Back to Press Release List > 11/16/2009 - Recitals by Sandrine Piau, Christine Brewer, and Dame Emma Kirkby in October

In October 2009, Carnegie Hall presents recitals by three world renowned sopranos. On Friday, October 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Weill Recital Hall, French soprano Sandrine Piau makes her New York recital debut with pianist Susan Manoff. Ms. Piau, already well known for her interpretation of the Baroque repertoire, will perform works from the Romantic era and early 20th century including music by Fauré, Zemlinsky, Chausson, Debussy, R. Strauss, and Schoenberg.

Also at Carnegie Hall in October, American soprano Christine Brewer performs works by Gluck, Wagner, Strauss, Marx, and Britten among others with pianist Craig Rutenberg on Wednesday, October 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall. And English soprano Dame Emma Kirkby is accompanied by lutenist Jakob Lindberg in Weill Recital Hall on Tuesday, October 20 at 7:30 p.m. in a program entitled Music at Twilight: Songs and Solos from Early 17th Century Europe, with works by John Dowland, Henry Purcell, and others. Complete program information is listed below.

About the Artists
French soprano Sandrine Piau embraces both the lyric and Baroque repertoire, and performs roles such as Pamina (Mozart's Die Zauberflöte), Titania (Britten's A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Cleopatra (Handel’s Giulio Cesare) and Servilia (Gluck's La Clemenza di Tito). Stage appearances take her to the La Monnaie Brussels, Amsterdam Opera, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Théâtre des Champs Elysées and the Théâtre du Châtelet. Ms. Piau appears regularly in concert and has performed at the Salzburg, Covent Garden, and Mostly Mozart Festivals; at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, in Munich and Zurich, across Italy and Spain, and with orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Orchestre de Paris. Ms. Piau has an exclusive recording contract with the French label Naïve, with whom she has produced a varied discography including two recital discs, the latest entitled Evocation. Ms. Piau is a recipient of the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture and in 2009 was awarded Opera Singer of the Year at the French National Music Awards. In 2009 she will release two new Handel recordings with Naïve: the first is an eclectic selection of duets with Italian contralto Sara Mingardo and the second entitled Between Heaven and Earth features a selection of Handel’s oratorios, will be released this fall.

Born in New York, pianist Susan Manoff studied at the Manhattan School of Music and at the University of Oregon. After winning first prize in the Petri Foreign Music Study Competition, she went to Paris to study with Noël Lee. While a professor at the Opéra national de Paris, she worked together with Christa Ludwig and Hans Hotter. Ms. Manoff appears regularly in recitals around the world with artists such as Véronique Gens, Patricia Petibon, Magdalena Kožená, and Natalie Dessay. Susan Manoff's career is currently focused on chamber music, notably with Nemanya Radulovic and she has appeared at the Verbier, Covent Garden, Lugano, and Montpellier Festivals. During the 2009–10 concert season, she will appear at Vienna’s Musikverein and Tokyo’s Oji Hall and Opera City. She has made numerous recordings, the most recent of which is a entitled Evocation with Sandrine Piau on the Naïve label. Ms. Manoff is a professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris.

Grammy Award-winning American soprano Christine Brewer’s appearances in opera, concert, and recital are marked with her own unique timbre, which combined with her range, golden tone, boundless power, and control make her a favorite of the stage as well as a sought-after recording artist. Highlights of Christine Brewer’s 2009–10 season include performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and James Levine, the New World Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas, and the Dallas Symphony and Jaap van Zweden, and excerpts from Wagner operas with the BBC Philharmonic and Donald Runnicles, as well as the Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, and at the Ravinia Festival. This season also brings a highly anticipated reprisal of Ms. Brewer’s critically acclaimed portrayal of Lady Billows in Albert Herring at Santa Fe Opera. An avid recitalist, Ms. Brewer will be heard on the stages throughout North America in venues such as Cal Performances, Spivey Hall, University Musical Society, the Schubert Club, the Baldwin-Wallace Art Song Festival, and in a presentation by the Los Angeles Philharmonic among others.

