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| FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 24, 2001 |
Hildegard Behrens Makes
Her First Appearance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra October 11,
12, and 14; Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen Conducts a Programme of Wagner
and Strauss
Orfeo d'Or releases for the first time historic live recording of the Bavarian
State Opera's Fidelio, conducted by the legendary Karl Böhm with Hildegard
Behrens in title role
| Wagner
and Strauss Concert Hildegard Behrens, one of today's most celebrated opera singers, renowned for her portrayals of the heroines of Wagner and Strauss, makes her first appearance with the LA Philharmonic Orchestra this Fall in a concert programme conducted by LA Philharmonic Music Director Esa Pekka-Salonen that highlights two of her signature roles - Wagner's "Isolde" and Strauss' "Salome". Her performances of these heavy dramatic soprano roles in the world's major opera houses are highly acclaimed as are her recordings of the complete operas: "Tristan und Isolde" with Leonard Bernstein conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and "Salome" with Herbert von Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. |
|
 Photo: Ken Howard |
Isolde
was a milestone in Ms. Behrens' career, her portrayal hailed as "...an
Isolde to challenge the greatest in the past." Time Magazine
wrote of her early Isolde, "... the German soprano solidified [her]
reputation in 'Tristan und Isolde,' harnessing the mercurial spirit of the
Irish princess to a voice of raw, almost primal urgency in a finely calibrated,
carefully nuanced reading that gave flesh and blood to a mythical archetype."
It remains a most fitting description of her every interpretation
of the role, such as in August Everding’s new production, conducted by Lorin
Maazel, which celebrated the opening of Munich's newly rebuilt Prinzregententheater
in 1996 and reprised in 1999.. And of her Salome, the New York Times wrote of her LA Opera performance in 1998: " ...her voice has created all Salome needs: purity, self-absorption and power." It was of course her unforgettable performance of "Salome" under the direction of Maestro von Karajan at the 1977 Salzburg Festival that launched a brilliant career that to date continues to win her great honors. |
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The Salzburg Festival
in turn, has since been the scene of some of her later triumphs, the most
recent of which was as the "Kostelnicka" in Leos Janacek's "Jenufa" which
opened the Festival in 2001. Of her Kostelnicka, Sir John Eliot Gardiner
who conducted the opera had this to say: "Hildegard Behrens, our
Kostelnicka, is just simply fantastic. It's amazing how a soprano who
has been singing the immense roles of Wagner and Strauss has been able
to keep the litheness and clarity of her voice and yet sing with punch
and power." (-from an interview by Salzburger Nachrichten, July
21, 2001) In 1999, Ms. Behrens opened the Salzburg Festival to great acclaim
as the woman "R" in Luciano Berio's new opera Cronaca del luogo, which
was composed specifically for her voice. Opera Magazine wrote: "Berio's
new piece is geared to the special gifts of Hildegard Behrens, who invested
'R' with her stage-filling presence and revealed an unexpectedly fine
line in bel canto." |
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| Hildegard Behrens' Second Fidelio CD | |
| Orfeo d'Or recently released for the first time the live recording of Bavarian State Opera's 1978 production of Beethoven's opera "Fidelio", conducted by the legendary Karl Böhm with Hildegard Behrens in the title role. "Salome" was Ms. Behrens' ticket to stardom, but it was actually "Fidelio" at the Royal Opera House (Covent Garden) that marked her debut on the international stage. Many "Fidelio" performances followed thereafter, all to great acclaim, not the least of which were her memorable performances with Karl Böhm at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. |  |
| This
new release is Ms. Behrens' second "Fidelio" CD, although it chronologically
preceded her first - recorded with Sir Georg Solti conducting the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra. This is of course not the first time that Ms. Behrens
has recorded a complete opera twice. Her Ring Cycle performances at the
Metropolitan Opera and the Bavarian State Opera are both available on CD
and video. "Fidelio" is one of Ms. Behrens' signature roles. Indeed she is widely regarded as the "Fidelio" of her time, just as Lotte Lehmann and Leonie Rysanek were in theirs, and it is a role she continues to sing today (Vienna State Opera, 1998; Festival Mozart de la Coruna, 2000). |
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*Awarded
since 1959 to such great musicians as Igor Stravinsky, Leonard Bernstein, Dmitri
Shostakovich, Yehudi Menuhin, Birgit Nilsson, Benjamin Britten, Olivier Messiaen,
Dietrich Fischer-Diskau, Isaac Stern, Pierre Boulez, and Georg Solti, among
others.
| Artist's website - http://hildegardbehrens.com |
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