George Frideric Handel
Operas Almira (1705) Rodrigo (1707) Florindo (1708) Agrippina (1709) Rinaldo (1711) Il pastor fido (1712) Silla (1713) Teseo (1713) Amadigi di Gaula (1715) Acis and Galatea (1718) Radamisto (1720) Muzio Scevola (1721) Floridante (1721) Ottone (1723) Flavio (1723) Giulio Cesare (1724) Tamerlano (1724) Rodelinda (1725) Scipione (1726) Alessandro (1726) Admeto (1727) Riccardo Primo (1727) Siroe (1728) Tolomeo (1728) Lotario (1729) Partenope (1730) Poro (1731) Ezio (1732) Sosarme (1732) Orlando (1733) Arianna in Creta (1734) Oreste (1734) Ariodante (1735) Alcina (1735) Atalanta (1736) Arminio (1737) Giustino (1737) Berenice (1737) Alessandro Severo (1738) Faramondo (1738) Serse (1738) Giove in Argo (1739) Imeneo (1740) Deidamia (1741) Semele (1744) Alceste (1750) List of operas
Oratorios Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno (1707) La resurrezione (1708) Brockes Passion (1715) Esther (1718) Deborah (1733) Athalia (1733) Alexander's Feast (1736) Il trionfo del tempo e della verità (1737) Saul (1738) Israel in Egypt (1738) L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato (1740) Messiah (1741) Samson (1741) Semele (1743) Joseph and his Brethren (1743) Hercules (1744) Belshazzar (1744) Occasional Oratorio (1746) Judas Maccabaeus (1746) Joshua (1747) Alexander Balus (1747) Susanna (1748) Solomon (1748) Theodora (1749) The Choice of Hercules (1750) Jephtha (1752) The Triumph of Time and Truth (1757)
Cantatas (partial list) Tra le fiamme (Il consiglio) (1707) Un' alma innamorata (1707) Ero e Leandro (1707) Clori, Tirsi e Fileno (1707) O lucenti, o sereni occhi (1707) Aure soavi e lieti (1707) Del bell'idolo mio (1707–09) Aci, Galatea e Polifemo (1708) Dalla guerra amorosa (1709) Apollo e Dafne (1710) Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne (1713) Ode for St. Cecilia's Day (1739)
Wikipedia Book
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Ariodante (HWV 33) is an opera seria in three acts by Handel. The anonymous Italian libretto was based on a work by Antonio Salvi, which in turn was adapted from Canti 5 and 6 of Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. Each act contains opportunities for dance, originally composed for dancer Marie Sallé and her company.

The opera was first performed in the Covent Garden Theatre, London, on 8 January 1735. Ariodante opened Handel's first season at Covent Garden and successfully competed against the rival Opera of the Nobility, supported by the Prince of Wales. Handel had the tacit and financial support of the King and Queen and, more vocally, of the Princess Royal. The opera received 11 performances during its premiere season at Covent Garden.^[1]

Like Handel's other works in the opera seria genre, Ariodante, despite its initial success, fell into oblivion for more than two hundred years. An edition of the score was published in the early 1960s, from the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe.^[2] In the 1970s, the work began to be revived, and has come to be considered one of Handel's finest operas. On March 29, 1971 the Handel Society of New York performed the American premiere of the work in a concert version with mezzo-soprano Sophia Steffan in the title role and Judith Raskin as Ginevra.^[3]

Charles Cudworth has discussed the influence of French dance music in the opera.^[4] Winton Dean has noted that act 2 of the opera, in its original version, is the only act in a Handel opera which ends with accompanied recitative.^[5]

Roles[link]

Title page

Synopsis[link]

Ginevra, daughter of the King of Scotland, is betrothed to Ariodante. Polinesso, a jealous rival of Ariodante, wins the confidence of Ginevra's friend Dalinda. With Dalinda's unwitting help, Polinesso tricks Ariodante into thinking that Ginevra is his (Polinesso's) lover.

The King, hearing of Ginevra’s alleged infidelity, disowns her, while Ariodante is reported dead by suicide. Polinesso then sends his agents to kill Dalinda, as the only witness to his plot. But Ariodante (whose suicide attempt was foiled), having met Dalinda while wandering in the woods, drives off the would-be assassins.

Polinesso, seeking to win the King’s favour, now offers to defend the honour of Ginevra in a tournament. In the combat, he is mortally wounded by Ariodante’s vengeful brother Lurcanio. Ariodante, having learned about Polinesso’s plot from Dalinda, now appears and offers himself as Ginevra’s champion. The dying Polinesso confesses his guilt and Ginevra is pardoned by the King.