Pianist Craig Rutenberg has collaborated with many of the world’s greatest vocalists and is recognized as one of the most distinguished accompanists on the stage today. Mr. Rutenberg has appeared in recital with Denyce Graves, Sumi Jo, Harolyn Blackwell, Susanne Mentzer, Frederica von Stade, Angelika Kirchschlager, Dawn Upshaw, Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, Jerry Hadley, Olaf Baer, Simon Keenlyside, and Stanford Olsen. Mr. Rutenberg records for Deutsche Grammophon, EMI/Angel, BMG/RCA, and Koch International. He has appeared repeatedly in concert on national and international television and radio, including numerous PBS specials. Currently Head of Music Administration at the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Rutenberg is also Guest Coach at Operahögskolan in Stockholm and at Operan in Gothenburg. He regularly coaches and gives master classes at the Chicago Lyric Opera for American Artists, the Pittsburgh Opera Center, Chicago Opera Theatre and the Vancouver Opera as well as the training programs at the Washington Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Originally, soprano Dame Emma Kirkby had no expectations of becoming a professional singer. As a classics student at Oxford and then a schoolteacher, she sang for pleasure in choirs and small groups, always feeling most at home in Renaissance and Baroque repertoire. She joined the Taverner Choir in 1971 and in 1973 began her long association with the Consort of Musicke. Ms. Kirkby took part in the early Decca Florilegium recordings with both the Consort of Musicke and the Academy of Ancient Music. At this time most college-trained sopranos were not seeking a sound appropriate for early instruments and as a result she found her own approach, with assistance from Jessica Cash in London. To date, Ms. Kirkby has made well over a hundred recordings. Since 2000 she has recorded with the Swedish record company BIS. This year BIS issued a compilation entitled "The Artistry of Emma Kirkby," drawing on nine CDs in all. In 1999 Emma was voted Artist of the Year by Classic FM Radio listeners and in 2000 she received the Order of the British Empire. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2007, and in the same year a survey of critics by BBC Music Magazine placed Emma at number 10 on a list of “The greatest sopranos.” In June 2008 Ms. Kirkby returned to her alma mater Oxford University to receive an Honorary Doctorate of Music.

Lutenist Jakob Lindberg was born in Djursholm, Sweden, and developed a passion for music through the Beatles. From the age of fourteen he studied guitar with Jörgen Rörby who also gave him his first lessons on the lute. After studying music at Stockholm University he went on to study at the Royal College of Music in London where he further developed his knowledge of the lute repertoire under the guidance of Diana Poulton and decided to concentrate on Renaissance and Baroque music. Mr. Lindberg is considered to be one of the most prolific performers in this field. He has made numerous recordings for the BIS label and has brought Scottish lute music to public attention. He is the first lutenist to have recorded the complete solo lute music by John Dowland and his recording of Bach's music for solo lute is considered to be one of the most important recordings of these works. Mr. Lindberg is an active continuo player on the theorbo and arch lute and has worked with many well known English ensembles including The English Concert, Taverner Choir, The Purcell Quartet, Monteverdi Choir, Chiaroscuro, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and The Academy of Ancient Music. He is also in demand as an accompanist and has given recitals with Anne Sofie von Otter, Nigel Rogers, and Ian Partridge. Mr. Lindberg teaches at the Royal College of Music in London.

Program Information
Friday, October 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Weill Recital Hall
SANDRINE PIAU, Soprano
New York Recital Debut
SUSAN MANOFF, Piano

GABRIEL FAURÉ "Au bord de l'eau," Op. 8, No. 1
GABRIEL FAURÉ "Nell," Op. 18, No. 1
GABRIEL FAURÉ "Le secret," Op. 23, No. 3
GABRIEL FAURÉ "Clair de lune," Op. 46, No. 2
GABRIEL FAURÉ "Sylvie," Op. 6, No. 3
ALEXANDER ZEMLINSKY "Liebe und Fruhling"
ALEXANDER ZEMLINSKY "Das Rosenband"
ALEXANDER ZEMLINSKY "Frühlingslied"
ALEXANDER ZEMLINSKY "Wandl'ich im Wald des Abends"
ERNEST CHAUSSON "Hébé," Op. 2, No. 6
ERNEST CHAUSSON "Le charme," Op. 2, No. 2
ERNEST CHAUSSON "Sérénade," Op. 13, No. 2
ERNEST CHAUSSON "Le colibri," Op. 2, No. 7
RICHARD STRAUSS Mädchenblumen, Op. 22
   Kornblumen
   Mohnblumen
   Efeu
   Wasserrose
CLAUDE DEBUSSY "Nuits d'étoiles"
CLAUDE DEBUSSY "L’âme évaporée"
CLAUDE DEBUSSY "Triolet à Philis" ("Zéphir")
CLAUDE DEBUSSY "Fleur des blés"
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG Vier Lieder, Op. 2
   Erwartung
   Schenk mir deinen goldenen Kamm
   Erhebung
   Waldsonne

