's Chopin Music Academy. Awards include top prizes at Moscow's prestigious Tchaikowsky Competition
as the Marquise in Donizetti’s La fille du Régiment
As Ulrica in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera
There are dozens of audio and video links to Mme. Podleś in performance (just do a search) but here are some…recordings also available upon request (MSprizzo@aol.com).
Top/ Ewa Podleś Top/ Vocalists Home
&
Stage Director
As Egeo in Händel’s Teseo at the 2011 Göttingen Händel Festival:
“Drew Minter sang the King Egeo with great sovereignty.”
-Hessische Nachrichten
“The alto Drew Minter is a phenomenon…his coloratura facility remains undiminished, and he brings copious charm and infectious hilarity to his sharply etched characterization of Egeo.”
-Göttinger Tageblatt
Händel’s Messiah at Duke University 2010:
“Wynkoop always fields a group of fine vocal soloists and this year’s quartet was a royal flush!..All four singers could give master classes in perfect diction!...Internationally renowned counter-tenor Drew Minter was masterful in dramatizing the words and in extensively ornamenting the repeated lines. His clear, warm tone was welcome."
-Classical Voice of North Carolina
“This production features a pair of excellent countertenors. Drew Minter was a fabulous Cesare. His voice fits Cesare's music perfectly and his acting is great. He carries off the Bush-like persona flawlessly but makes him very human as well."
-norules-nolights.com
“Countertenor Drew Minter, the best known of the group’s members, is famous for his roles in Baroque opera, in which his dramatic intensity in projecting a character’s emotional state makes him a vivid presence. He was no different in his singing of Dowland: in each of his solos, the listener was made aware not only of the melody but of a person uttering the melody, a person in whom the feelings the words and tune expressed (usually, in Dowland, the pains of love) rose not from a graceful conceit of language or a well-shaped musical line but from the core of that person’s being. Minter’s is surely a suitable style for Händel, who composed more than a century later, but is it right for Dowland? The proof of the pudding is in the eating—how gripping the songs become when Minter gives his all to them!"
-San Diego Weekly Reader
“…extraordinary singing…Minter had to cope with a range of more than two octaves. He had to shift from falsetto into his ‘chest’ voice for low notes, and his skill in that was impressive…Minter handled all of the challenges easily. He communicated well the depths of despair in the words and his own joy at singing this music.”
-The Houston Chronicle
“As sung by countertenor Drew Minter, the music melted in the throat and emerged in crisp, clear diction that was itself a pleasure to hear. Vocally, Minter’s characteristic sound is light, pure, almost conversational, though with cream in the lower register. He has none of the wearisome artifice that affects all too many countertenors and he can move notes in florid passages without losing intimate touch with the words or sacrificing ease of delivery.”
-The Washington Post
Händel’s Agrippina:
“The Mannes production, directed by Drew Minter, gets to the heart of the opera’s newfound appeal.”
-The New York Times
Regarded for over two decades as one of the world’s finest countertenors, Drew Minter grew up as a boy treble in the Washington Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys. He continued his education at Indiana University and the Musik Hochschule of Vienna. Minter has appeared in leading roles with the opera companies of Brussels, Toulouse, Boston, Washington, Santa Fe, Wolf Trap, Glimmerglass, and Nice, among others. A recognized specialist in the works of Händel, he performed frequently at the Händel festivals of Göttingen, Halle, Karlsruhe, Maryland. He has sung with many of the world's leading baroque orchestras, including Les Arts Florissants, the Händel and Haydn Society, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Freiburger Barockorchester, and as a guest at festivals such as Tanglewood, Ravinia, Regensburg, BAM's Next Wave, Edinburgh, Spoleto, and Boston Early Music; other orchestra credits include the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Minter is a founding member of the Newberry Consort and sings and plays early harps regularly with TREFOIL, My Lord Chamberlain’s Consort, ARTEK, and the Folger Consort. Mr. Minter has made over 50 recordings on Harmonia Mundi, Decca/London, Newport Classics, Hungaroton and others. He appears in two films: as Tolomeo in Peter Sellars’s Giulio Cesare, and as the Devil in In the Symphony of the World: a Portrait of Hildegard of Bingen. He writes regularly for Opera News.Drew Minter is also a lauded stage director. He began as director of the operas at the Göttingen Händel Festival for five years, directing period baroque productions. Since then he has directed productions in many styles for the Opéra de Marseilles, Caramoor, the Boston Early Music Festival, Lake George Opera, The Cloisters Museum, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Händel and Haydn, Boston’s Opera Aperta, the Manhattan School of Music, Mannes School of Music, Boston University’s Opera Institute, Amherst Early Music, the Folger Shakespeare Theatre, the Five Colleges in Northampton, Tempesta di Mare and Cleveland’s Apollo’s Fire. Since assuming artistic directorship of Boston Midsummer Opera in 2006, he has directed his own pastiches of scenes, The Marriages of Mozart and Tales of Offenbach as well as Peter Brook’s Tragedy of Carmen and Mozart’s Così fan tutte.