Recordings[link]

• Philips 6769 025: Janet Baker, Edith Mathis, Norma Burrowes, Samuel Ramey, David Rendall, James Bowman, Alexander Oliver; London Voices; English Chamber Orchestra; Raymond Leppard, conductor^[1][5][6]
• Harmonia Mundi HMU 907146.48: Lorraine Hunt, Juliana Gondek, Lisa Saffer, Jennifer Lane, Rufus Müller, Nicolas Cavallier, Jörn Lindemann; Wilhelmshaven Vocal Ensemble; Freiburg Baroque Orchestra; Nicholas McGegan, conductor, recorded on June 7–11, 1995, released in March 1996^[7]
• Archiv 457 271-2: Anne Sofie von Otter, Lynne Dawson, Veronica Cangemi, Ewa Podleś, Richard Croft, Denis Sedov, Luc Coadou; Chorus of Les Musiciens du Louvre; Les Musiciens du Louvre; Marc Minkowski, conductor (live recording, 1997)
• Dynamic Cat.33559,Live video recording on DVD, 2007 – Teatro Caio Melisso, Spoleto – Alan Curtis (conductor) – Il Complesso Barocco – John Pascoe (Stage director)
  Cast: Ann Hallenberg, Laura Cherici, Marta Vandoni Iorio, Mary-Ellen Nesi, Carlo Lepore, Zachary Stains
• Virgin Classics 50999 07084423: Joyce DiDonato, Karina Gauvin, Sabina Puertolas, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Topi Lehtipuu, Matthew Brook, Anicio Zorzi Giustianini, Il Complesso Barocco, Alan Curtis, conductor (recorded January 2010, released 2011)

References[link]

Notes

Sources

• Dean, Winton (2006). Handel's Operas, 1726–1741. Boydell Press. ISBN 1-84383-268-2.  The second of the two-volume definitive reference on the operas of Handel.

External links[link]

• Score of Ariodante (ed. Friedrich Chrysander, Leipzig 1881)
• Ariodante: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• San Diego OperaTalk! with Nick Reveles: Handel's Ariodante
• Italian libretto online

Magdalena Kožená (Czech pronunciation: [ˈmaɡdalɛna ˈkoʒɛnaː]) (born 26 May 1973) is a Czech mezzo-soprano.

In 2003, Kožená was awarded the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government. She was formerly married to the French baritone Vincent le Texier, and is now married to Sir Simon Rattle, with whom she has two children.

Biography[link]

Kožená was born in Brno, the daughter of a mathematician father and a biologist mother. Her original goal was to be a pianist, but she broke her hand at the age of six and switched to singing, starting in the Brno Philharmonic children's choir.^[1] She studied at the Brno Conservatoire and at the College of Performing Arts in Bratislava, and graduated in 1995. In 1995, she was a prize winner at the International Mozart Competition. From 1996–97, she was a member of the Vienna Volksoper.

Professional career[link]

Recordings[link]

Kožená's first recording was of Bach arias, recorded in the Czech Republic. Upon hearing the recording, Deutsche Grammophon (DG) signed her to a recording contract.^[2] Later recordings include Handel’s Roman Motets and Italian Cantatas and Messiah with Marc Minkowski for DG/Archiv, and her first solo recital disc (Dvořák, Janáček and Martinů with Graham Johnson – Gramophone Solo Vocal Award, 2001) for Deutsche Grammophon. Further recordings include recitals of arias of Mozart, Gluck and Mysliveček (with the Prague Philharmonia and Michel Swierczewski), of French arias with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Minkowski, Gluck’s Paride ed Elena under Paul McCreesh, a recital disc with Malcolm Martineau and an acclaimed disc of cantatas by members of the Bach family (“Lamento”) with Musica Antiqua Köln and Reinhard Goebel. She is the 2004 Gramophone Awards Artist of the Year. Among her latest recordings are a disc with opera arias of Handel and one with opera arias by Antonio Vivaldi, both with the Venice Baroque Orchestra conducted by Andrea Marcon and released on DG/Archiv.

Concerts and recitals[link]

Kožená appears regularly at the Prague Spring and at the Concentus Moraviae Festivals. She has given recitals in London, the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Brussels, Paris, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Munich, Prague, Tokyo, Yokohama and Sapporo, Carnegie Hall, in San Francisco and in London, Brussels, Lisbon, Vienna, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Hamburg and Prague.