This concert replaces the originally scheduled recital by Genia Kühmeier and Gerold Huber. Ticketholders with questions should call Carnegie Charge at 212-247-7800.

This concert is made possible by The Ruth Morse Fund for Vocal Excellence.

Tickets: $40
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Wednesday, October 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall
CHRISTINE BREWER, Soprano
CRAIG RUTENBERG, Piano

CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK "Divinités du Styx" from Alceste
RICHARD WAGNER Wesendonck Lieder, Op. 91
   Der Engel
   Stehe still!
   Im Treibhaus
   Schmerzen
   Träume
RICHARD STRAUSS "Ich liebe dich," Op. 37, No. 2
RICHARD STRAUSS "Breit über mein Haupt dein schwarzes Haar," Op. 19, No. 3
RICHARD STRAUSS "Befreit," Op. 39, No. 4
JOSEPH MARX "Selige Nacht"
JOSEPH MARX "Hat Dich die Liebe berührt"
BENJAMIN BRITTEN "Calypso"
BENJAMIN BRITTEN "Tell Me the Truth About Love"
BENJAMIN BRITTEN "Johnny"
BENJAMIN BRITTEN "Funeral Blues"
JOHN CARTER Cantata
SIDNEY HOMER "Sing to Me, Sing"
EDWIN MCARTHUR "Night"
PAUL SARGENT "Hickory Hill"
FRANK BRIDGE "Love Went a'Riding"
IDABELLE FIRESTONE "If I Could Tell You"
FRANK LAFORGE "Hills"

This concert and the Pure Voice series are sponsored by the Jean & Jula Goldwurm Memorial Foundation in memory of Jula Goldwurm.

Tickets: $44, $52
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Tuesday, October 20 at 7:30 p.m.
Weill Recital Hall
DAME EMMA KIRKBY, Soprano
JAKOB LINDBERG, Lute

MUSIC AT TWILIGHT: SONGS AND SOLOS FROM EARLY 17TH CENTURY EUROPE

ETIENNE MOULINIE "Paisible et ténébreuse nuit"
PIERRE GUÉDRON "Cessez, mortels, de soupirer"
JEAN-BAPTISTE BOËSSET "Que Philis a l'esprit léger"
ROBERT BALLARD "Entrée de luth"
ROBERT BALLARD Branles de village
JOHN DANYEL "Why canst thou not, as others do?"
JOHN DANYEL "Time, cruel time"
JOHN DANYEL "He whose desires are still abroad"
JOHN DOWLAND Prelude and Fantasia
JOHN DOWLAND "Away with these self-loving lads"
JOHN DOWLAND "Shall I strive with words to move?"
JOHN DOWLAND "Farewell unkind, farewell"
GEORG SCHIMMELPFENNIG Dolce tempo passato
HEINRICH SCHÜTZ "Eile mich, Gott, zu erretten"
GREGORY HUWET Fantasia
SIGISMONDO D'INDIA "Amico, hai vinto"
ALESSANDRO PICCININI Passacaglia
HENRY LAWES "Or you or I Nature did wrong"
HENRY LAWES "Slide soft you silver floods"
WILLIAM LAWES "Why so pale and wan, fond lover?"
HENRY PURCELL Seven Short Pieces for Lute (arr. J. Lindberg)
   Cebell
   Echo dance of the Furies
   Ritornell “The Grove”
   A New Irish Measure
   A New Ground
   Hornpipe
   A New Scottish Measure
HENRY PURCELL "She loves and she confesses too"
HENRY PURCELL "Music for a while"
HENRY PURCELL "Bess of Bedlam"

Tickets: $50
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Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.