In addition to numerous workshops in the vocal and dramatic performance of baroque music, since 1999 Mr. Minter has voice at Vassar College, where he also directs the Vassar Opera Workshop and conducts the Vassar Madrigal Singers. He has taught since 1989 at the Amherst Early Music Institute.
Available upon request (MSprizzo@aol.com) is Mr. Minter's recital recording Love Letters from Italy.
Return to the Boston Symphony for Bach's St. John Passion, April 2011:
"Christoph Pregardien has an ideal voice for the Evangelist--clear, bright, and beautifully colored. He was unerringly effective and dramatic in his storytelling..."
-The Boston Musical Intelligencer
New chamber version of Winterreise:
“This is one of those discs that stops you in your tracks right away, and won't let you get back to your life until well after silence returns. Veteran German lyric tenor Christoph Prégardien captures every nuance both in text and music. FOUR STARS ****."
-The Toronto Star
Bach's St. John Passion with Collegium Vocale Gent at Lincoln Center:
“Singing the crucial part of the Evangelist was Christoph Prégardien. That this distinguished German tenor began his musical life as a choirboy seems crucial to his mature artistry. Though his singing was elegant, clarion and worldly wise, there was still an affecting element of choirboy purity in his voice. During the Evangelist's long stretches of narrative recitative, Mr. Herreweghe put his hands at his side and simply listened, seemingly captivated along with the rest of us.“
-The New York Times
Bach’s St. John Passion with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony:
“Soloists, also German imports, were splendid…Tenor Christoph Prégardien was a ringing and sympathetic Evangelist.”
-The Montreal Gazette
Return to the distinguished Philadelphia Chamber Music Society series:
“Tenor Christoph Prégardien was headed toward a particularly satisfying conclusion to a Hugo Wolf song Wednesday at the Kimmel Center when the final phrase lifted into an even more rarefied zone with a tone that was devoid of physical effort and had exactly the right sound for the emotional temperature of the song. How did that happen? Why was it so right? Was it one of those things that occur when the German lieder planets align? Then, two Wolf songs later, it happened again – a phrase reading that stands beside the best instrumentalists and singers you’ve ever heard. Once is a fluke. Twice is a chapter in your aural history – and not a small chapter. To put it lightly, the Prégardien recital was quite special…At his considerable best, Prégardien’s voice carries the words and their content so selflessly that the actual vocalization disappears into them.”
-The Philadelphia Inquirer
Return to the “Art of the Song” series at Lincoln Center:
“The delicate, cushiony ambience of the newly rebuilt Tully Hall proved a perfect match for Prégardien’s naturally glowing lyric tenor, with its overtone-laden, baritonal coloring…Prégardien appeared to be genuinely inside these songs, without any effort or affect, as if there were no more authentic form of expression for him…it seemed the entire audience ceased to breathe for a full thirty seconds before bursting into applause.”
-Opera News
Bach Cantatas with Les Violons du Roy:
“But it is the tenor Christoph Prégardien who, in my opinion, really succeeds in finding exactly the right tone, the most simple and natural manner of delivering the text. In so doing, he establishes a direct connection with the audience. The incomparable quality of his diction, supple and light, is without a doubt extraordinary.“
-Le Soleil
Precise vocal control, clear diction, intelligent musicality and an ability to get to the heart of everything he sings insures Christoph Prégardien’s place among the world’s foremost lyric tenors. Especially revered as a lieder singer, he is heard this season in London (Wigmore Hall), Antwerp, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Schubertiade and on tours of Japan, South Korea and Switzerland. During the Heidelberger Frühling, he performs Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin, after which he sings Hans Zender’s arrangement of the same composer’s Winterreise at the Opernfestspiele Heidenheim. Ever receptive to new and imaginative instrumentations of familiar works, Mr. Prégardien recently joined Canada’s Ensemble Pentaèdre for the world premiere of Winterreise as re-arranged for tenor, accordion and wind quintet, in Montréal, Israel and on a unanimously acclaimed recording.Christoph Prégardien appears with renowned orchestras the world over, including the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, National Orchestra of Spain, London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, the Philharmonie de Radio France, as well as the Boston, St. Louis, Montreal and San Francisco Symphonies. His vast orchestral repertoire includes the great baroque, classical and romantic oratorios and passions, as well as works from the 17th (Monteverdi, Purcell, Schütz) and 20th centuries (Britten, Killmayer, Rihm, Strawinsky). He has collaborated with conductors such as Barenboim, Chailly, Gardiner, Harnoncourt, Herreweghe, Luisi, Metzmacher, Nagano, Sawallisch and Thielemann. In opera his roles have included Tamino (Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte), Almaviva (Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Fenton (Verdi’s Falstaff), Don Ottavio (Mozart’s Don Giovanni), the title role of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito) and Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria.
