The Queen of Baroque.” Opera News
With her new album Simone Kermes presents her dedication to the “Dramma per musica” genre – a name for Baroque´s opera seria .The album features a selection of the most virtuosic opera arias of this time, originally composed for castratos such as Farinelli and Caffarelli. The arias require highest dramatic expression and flawless vocal technique. Kermes studied these demanding compositions in minute detail and took up the great challenge to record them.
From the obtainable material the soprano carefully chose the arias with not only the most beautiful melodies but also the most harmonic lyrics and flow. With her outstanding interpretation Simone Kermes once more proves why she is called the “Queen of Baroque”!Besides the renowned Lascia ch’io pianga from Handel’s Rinaldo, the soprano selected ten rarities and genuine discoveries accompanied by the Ensemble La Magnifica Comunità, with a lion´s share of compositions by composer Nikola Porpora. Half of the tracks are actual world premiere recordings!
In addition to her various concert engagements Simone Kermes will be performing her album repertoire together with the ensemble La Magnifica Comunitá later this year in France (17.10. Lyon, 25.10. Paris), Switzerland (21.10, Bern) and Germany (23.10. Berlin).
“Simone Kermes and Baroque music […] a positively erotic effect.” Süddeutsche Zeitung
“Her singing is pure intensity.“ Neue Zürcher Zeitung am Sonntag
“Astonishing: previously unknown 17th-century Baroque music can inspire a contemporary audience to overwhelming storms of acclaim!” Westfälische Rundschau
Simone Kermes studied under Professor Helga Forner at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music and Theatre in Leipzig, her home town. She completed her studies and two additional courses of study with distinction. She is the holder of many prizes awarded at international singing competitions.
Opera performances have taken her as Konstanze, the Queen of the Night, Fiordiligi, Donna Anna, Giunia, Rosalinde, Lucia, Gilda, Ann Truelove, Alcina and Laodice, among other roles, to New York, Paris, Lisbon, Copenhagen, Moscow, Beijing and German state opera houses. She has given solo concerts and lieder evenings all over Europe, as well as in the USA and Japan, for example in the Carnegie Hall in New York, the Grand Auditorium of the Moscow Conservatory and in the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona.
In addition to many radio and television productions, she has recorded numerous CDs. For her solo albums she has received a number of international awards, such as the annual award of the Deutsche Schallplattenkritik, the Diapason d`Or, Midem Award, Choc Le Monde de la Musique and Gramophone magazine’s Recording of the Month. For her album entitled Colori d`amore she was the winner of the Echo Klassik in the highest category, Female Singer of the Year, in 2011.
In 2012 Simone Kermes’ guest appearances will include concerts in Paris, Lyon, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Krakow and Oman, as well as in many German cities, among them Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Baden-Baden. She will perform at a number of festivals, for example the Bachfest in Leipzig and the international Haydn Festival in Eisenstadt.
Simone Kermes wurde in Leipzig geboren und studierte bei Helga Forner an der Hochschule für Musik und Theater „Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy“ ihrer Heimatstadt. Ihr Diplom sowie zwei Aufbaustudien absolvierte sie mit Auszeichnung. Sie wurde erste Preisträgerin beim Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Wettbewerb in Berlin und Bachpreisträgerin beim Internationalen Johann Sebastian Bach Wettbewerb in Leipzig. Operngastspiele und Solokonzerte führten sie durch ganz Europa, die USA, Japan und China. Sie gastierte als Konstanze, Fiordiligi, Königin der Nacht, Giunia, Donna Anna, Rosalinde, Lucia di Lammermoor, Gilda, Ann Truelove, Alcina, Armida und Laodice u. a. in New York, Berlin, Paris, Tokio, Moskau, Peking, Lissabon und Kopenhagen.
Neben vielen Rundfunk- und Fernsehproduktionen hat sie zahlreiche CDs aufgenommen. Für ihre Solo-Alben erhielt sie mehrfach internationale Auszeichnungen wie den Jahrespreis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, den Diapason`Or, Midem Award, Choc de
„Le monde de la Musique“, BBC „Music Choice“, Gramophone „Disc of the month“ und
„Editor`s Choice“ sowie den Echo Klassik-Preis 2011 als Sängerin des Jahres.
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