Her operatic engagements have included several notable debuts: at the Châtelet, Paris in the title role in Gluck's Orphée with John Eliot Gardiner; at the Vienna Festival as Nerone (“L'incoronazione di Poppea”) with Minkowski; at the Edinburgh Festival (Sesto in La clemenza di Tito); at the Leipzig Opera (Mélisande with Minkowski); at the Aix-en-Provence Festival as Cherubino; at the Netherlands Opera as Sesto (“Giulio Cesare”) and at the Salzburg Festival as Zerlina under Harnoncourt. She sang the centenary performance of Pelléas et Mélisande at the Opera Comique, Paris under Minkowski and most recently Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare under Minkowski.

Recent engagements include the roles of Idamante at the Glyndebourne and Salzburg Festivals, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro for both the Bavarian State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, Dorabella in Mozarts Cosi fan tutte (Salzburg Easter Festival and in Berlin) and her return to the Metropolitan Opera as Varvara (Katja Kabanova) and Dorabella. She sings Zerlina with the Metropolitan Opera in Japan, returns to the Salzburg Festival for Idamante and to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées for Melisande.

Awards[link]

• 2001 Gramophone Solo Vocal Award
• 2001 Czech Crystal Award, Golden Prague International Television Festival – Best recording of a concert or stage performance (opera, operetta, ballet, dance, musical), Magdalena Kožená and Thierry Gregoire, Česká televize, Brno Television Studio, Czech Republic^[3]
• 2003 title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government
• 2004 Gramophone Awards Artist of the Year

Personal[link]

Once married to the French baritone Vincent le Texier,^[4] her marriage ended after she began a relationship with the conductor Sir Simon Rattle. In March 2005, she gave birth to their son, Jonas. In 2008 the couple had another son named Milos.^[5]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kožená's homepage
• Review of Kožená's album "Enchantment" by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, 17 September 2006)

Emilio Rolando Villazón Mauleón (born February 22, 1972) is a Mexican tenor. He settled in France and in 2007 became a French citizen.^[1][2]

Early life and education[link]

He was raised in Fuentes de Satélite, a suburban area of Greater Mexico City, Mexico. In an interview for Mexican television, Villazón told the story of how he was discovered as a tenor. He said that one day, as he was getting out of the shower in his apartment in Mexico City, somebody came knocking on his door; it was baritone Arturo Nieto, a friend of his neighbour, who had heard him singing while in the shower. He told Rolando he had an amazing voice and invited him to his music academy to develop his voice, there Rolando fell in love with opera.^[3]

Career[link]

Late 1990s and early 2000s[link]

He came to international attention in 1999 when he won both first prizes awarded in the Operalia international competition - both for opera and zarzuela. The same year he sang for the first time in Italy as des Grieux in Manon at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. In 2000 he appeared for the first time at the Berlin State Opera - as Macduff in Macbeth. Over the years he has presented many of his best roles there, among them José in Carmen and des Grieux in Manon.

In Munich in 2000 he sang Rodolfo in La bohème and in 2002 in Los Angeles, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi. In 2003 he sang Rodolfo at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in England. He also enjoyed a huge success in the title role of Les Contes d'Hoffmann at Covent Garden, London. The following year he appeared, again singing the role of Alfredo in La traviata at the Metropolitan Opera, New York and in 2005, both at St. Petersburg and the Salzburg Festival.

In addition to his appearances on the opera stage, he has an active recording career. He has recorded four solo CDs with Virgin Classics and is additionally featured, along with Patrizia Ciofi and Topi Lehtipuu, on the recording of Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda by Claudio Monteverdi, conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm.

2005-2010[link]

In August 2005, he sang a highly regarded Alfredo in Verdi's La traviata at the Salzburg Festival, conducted by Carlo Rizzi, directed by Willy Decker. Co-starring was Anna Netrebko as Violetta. They have also appeared together in a video version of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore.

In 2007, Villazón switched his recording company and signed an exclusive long-term contract with Deutsche Grammophon. An album of zarzuelas (Gitano, Virgin Classics) conducted by Plácido Domingo, was released in Spring 2007. The U.S. version of his album Viva Villazón (Virgin Classics) was released in September 2007. In early 2010 he was a mentor and judge in the ITV show Popstar to Operastar.^[4]

Vocal surgery and the return to the stage[link]

In 2007, Villazón cancelled many of his scheduled engagements in order to diagnose and remedy a persistent vocal issue.^[5][6] In May 2009, Rolando Villazón announced that he had to undergo surgery in order to remove a congenital cyst in one of his vocal cords.^[7] After completing his rehabilitation, he returned to the stage in March 2010 singing Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore at the Vienna State Opera in March 2010, and then embarked on a series of recitals.^[8][9] He made his debut as a stage director with a new production of Werther at the Opéra de Lyon in January 2011.^[10]