Much of Mr. Prégardien’s repertoire has been recorded on the BMG, EMI, DG, Philips, Sony, Erato and Teldec labels, his discography numbering over 130 titles, many of which have been awarded international prizes. His celebrated recordings of German romantic song have won the Orphée d’Or of the Académie du Disque Lyrique, as well as the Prix Georg Solti, German Record Critics’ Prize, Edison Award, Cannes Classical Award and the Diapason d’Or, to name but a few.
Christoph Prégardien recently forged a longterm collaboration with the Dutch label Challenge Classics: their first recordings of Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin (accompanied by Michael Gees) and Schubert’s Schwanengesang (accompanied by Andreas Staier) were released in 2008. Müllerin was highly praised as “Best of the Year” in Gramophone and was honoured at MIDEM 2009 as both Record and Vocal Recital of the Year. Subsequently the label issued a recording of songs by Schubert, Mahler, Wolf, Loewe, and others entitled Between Life and Death (again with Mr. Gees at the piano). Most recently (fall 2010) his recording of Hugo Wolf‘s Italienisches Liederbuch with soprano Julia Kleiter and pianist Hilko Dumno was released.
Teaching remains a very important part of Christoph Prégardien’s musical life. From 2000 to 2004 he taught at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Zurich. Since 2004, he has been a professor at the Academy of Music in Cologne. As part of Schott’s “Master Class” series, he published an innovative multi-media DVD/book addressing vocal technique and musical interpretation.
Audio Links:
Mahler: Urlicht
Schubert: Der Zwerg
Schubert: Die Krähe from Winterreise (chamber version with Pentaedre)
Weber: Durch die Wälder, durch die Auen from Der Freischütz
Complete recital discs and Mozart Concert Arias available from MSprizzo@aol.com
Top/ Christoph Prégardien Top/ Vocalists Home
Return to the Montreal Symphony/Kent Nagano for the St. John Passion:
"As the Evangelist, German tenor Christoph Genz provided a lyrical narration of the drama, carrying the flow of the story with stunning clarity and smoothness."
-La Scena Musicale
"Three voices, indeed three presences stood out from the rest: the German tenor Christoph Genz describing the events with just the right conversational tone..."
-La Presse
"Tenor Christoph Genz, singing the Evangelist, acted the part of the storyteller in masterfully delivered recitative. His voice was light and nimble, reaching high into its upper range with total ease. At all times Genz was connected to the drama and the text, propelling the story forward with concision and sensitivity. His consistencey produced a wonderful unification and a sense of linearity in the concert."
-Bachtrack.com
Debut with Boston's Händel & Haydn Society in Die Jahreszeiten under Sir Roger Norrington:
“Of the three excellent soloists, two were making their local debuts. Tenor Christoph Genz was polished and elegant...”
-The Boston Globe
In recital with Charles Rosen:
“Rosen teamed up with the terrific young German tenor Christoph Genz for the song cycle Dichterliebe, restoring four songs that Schumann originally included but later took out (apparently for commercial reasons). It was a memorable performance. Genz has an extremely clear, light voice, effortless and natural throughout its range, and his take on the songs was expressive but never overcooked.”
-The Washington Post
“On this Schumann tour, Rosen is joined in Dichterliebe by Christoph Genz, a German tenor whose substantial operatic experience is put to excellent use. His performance at VCU was intimate in delivery, as art-song should be; but he latched onto the drama, even theatricality, of songs such as Und Wüsstens die Blumen and Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, and put heart, as well as clean, refined tone, into the set’s many romantic reveries. His diction was spotless, which the audience’s probably few German-speakers appreciated. Other listeners were doubtless more gratified by Genz’s expressive and communicative skills.”
-Letter V – The Virginia Classical Music Blog
Händel Arias CD:
“It is a pleasure to listen to that smooth, floating voice. Genz tackles the difficulties in Händel’s arias impressively, never forcing his voice which rests attractively in the middle, intensifying appropriately at the more dramatic moments. Wholeheartedly recommended.”
-Leipziger Volkszeitung
Bach Weihnachtsoratorium under Helmuth Rilling:
“Tenor Christoph Genz merits special mention – so pure and clear and superhumanly beautiful in the highest register.”
-Ruhr Nachrichten
Bach’s St. John Passion with Markus Stenz conducting, in Cologne:
”A lyric tenor of the quality we have not heard since Christoph Prégardien. He performs regally and effortlessly. Even beyond the singing, he revels in and reveals the beauty of the German language.”
-Berliner Zeitung
Bach’s St. John Passion with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra:
“The star of this performance was Mr. Genz. An utterly convincing Evangelist, he holds together the entire proceedings without exaggeration or affectation, simply telling the story with a radiant, clear tenor, employing vibrato only when appropriate. Erwäge, wie sein blutgefärbter Rücken became the evening’s highlight, the tenor singing with great beauty and ardent passion.”
-Leipziger Volkszeitung
Carmina Burana with Carl St. Clair in Dusseldorf:
“Tenor Christoph Genz was very convincing, with a secure top register in the notoriously ungrateful role of the swan.”
-Westdeutsche Zeitung
Ferrando in Così fan tutte at the Hamburg State Opera:
“Since winning the Leipzig Bach Competition, Christoph Genz has successfully joined the front rank of lyric tenors, justly celebrated as the newest Mozart star. Un’aura amorosa was wonderfully phrased, his second aria revealing even more power and tonal warmth.”
-Orpheus
Elijah with the San Francisco Symphony under Herbert Blomstedt:
“The evening's most exciting discovery was tenor Christoph Genz, whose phenomenal debut was marked by gorgeous, burnished tone and fluid phrasing. The aria If with all your hearts ye truly seek me, which may be the score's most sumptuously beautiful stretch of writing, sounded even more heart-stopping in Genz's version."
-The San Francisco Examiner
Calgary Philharmonic debut, St. John Passion under Roberto Minczuk:
“A particular treat was the presence of German tenor Christoph Genz in the role of the Evangelist. This part requires a light, high tenor. Genz was up to the challenge, the voice clear and sweet, without any strain at the top, and with a fine dramatic sense of the words."
-The Calgary Herald
German lyric tenor Christoph Genz has been engaged for concerts, recitals and opera productions in Europe, Asia and the USA, collaborating with such distinguished conductors as Herbert Blomstedt, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Riccardo Chailly, Sir Simon Rattle, Kurt Masur, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Roger Norrington, Ton Koopman, Ingo Metzmacher, Marek Janowski, Markus Stenz, Daniel Harding, Ivor Bolton, Frans Brueggen, Marcus Creed, Thomas Hengelbrock, Jesús Lopez-Cóbos, Michail Jurowski and Peter Schreier.
His many recordings include Bach Cantatas under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Reinhard Goebel, Helmuth Rilling and Sigiswald Kuijken; Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos under the late Giuseppe Sinopoli; Bach’s St. John Passion under Ludwig Güttler; Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang Symphony under Helmuth Rilling; and several solo discs with works by Bach, Haendel, Schubert, Haydn, Mozart, and 17th- and 18th-century lute songs.
Mr. Genz appears regularly at prestigious festivals including the Schubertiade in Hohenems/Feldkirch, the May Festival in Wiesbaden, the Lucerne Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein, Aix-en-Provence and Richter/Moscow Festivals. He has given recitals at the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Louvre in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, as well as on New York's distinguished "Art of the Song" series. He recently sang the three Schubert song cycles at the Leipzig Gewandhaus.
Opera includes membership at the Basel Theater, guest engagements at the Opéra de Nancy (Ferrando in Così fan tutte), Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris (Tamino in Die Zauberflöte), Opéra de Lausanne, Teatro alla Scala, Semperoper Dresden, La Coruna and the opera houses in Leipzig, Cologne and Wiesbaden. From 2001 to 2004 he was an ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera where he appeared in numerous lyric tenor roles.
Concerts include Christ in a production of Mozart’s Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots under Nicolaus Harnoncourt at the Theater an der Wien; Mendelssohn’s Elijah under Herbert Blomstedt with the San Francisco Symphony; Bach’s St. Matthew Passion under Riccardo Chailly with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; Haydn’s Seasons under Sir Roger Norrington with Boston's Händel and Haydn Society; Mendelssohn’s Paulus under Marek Janowski in Berlin and under Herbert Blomstedt with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; tours of Bach’s St. John Passion with RIAS Chamber Choir; Bach's B Minor Mass and St. John Passion and Haydn's Die Schoepfung with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony; and the Evangelist/Arias in Bach's St. John Passion with the Calgary Philharmonic under Roberto Minczuk. 2010 highlights included a tour of Bach Cantatas with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and Collegium Vocale Gent under Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Cantatas with La Petite Bande under Sigiswald Kuijken; Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in Tokyo under Mto Suzuki.