Discography[link]

• Romeo y Julieta CD (2002), Radio Televisión Española
• Der Fliegende Holländer CD (2002), Teldec Classics
• Berlioz: La Révolution Grecque CD (2004), EMI Classics
• Italian Opera Arias CD (2004), Virgin Classics
• Gounod & Massenet Arias CD (2005), Virgin Classics
• Tristan und Isolde CDs and DVD (2005), EMI Classics
• Don Carlo 2 DVDs (2005), Opus Arte
• La Traviata CD (2005), Deutsche Grammophon
• Merry Christmas (Soundtrack) CD (2005), Virgin Classics
• Opera Recital CD; bonus edition with DVD (2006), Virgin Classics
• La Traviata DVD; premium 2-DVD edition (behind the scenes, rehearsals, introduction to the opera etc.) (2006), Salzburger Festspiele 2005, Deutsche Grammophon
• La Bohème DVD (2006), Bregenzer Festspiele 2002, ORF + Capriccio
• Monteverdi: Il Combattimento CD; bonus edition with DVD (2006), Virgin Classics
• Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore DVD (2006), Virgin Classics
• The Berlin Concert: Live from the Waldbühne DVD (2006), Deutsche Grammophon
• Gitano CD; bonus edition with DVD (February 2007), Virgin Classics
• Duets featuring Rolando Villazón and Anna Netrebko CD; bonus edition with DVD (March 2007), Deutsche Grammophon
• Viva Villazón - Rolando Villazón - Best Of CD (2007), Virgin Classics
• La Bohème Live recording CD (two disk set) (2008), Deutsche Grammophon
• Romeo et Juliette" 2 DVDs (Salzburger Festspiele 2008) (2009), Deutsche Grammophon
• Georg Friedrich Händel" CD/CD+DVD,(2009) Deutsche Grammophon
• La Bohème DVD (2009)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rolando Villazón's official website
• Official page on Deutsche Grammophon
• Blog Villazonista, Unofficial fan site

Laura Claycomb (born 23 August 1968) is an American lyric coloratura soprano opera singer.

Background[link]

Laura Claycomb was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, and grew up in Dallas, Texas, where she excelled in church and school choir, winning numerous youthful competitions such as the National Association of Teachers (NATS^[1], U.I.L., Texas All-State Choir^[2]). She won a full scholarship to Southern Methodist University^[3], where she completed two bachelors' degrees in vocal performance and foreign languages.^[4]

Early career[link]

She gained international attention for the first time in 1994 after stepping in at the last minute to perform Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi with Geneva Opera. This role was also the vehicle of her debut at the Paris Bastille, with the Munich Radio Orchestra, Los Angeles Opera and Pittsburgh Opera.

Another of her roles is Gilda in Rigoletto, which she has performed at Canadian Opera Company, Opéra de Lausanne, Opéra Bastille, Pittsburgh Opera, New Israeli Opera, Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile, Canadian Opera Company, Teatro Municipale Giuseppe Verdi Salerno, Houston Grand Opera, and The Dallas Opera.

Her Lucia di Lammermoor at Houston Grand Opera "literally catapulted the opening night audience to its feet with her creativity and versatility." (Don Moser, Houston Voice).

Other notable roles have been her first Lucia di Lammermoor, Linda di Chamounix; "La fille du régiment"; Comtesse Adele in Le Comte Ory, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare; Morgana in Alcina; Olympia in Les contes d'Hoffmann, and Ophelie in Hamlet.

She got her start at San Francisco Opera where she held an Adler fellowship, singing roles such as Xenia in Boris Godunov, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Duchesse Medina-Sidonia in Milhaud's Christoph Colombe, Marie in La fille du régiment and Fiakermilli in Arabella. Her role-debut of Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos was the vehicle of her return to San Francisco Opera in 2002. She reprised the role at the Richard-Strauss-Festspiele in Garmisch with Ulf Schirmer and at Los Angeles Opera.

Career Performances[link]

Following her European debut in Geneva, she sang Marie at Turin's Teatro Regio in Luca Ronconi's production and again as Ismene in Graham Vick's production of Mitridate, Rè di Ponto. She followed with Princess Rezia in Haydn's L'Incontro Improvviso for L'Opéra de Nice and L'Opéra de Bordeaux, and Serpetta in Mozart's La finta giardiniera at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with Patrick Summers conducting.