Mr. Genz received his first musical training as a member of the St. Thomas’ Boys Choir in Leipzig. He continued his studies in musicology at King’s College Cambridge where he was also a member of King’s College Choir. He studied voice under Hans-Joachim Beyer at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Leipzig and with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.
He won first prize at the International Singing Competition in Grimsby, England and the first prize at the International J.S.Bach-Competition in Leipzig.
Video of Mr. Genz singing Bach’s Ich folge Dir from the oratorio Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu
Video of Mr. Genz in Benedictus from the Mass B Minor Mass
Audio of Mr. Genz singing Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte
Video of Mr. Genz in Alceste
Video of Mr. Genz in Alceste
Audio of Mr. Genz singing Bach’s Ich will leiden, BWV 87
Audio of Mr. Genz singing Schubert’s Der Wanderer an den Mond
Audio of Mr. Genz singing Schubert’s Der Winterabend
Audio of Mr. Genz singing Schubert’s Des Fischers Liebesglück
Audio of Mr. Genz singing Schubert’s Drang in die Ferne
Audio of Mr. Genz singing Beethoven’s O welch ein Leben
Available upon request (MSprizzo@aol.com) are Mr. Genz’s Händel Arias and various recital discs.
Top/ Christoph Genz Top/ Vocalists Home
Haendel's Acis and Galatea at the 2011 Mozart Weeks Festival in Salzburg:
"Balzer has become a regular with Minkowski now...And with Minkowski taking the mantle of Artistic Director of the festival, we can only expect more from this talented Canadian tenor with a blossoming European career."
-Opera Canada
Steffani's Niobe at the 2011 Boston Early Music Festival:
"The other reasons to see this show include the stellar tenor Colin Balzer, who inhabited the role of Tiberino (a member of the rustic sub-plot that exists in every baroque opera) with complete dramatic poise and conviction, as well as glowing vocal color. One wished he had a larger role, but hopefully he will return to BEMF in a more featured capacity."
-clevelandclassical.com
reprinted in its entirety from David Shengold's review appearing in Opera News Online:
Colin Balzer & Erika Switzer
NEW YORK CITY The Frick Collection
12/12/10
The Frick Collection, one of New York's jewels among museums, has a concert series in a splendid, intimate music room. Its printed history is rich with the great names of piano and string players of the past seventy-five years; singers tend to appear once or twice a season, and here too the selection has been cultivated and knowing–from Mack Harrell (1956) and Frederica von Stade (1974) through Sergei Leiferkus, Susan Platts and Gerald Finley in recent years. On December 12 the Frick hosted an excellent recital by Colin Balzer, a Canadian light-lyric tenor based in Germany. One hopes his local recital debut presages appearances at the other venues still booking vocal recitals; the 92nd Street Y, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium and Town Hall, three of the best rooms in town, have neglected this art form shamefully of late.
Balzer surely does not aspire to Werther or Calàf; his ingratiating, well-knit sound, with baritonal warmth when needed but an airy, floating top reminiscent of Anthony Rolfe Johnson, has been deployed to fine effect in the Boston Early Music Festival's operatic offerings, and he has sung Ottavio and Idomeneo at major European venues. Bach figures heavily in his schedule. He didn't venture above a high A in this outing. But what superb singing, and what a fine, natural interpreter! Pitch and breath control never seem to be at issue, and his attack at all dynamic levels was precise and apt. Partnered by the excellent, sonorous pianist Erika Switzer, he phrased with great distinction in a program encompassing five Haydn English settings, five relatively unhackneyed Schubert Lieder and a second half devoted to Britten–the Hardy-based cycle Winter Words and five folksong settings. The melismatic passages Britten crafted for Peter Pears demonstrated Balzer's easy agility.
Adept at mimicry and subtle facial play, Balzer set a dramatic mood from the start of his opener, Haydn's melancholy "Spirit's Song," and embodied without histrionics or exaggeration many personae throughout the concert. He could rise to the odd Gothic tragedy of Schubert's "Der Zwerg" and the philosophical challenges posed by Hardy without distorting his tonal clarity. Balzer also offers excellent, expressive diction in both English and German and that elusive but essential feature for the folk songs, charm. Winter Words, a profound and intriguing composition of great feeling, was superbly done by both artists. A very demonstrative reception at the end brought forth two encores--Copland's "Bought me a cat" (Balzer's honk and neigh were particularly noteworthy) and a ravishing reading of Holst's Christmas carol "In the bleak midwinter." More, please!
-Opera News
Mozart's Idomeneo in Bremen under Minkowski (2009):
“Colin Balzer, in this production more a conflicted father than authority figure, brought to the title role a deeply felt, velvety, lieder-interpreter tenor of the highest order."
-Weser Kurier
Don Giovanni at the Aix-en-Provence Festival under Louis Langrée (2010):
"Canadian tenor COLIN BALZER provides a finely tuned performance as a bespectacled, bourgeois Don Ottavio..."
-France Today
"Colin Balzer, flawless of technique in both his arias, responds with a strangely moving Dalla sua pace..."
--The Arts Desk
"Canadian tenor Colin Balzer also portrayed an unconventional Don Ottavio, not the archetypical bore but rather a complex and torn character with endless nuance, expressed by Balzer with unerring style and great beauty of tone."
-Opera Canada
at Early Music Vancouver:
"Colin Balzer (tenor) followed with Iste Confessor demonstrating utter confidence in the spiritual meaning of the words with a smooth and flowing voice. The accompanying violins responded to every nuance. In Confitebor tibi Domine, the three voices together delivered crystal clear diction and effortless strength in exaltation and praise. So it continued, the drama and variety in Monteverdi's writing always adorned by the artistry of the musicians."
-reviewvancouver.org
"This particular assortment of {Bach} cantatas favoured tenor Balzer, who can sing Bach's often attenuated lines with a lithe, seemingly effortless lightness, then ratchet up the drama for recitatives or quasi-operatic arias like the tempestuous 'Stuermt nur, stuermt' from the intimately scaled Cantata BWV 153."
-The Vancouver Sun
Messiah with the Calgary Philharmonic:
"Colin Balzer was elegance itself in his tenor solos, his singing sophisticated and beautifully shaped in his treatment of the phrases."
-The Calgary Herald
Haydn's Die Schoepfung with Yoav Talmi and the Québec Symphony:
"Among the soloists, I especially loved Colin Balzer for, among other things, his presence and the heart he brings to every phrase. His was of singing was exemplary, his velvety voice full of poetry."
-cyberpresse.ca
Bach's B Minor Mass with Yoav Talmi and the Quebéc Symphony:
"The tenor Colin Balzer, whose voice seems to grow richer and lovelier, was the standout. His Benedictus with flute and cello accompaniment, was magnificently delectable chamber music worth the trip."
-Le Soleil
Debut on the distinguished Philadelphia Chamber Music Society series:
“A splendid recital...he produces a sound evoking modern deities Anthony Rolfe Johnson and Richard Croft--clear, floaty, but with a solid baritonal underpinning. His technique permits long lines, seemingly perfect intonation, and--as the melismatic passages in the Britten portion of the evening demonstrated--wonderful agility. A first half alternating Haydn and unhackneyed Schubet songs showed excellent, expressive diction in both English and German and cultivated style, plus a kind of 30-something boy-next-door charm...One could have heard a pin drop--until the prologned ovations.”
-Gay City News
With assured musicality and the varied tonal palette of a lieder specialist, Canadian lyric Colin Balzer's current season includes concerts with the Rotterdam Philharmonic under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, RIAS Kammerchor, Museumsorchester Salzburg, Radio Kamer Filharmonie (Amsterdam Concertgebouw), Les Musiciens du Louvre under Marc Minkowski (Salzburg Music Weeks), Philharmonischer Chor Berlin, Estonian Chamber Choir and Musik Podium Stuttgart. In North America he is heard with Bernard Labadie and the Utah Symphony in the Mozart Requiem; the Ann Arbor Symphony (Händel's Messiah), Toronto's Tafelmusik (Händel's Hercules), and Calgary Philharmonic (Bach's St. Matthew Passion under Music Director Roberto Minczuk). He sings recitals in Paris and New York (the latter his first Winterreise) and performs in Mozart operas at the Bolshoi (Don Giovanni), France's Aix-en-Provence and Spain's Castell de Perelada festivals (La finta giardiniera).Mr. Balzer's 2010-11 season included his New York solo recital debut on the distinguished Frick Collection series, concerts with the Oratorio Society of New York and Musica Sacra under Kent Tritle, Les Violons du Roy under Bernard Labadie; the Mozart Requiem with Camerata Salzburg, Acis and Galatea conducted by Marc Minkowski in Grenoble, Steffani's Niobe at the Boston Early Music Festival, and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Bolshoi. In 2009-2010 he made a sensational American solo recital debut on the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society series; sang Messiah with the Edmonton and Toronto Symphonies; made his Atlanta Symphony debut in the Mozart Coronation Mass under Roberto Abbado; performed Mozart's Idomeneo and Mass in C in Salzburg under Marc Minkowski; Bach's St. Matthew Passion and Cantatas with Philippe Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale Gent and sang Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni with Louis Langrée conducting at France's Aix-en-Provence Festival. Recent seasons includes the title role of Monteverdi's Orfeo in Edmonton, Haydn's