After her debut at La Scala in the title role of Linda di Chamounix" with Marcelo Alvarez^[5], she sang Marie in Rome and her first Sophie in Keith Warner's production of Der Rosenkavalier at the Spoleto Festival in Italy. Other appearances include her role-debut at L'Opéra de Lausanne as Adina in L'Elisir d'amore and as Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Vlaamse Opera, a role she reprised at the Berlin Staatsoper.

Following success at Houston Grand Opera as Gilda in Rigoletto in 2001, Laura Claycomb forged a special relationship with audiences in Houston, returning to sing Lucia di Lammermoor, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, Ilia in Idomeneo and the title role of La Fille du Régiment.^[6]

In Trieste, Ms. Claycomb debuted the role of Ophelie in Thomas' Hamlet; in Toulouse, she debuted Philine in Mignon and at Brussels' Théâtre de la Monnaie, she debuted Tytania in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Baroque opera[link]

In the Baroque style, she has sung with some of the world's most renowned early music conductors and ensembles. She sang Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare in Montpellier, Drusilla in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea at the Netherlands Opera, and Fedra in Traetta's Ippolito ed Aricia in Montpellier with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques. She reprised the role of Cleopatra for the Drottningholm Festival with Roy Goodman conducting and more recently at Houston Grand Opera with music director Patrick Summers. With Richard Hickox, Ms. Claycomb debuted the role of Morgana in Alcina at English National Opera. With Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre, she debuted the role of Ginevra in Ariodante at L'Opera Garnier in Paris; Ms. Claycomb reprised the role in Munich with Harry Bicket. She debuted the title role of Semele at the Flemish Opera with Michael Hofstetter conducting. In 2008, she sang Polissena in Radamisto in a new David Alden production at Santa Fe with Harry Bicket conducting.

Ms. Claycomb also has a close relationship with Baroque conductor Emmanuelle Haïm, and performed varied French and Italian Baroque repertoire with Haïm on tour in the United States (St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and New World Symphony) and with her group Le Concert d'Astrée at the Aldeburgh Festival, in Paris, on tour in France, on BBC radio. The soprano performed excerpts with countertenor David Daniels at the 2007 Cortona Festival in Italy with Ms. Haïm and le Concert d'Astrée. Her first recording collaboration with Haïm is Händel's Arcadian duets" on Virgin Veritas/EMI. In December 2011, she celebrated the orchestra's 10 year anniversary in a Gala at Paris' Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, rebroadcast by France Musique^[7].

Modern music[link]

In modern music, she made her debut at the Salzburg Festival in Peter Sellars's new production of Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre, reprising the role of Amanda in the same production at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. She can be heard on the Grammy-nominated recording of Le Grand Macabre for Sony with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting. Concerts of Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel (role debut as Gretel) with the London Symphony Orchestra, Copland's The Tender Land (role debut as Laurie Moss), The Rake's Progress (role debut as Anne Trulove) all at London's Barbican, as well as Mistress Page in Vaughan Williams' Sir John in Love in Newcastle with the Northern Sinfonia and its recording for Chandos are some highlights of her operatic collaboration with conductor Richard Hickox. Ms. Claycomb debuted Cunegonde in Candide at Opera Pacific with John Demain. In 2006, Ms. Claycomb originated the role of Queen Wealtheow in Elliot Goldenthal's opera Grendel in a Julie Taymor production with Los Angeles Opera and Lincoln Center Festival. She added Anne Trulove in the Rake's Progress to her stage roles in 2007 with a new Robert LePage production she originated at Brussels' Théâtre de la Monnaie and reprised at Opéra de Lyon.

Concerts[link]

In concert music, with Esa-Pekka Salonen, she has sung Debussy's Le martyre de Saint Sébastien (Angel) with the Swedish Radio Orchestra and Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream' with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Ms. Claycomb sang the world-premiere of Salonen's Five Fragments After Sappho with the composer conducting at the Ojai Festival, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Los Angeles, with the London Sinfonietta at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, and with Ensemble Sospeso at Carnegie Hall. She reprised the Sappho songs with Ensemble Modern in Japan on a program including Stravinsky's Japanese Lyrics and [Balmont] Songs with Dominique My conducting.