Die Schöpfung with Yoav Talmi and the Québec Symphony, Händel's Messiah with the Calgary Philharmonic, the Mozart Requiem with the National Philharmonic, Indianapolis and New Jersey Symphonies; Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Purcell's The Fairy Queen with Early Music Vancouver, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass throughout Belgium with Philippe Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale Gent; a European tour of Händel's Brockes Passion with Marcus Creed and the Akademie für alte Musik; and the role of Sacerdote in Mozart's Idomeneo under Marc Minkowski at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Mr. Balzer has given concerts with the Het Brabants Orkest, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Luxembourg Symphony, Munich Bach Choir, Leipzig Baroque Orchestra, Toronto’s Tafelmusik, the Victoria, Ann Arbor and Oregon Symphonies. In addition he sang Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch at Finland’s Savonlinna Festival, Acis in Händel’s Acis and Galatea at Festival Vancouver, and Mattheson’s Boris Goudenow and Lully's Psyche at the Boston Early Music Festival. He frequently collaborates with such distinguished conductors as Leopold Hager, Bernard Labadie, Helmuth Rilling, Simone Young, Simon Preston, Gabriel Chmura, Christof Perick, Mario Venzago and Kenneth Montgomery.
Particularly esteemed as a recitalist, he has been welcomed at London’s Wigmore Hall (accompanied by Graham Johnson), the Britten Festival in Aldeburgh, the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, the Wratislavia Cantans in Poland, and at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden. Recordings to date include Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch and Eisler and Henze song anthologies. A prizewinner of Holland’s ‘s-Hertogenbosch Competition, the U.K.’s Wigmore Hall Song Competition, Stuttgart, Germany’s Hugo Wolf Competition and Munich's 55th International ARD Competition, Mr. Balzer also holds the rare distinction of earning the Gold Medal at the Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau with the highest score in 25 years. Born in British Columbia, he received his formal musical training at the University of British Columbia with David Meek and with Edith Wiens at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg/Augsburg.
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Colin Balzer Audio~Video
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As Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni
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Händel’s Brockes-Passion
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Bach: Ich will bei meinem Jesu wachen (go to 1:45 for Mr. Balzer)
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Mozart Requiem with Grant Llewellyn and the North Carolina Symphony, September 2011: "Soprano Dominique Labelle, mezzo Krista River, tenor Richard Clement and bass Christopheren Nomura contributed solid solo and quartet singing, especially affecting in the operatic Benedictus."
Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, Op. 31 at the 2011 Bellingham Festival of Music:
"Clement's beautifully produced tenor sailed through the virtuoso requirements of the score."
-The Seattle Times
"The poems, ranging from Keats to Johnson to Blake, were delivered beautifully by tenor Richard Clement. His voice is not overpowering and doesn't need to be in this setting. Sweet is the only word that adequately describes his voice and his control is exquisite. The Britten piece drew the first standing ovation of the night."
-Entertainment News Northwest
"The four soloists were a set of singers so uniformly excellent that I truly doubt that I will ever hear a quartet that will equal them...The men consisted of the bright and piercing tenor Richard Clement, nicely complemented by the cavernous and somewhat intimidating bass Christopheren Nomura. This group had several wonderful quartet sections, especially in the Benedictus, some so affecting and lyrical that they would not seem out of place in any of the great Mozart operas."
-Classical Voice North Carolina
-NewsObserver.com
"Vocalists Dominique Labelle (soprano), Krista River (mezzo-soprano), Richard Clement (tenor) and Christopheren Nomura (bass) were situated visually to blend with the symphony, which they did beautifully vocally, as well. All the parts, vocal and instrumental, created one unified sound."
-triangleartsandentertainment.org
Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius with the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra:
"Crucial to relaying the tale is doing it with fervor. And fervor is what characterized the singing of tenor Richard Clement as Gerontius. Clement's presence was a great asset to this highly operatic oratorio, which is based on the idea that a human life is both great and miniscule. Clement embodied both notions and filled them with his warm and supple lyric tenor. He was also extremely effective in communicating a man cast into the unknown. And jn moments where he had to sing softly, Clement always offered something deep and meaningful."
-The Sacramento Bee
Roméo et Juliette at the Toledo Opera:
"The Tybalt of Richard Clement was forceful and far better sung than is frequently the case with this role."
-Opera News
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Carlos Kalmar and the Baltimore Symphony:
“Four fine soloists completed an unusually satisfying summer evening of music.”
-The Washington Post
Haydn's Die Schöpfung with the Colorado Symphong Orchestra:
"Uriel was sung with lightness and expressiveness by tenor Richard Clement."
-The Rocky Mountain News
Verdi Requiem at the Chautauqua Festival:
“The soloists were all equal to the piece's vocal demands. Outstanding aspects of the performance included Clement's work in the tenor part...the voices of Chandler-Eteme and Clement dominated the sound."
-The Chautauquan Daily
Grammy-winning American tenor RICHARD CLEMENT has performed with most of America’s major orchestras and music directors, bringing tonal beauty and superb musicality to repertoire from the baroque to the contemporary. He recently earned particular acclaim for the title role of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius with the North Carolina Symphony and Sacramento Choral Arts Society and Orchestra. In addition he premiered--and recorded--Theofanides' The Here and Now with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony, including performances in Atlanta and at New York’s Carnegie Hall (he has also sung Messiah and concert performances of John Adams’ Doctor Atomic with them). Among the most in-demand tenors for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, invitations include the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; New Jersey, Milwaukee, San Antonio, Oregon, Memphis, San Diego, Baltimore, Nashville, Phoenix, Colorado and Toledo Symphonies. He sang Elijah with the Memphis and Charlotte Symphonies; the Verdi Requiem with the the Santa Rosa and New Jersey Symphonies and Chautauqua Music Festival Orchestra; Beethoven's Missa solemnis with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and National Arts Centre Orchestra; and Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with the Colorado and Puerto Rico Symphonies. In addition Mr. Clement has performed Belmonte in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Leonard Slatkin and the National Symphony; Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with Jeffrey Kahane and the Colorado Symphony; Orff’s Carmina Burana with Neeme Järvi and the Detroit Symphony, and two Mozart programs with Boston’s Händel & Haydn Society under Grant Llewellyn. He also sang Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht and Second Symphony with Kurt Masur and the Israel Philharmonic; Toch’s Cantata of the Bitter Herbs with the Czech Philharmonic; the Mozart Requiem with the Saint Louis and Delaware Symphonies; Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex with Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony; Kernis’ Millenium Symphony with the Minnesota Orchestra; Tippett’s A Child of Our Time with Jeffrey Kahane and the Santa Rosa Symphony; The Bells with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall; Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ and Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. He has been guest soloist with the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras; Houston, Toronto, San Francisco and Cincinnati Symphonies, and collaborated with such conductors as Wolfgang Sawallisch, Jesús López-Cobos, Bobby McFerrin, Daniel Harding, Christopher Hogwood, Carlo Rizzi, John Mauceri, Marin Alsop, Hugh Wolff and James Conlon.
Festival engagements include Tanglewood (concert performance of Act III of Verdi’s Falstaff), Beethoven #9 at both Grant Park and the Hollywood Bowl, and the Bach B Minor Mass with Seiji Ozawa at Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival.
Mr. Clement’s considerable operatic credentials include Pedrillo in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Sir Colin Davis and the New York Philharmonic; Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at Belgium’s De Vlaamse Opera and with the Colorado Symphony. At the Vancouver Opera his roles include Nanki-Poo (The Mikado), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Little Bat (Susannah) and Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni); Ernesto (Don Pasquale) at Glimmerglass Opera; Vanya (Katya Kabanova) and To-No-Chujo (Tale of the Genji) at Opera Theater of St. Louis; Belmonte (Entführung) with the Boston Baroque; Lensky (Eugen Onegin) and Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore) at Opera Festival of New Jersey; Candide, Lockwood (Wuthering Heights) and Fenton (Falstaff) at Boston Lyric Opera; and Albert Herring with the Atlanta Opera.
Mr. Clement studied voice at Georgia State University and the Cincinnati Conservatory, where he received his Master of Music degree. He was a Tanglewood Music Festival Fellow, has been a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio and was a recipient of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation Jacobson Study Grant. Recordings include Britten’s War Requiem with the Washington Choral Society, Bartók’s Cantata Profana with the Atlanta Symphony (both Grammy winners) and Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame. Mr. Clement is currently on staff as a visiting lecturer at Atlanta's Georgia State University.
Vinson Cole