She was the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana at the re-opening gala of the Blossom Festival with the Cleveland Orchestra with Franz Welser-Möst conducting, again in the Messiah again with Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall, returned with Pierre Boulez for the title role of Stravinsky's Rossignol and with Matthias Pintscher in Debussy's "Le Martyr de St. Sebastien." With Sir Roger Norrington and the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, Ms. Claycomb has made tours as Teresa in Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini' (recorded for Hanssler Classics) and as the soprano soloist in Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony. With the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas, she sang concerts of Schoenberg's Herzgewächse and Toch's Chinesische Flöte, concerts and a recording of Mahler's Fourth Symphony for San Francisco Symphony's own label, Mahler's 8th Symphony, and concerts of Strauss' Brentano Lieder. With the London Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Claycomb sang Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel with Richard Hickox conducting, Mahler's Second Symphony with Andrew Davis conducting, Carmina Burana and Barber's Knoxville, Summer of 1915 with Hickox conducting, as well as concerts of Berlioz's "Benvenuto Cellini" with Sir Colin Davis (recorded for LSO LIVE label.) Most recently, she joined the LSO for Mahler's Fourth Symphony with Valery Gergiev in London and Athens.

Her collaboration in concert with Richard Hickox in addition to their many operatic collaborations also includes Grainger at the BBC Proms, Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony at the Gulbenkian in Lisbon, a stunning Haydn Creation at the Spoleto Festival and Handel's Messiah with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

In London's Royal Albert Hall, she sang a Mozart program including Der Schauspieldirektor with Ivan Fischer and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, which was also broadcast on BBC Radio. On another all-Mozart program in Switzerland, Ms. Claycomb was the feature, singing a program of 6 concert arias with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and conductor Jonathan Darlington. She appeared as Madame Silberklang in Der Schauspieldirektor with the Munich Radio Orchestra and Sebastian Weigle, and another Mozart concert with Ulf Schirmer. Ms. Claycomb also performed Beethoven's rarely-heard oratorio Christus am Ölberg with the Flemish Opera Orchestra and Ivan Törz.

She sang her first Brahms Requiem at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari with Gerard Korsten, a concert of bel canto excerpts with John Demain and Opera Pacific as well as at the Lanaudière Festival with Yannick Nezet-Sequin, and was the feature of New Year's concerts with Vlaamse Opera, with George Pehlavanian conducting.

With an avid interest in recital repertoire, chamber music, and neglected composers, she combines this music into her recital schedule with pianists Roger Vignoles, Peter Grunberg and Iain Burnside. In past years, Ms. Claycomb reprised Messiaen's Chants de terre et de ciel with Grunberg on "Cal Performances" to rave reviews, as well performing three world-premieres at One World Theater in Austin on a chamber concert with Nina Kotova, José Feghali, and Ron Neal. Her recitals have taken her from San Francisco, to Chicago, San Antonio, Houston, Brussels, Bruges (Concertgebouw), Santiago de Compostela, Spain, the Tuscan Sun Festival in Cortona, Italy and a BBC Voices recital on English radio.

Awards[link]

Claycomb was the recipient of the 2011 Maria Callas Debut Artist Award for her performances as Gilda in Dallas Opera's production of Rigoletto. ^[8] She has also won the Silver Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1994, the Operetta Prize at the Belvedere Competition in Vienna in 1992 and First Prize in the National Opera Association Competition in 1992. A native Texan, she studied with Barbara Hill Moore at Southern Methodist University, where she received degrees in both Vocal Performance and Foreign Languages; she studied with the late Norma Newton from 1994 until Newton's death in 2008. She makes her home in Italy.

Recordings and Videos[link]

• Ligeti: Le Grand Macabre / Ligeti /Salonen, Philharmonia Orch, Willard White, Graham Clark, Sybille Ehlert, Jard van Nes, Frode Olsen, Charlotte Hellekant, Steven Cole, Derek Lee Ragin, et al.., Sony B00000ICMU CD, 1999
• Vaughan-Williams Vaughan Williams: Sir John in Love / Richard Hickox / Anne-Marie Owens, Sarah Connolly, Northern Sinfonia and Chorus, Brian Bannatyne-Scott, Donald Maxwell, Roderick Williams, Susan Gritton, Matthew Best, Mark Padmore, Stephen Varcoe, Stephan Loges, John Bowen, Richard Lloyd-Morgan, Laura Claycomb, Henry Moss, Mark Richardson CHANDOS, B00005M0ER, CD/MP3, 2001
• Handel: Arcadian Duets / Dessay, Gens, Asawa, Haim, et al., VIRGIN 07243545524272002, CD/DIGITALMP3, 2001
• Mahler: Symphony no 4 / Tilson Thomas, Claycomb, San Francisco SO/DELOS SACD Hybrid, 2002
• Il Salotto Vol 6 - La Partenza / Laura Claycomb, Bruce Ford, Manuela Custer, Roberto Servile, Dominic Natoli, Nicola Rossi Giordano, Dean Robinson, Brindley Sherratt / OPERA RARA ORR227 CD, 2004
• Il Salotto Vol 7- Primo Dolce Affano / Bruce Ford, Elizabeth Vidal, Laura Claycomb, Manuela Custer, William Matteuzzi, Roberto Servile, Alastair Miles, piano - David Harper / OPERA RARA ORR230 CD, 2005
• Vocal Teamwork / Annick Massis, Bruce Ford, Majella Cullagh, Alastair Miles, Jennifer Larmore, Mirco Palazzi, Laura Claycomb, Peter Glossop, Della Jones, Alexander Oliver, Yvonne Kenny, Rockwell Blake, Daniela Barcellona, William Matteuzzi, Jane Eaglen, Christian du Plessis, Deborah Cook. London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra - conductors David Parry, James Judd, Giuliano Carella / OPERA RARA ORR233 CD, 2005
• Giacomo Meyerbeer: L’esule di Granata (Highlights) / Manuela Custer, Laura Claycomb, Mirco Palazzi, Paul Austin Kelly, Brindley Sherratt, Ashley Catling. Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Giuliano Carella - conductor / OPERA RARA ORR234 CD, 2006
• Benvenuto Cellini Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini / Norrington / SWR Stuttgart Radio Orchestra / Ford, Maltman, Ekkehard Vogler, Franz Hawlata, Ralf Lukas, Reinhard Mayr, Johannes Chum, Middle German Radio Chorus-Leipzig, 2007
• Entre Nous: Celebrating Offenbach / Jennifer Larmore, Alastair Miles, Yvonne Kenny, Mark Stone, Diana Montague, Laura Claycomb, Elizabeth Vidal, Colin Lee, Loic Felix, Mark Wilde, Cassandre Berthon, Mark le Brocq, Alexandra Sherman, Andre Cognet. London Philharmonic Orchestra, Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, David Parry - conductor / OPERA RARA ORR243 CD, 2007
• Giovanni Pacini: Alessandro nell’Indie / Bruce Ford, Jennifer Larmore, Laura Claycomb, Mark Wilde, Dean Robinson. London Philharmonic Orchestra, Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, David Parry - conductor/ OPERA RARA ORC35 CD, 2008
• Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini / Colin Davis / London Symphony Orchestra / London Symphony Chorus / Gregory Kunde, Laura Claycomb, Darren Jeffery, Peter Coleman-Wright, Andrew Kennedy, Isabelle Cals, Jacques Imbrailo, John Relyea, Andrew Foster-Williams, Alasdair Elliot, 2008
• Ambroise Thomas: La Cour de Célimène / Laura Claycomb, Joan Rodgers, Alastair Miles, Sébastien Droy, Nicole Tibbels. Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, Philharmonia Orchestra, Andrew Litton - conductor/ OPERA RARA ORC37 CD, 2008
• Igor Stravinsky: The Rake's Progress/ Laura Claycomb, Andrew Kennedy, William Shimell, Julianne Young, Dagmar Pecková / Robert LePage, Théâtre de la Monnaie, Kazushi Ono / "BBC/OPUS ARTE" B00118DQY2 "DVD", 2008
• Fabrizio Cassol/Bach: Pitié! / AKA MOON, Laura Claycomb, Melissa Givens, Cristina Zavalloni, Serge Kakudji, Magic Malik, Airelle Besson, Sanne Van Hek, Tcha Limberger, Philippe Thurion, Lode Vercampt, Monica Brett-Crowther, Alexandre Cavalière / CYPRESS RECORDS, CD, 2008
• Carl Orff: Carmina Burana HYBRID SACD - DSD Richard Hickox - Conductor, London Symphony Orchestra, Laura Claycomb, Barry Banks, Christopher Maltman / ""CHANDOS RECORDS"", "CD", 2008
• Mahler: Symphony # 8 HYBRID SACD - DSD, Michael Tilson Thomas - Conductor, Erin Wall, Elza van den Heever, Laura Claycomb, Katarina Karneus, Yvonne Naef, Anthony Dean Griffey, Quinn Kelsey, James Morris, San Francisco Symphony Chorus, San Francisco Girls Chorus, Pacific Boychoir, San Francisco Symphony / ""SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY LABEL"", "SACD", 2008

References[link]

1. ^ [1], NATS
2. ^ [2]
3. ^ [3]
4. ^ Opera Warhorses, Interview.
5. ^ Marcelo Alvarez
6. ^ Houston Grand Opera
7. ^ "France Musique rebroadcast site". http://sites.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/em/concert-soir/emission.php?e_id=80000056&d_id=425005622. 
8. ^ "Dallas Opera Announcement". http://blog.dallasopera.org/2011/05/19/2011-maria-callas-debut-artist-of-the-year/. 

External links[link]

• Laura Claycomb Official Website
• San Francisco Classical Voice Article [4]
• San Francisco Chronicle Article [5]
• Janos Gerebens article
• French review
• Kommersant article
• Vremya Russian Interview
• Kultura Russian interview

Ewa Podleś

Ewa Podleś (Polish pronunciation: [ˈɛva ˈpɔdlɛɕ];^[1] born on April 26, 1952 in Warsaw) is an internationally celebrated Polish coloratura contralto with a very wide vocal range (from a low A2 up to soprano high D) and great vocal agility.

Life and career[link]

After studying at the Warsaw Academy of Music under Madame Bolechowska, Podleś made her stage debut as Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville in 1975. Podleś made her Metropolitan Opera debut on February 14, 1984, singing the title role in Handel's Rinaldo, but only for a few performances that year (from which only two were in the Met's House), and was notably absent from the Met for more than 24 years, since then pursuing her career elsewhere and performing regularly at all other major opera houses in Europe and America. In May 2003, she was in a car accident in Santa Fe, New Mexico and suffered a broken arm. Her return to the Met took place on September 24, 2008, when she sang the role of La Cieca in Ponchielli's La Gioconda.^[2]

Though known mainly for her Baroque works, Podleś's repertoire ranges from Handel's Giulio Cesare (Cesare) to songs by Shostakovich. Right at the center of her abilities, however, are the contralto roles (some of them "trouser" roles) of Rossini. She is also a specialist in Russian works. She has frequently been labeled a "force of nature."

Her recent performances include roles of La Cieca in La Gioconda, Bertarido in Handel's Rodelinda, the title role in Rossini's Tancredi, the title role in Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Isabella in Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri, Erda in Wagner's Ring Cycle at the Seattle Opera, and Klytämnestra in Richard Strauss's Elektra with the Canadian Opera Company. She was scheduled to appear as Azucena in Verdi's Il trovatore at the Atlanta Opera in March 2009, but apparently cancelled.

Ewa Podleś and her husband, the accomplished pianist Jerzy Marchwiński, live in Warsaw, Poland.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ewa Podles' official site (in English and Polish)
• Recordings of Podles at Delos International
• TheOperaCritic.com singer's page
• Interview at MusicalCriticism.com
• Interview at Culture Kiosque
• The Elemental Power of Ewa Podles

Recordings[link]

Audio CD

• Airs Célebres (Handel, Vivaldi, Purcell, Gluck, and Marcello)
• Chopin: Mélodies with Abdel Rahman "El Bacha"
• Chopin: Songs with Garrick Ohlsson
• de Falla: El Amor Brujo with Krzysztof Penderecki
• Duets (Mendelssohn, Brahms, Schumann) with Joanna Kozlowska and Jerzy Marchwinski (piano)
• Gluck: Armide as La Haine with Marc Minkowski
• Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice as Orfeo with Peter Maag
• Gluck: Orphée et Eurydice as Orphée with Patrick Preire
• Handel Arias from Rinaldo and Orlando with Constantin Orbelian
• Handel: Ariodante as Polinesso with Marc Minkowski
• Mahler: Symphony No.2: Resurrection with Jean-Claude Casadesus
• Mahler: Symphony No.3 with Antoni Wit
• Mozart: Requiem with Michel Corboz & L'Ensemble Vocal et Instrumental de Lausanne
• Offenbach: Orphée aux Enfers as L'Opinion publique
• Penderecki: Seven Gates of Jerusalem with Kazimierz Kord
• Penderecki: Te Deum and Lacrimosa
• Ewa Podles & Garrick Ohlsson Live
• Ptaszynska: Concerto for Marimba; Songs of Despair and Loneliness
• Prokofiev: Alexandr Nevsky with JC Casadesus
• Puccini: Il Trittico with Bruno Bertoletti
• Respighi: Il Tramonto with Michel Nesterowicz
• Rossini Arias for Contralto with Pier Giorgio Morandi
• Rossini Gala with W. Michniewski
• Rossini: Tancredi as Tancredi with A. Zedda
• Russian Melodies with Constantin Orbelian
• A Treasury of Polish Songs with Ewa Pobłocka

DVD

• Handel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto as Cornelia from Barcelona Opera
• Donizetti: La fille du régiment as "Marquise de Berkenfield"
• Ponchielli: 'La gioconda as "La cieca" from Barcelona Opera