| Biography |
Amanda Roocroft has secured an international reputation as one of Britains most exciting singers, in opera, concert, and in recital. She graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music. A celebrated opera singer, she enjoys a close relationship with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the English National Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival, and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich where her roles have included Fiordiligi in Cos fan Tutte, Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Desdemona in Otello, Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, Mimi in La Boheme, Eva in Die Meistersinger; the title roles in Madama Butterfly, Katya Kabanova and Jenufa, Ginevra in Ariodante and Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare. In concert Amanda Roocroft has appeared with leading orchestras throughout Europe and North America with conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, Mariss Jansons, Ivor Bolton, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Daniele Gatti, Sir Neville Marriner, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Charles Mackerrras and Sir Bernard Haitink. A noted recitalist, she has performed at Londons Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Musikverein in Vienna, New Yorks Lincoln Center, La Monnaie in Brussels and in Munich, Frankfurt, Paris, Valencia and Lisbon. In 2007 Amanda Roocroft received the Laurence Olivier Award for her Outstanding Achievement in Opera as Janaceks Jenufa with English National Opera. Called perhaps the best performance of her career, world class and a performance memorable even by her own high standards, her involving portrayal was heart-wrenching and devastatingly moving.
Konrad Jarnot - baritone Konrad Jarnot studied with Rudolf Piernay at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he received the Gold Medal in 1997. In 1996 he was awarded the Decca Prize of the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and in 2000 he won the First Prize at the International ARD Competition in Munich. He subsequently studied with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. He is particularly known as a recitalist. Previous recital appearances have included the Richard Strauss Festival in Garmisch, the Beethoven Festival in Bonn and the Schwetzingen Festival. He has worked with many pianists including Helmut Deutsch, Irwin Gage, Hartmut Hll, Reinild Mees, Wolfram Rieger and Alexander Schmalcz. Forthcoming concert engagements include his debuts at the Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Vienna, Konzerthaus Berlin, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Teatro Real Madrid, Tonhalle Zurich, Thtre des Champs-Elysees Paris, Thtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Megaron Athens, Palau de la Musica Valencia, Opera City Hall Tokyo, Kennedy Center Washington, Lincoln Center New York and at the Rheingau, Schleswig Holstein and Ludwigsburg Festivals. His numerous recordings include discs of Mahler (Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen) Mozart (songs by Leopold, Wolfgang Amadeus and Franz Xaver Mozart), Strauss (baritone version of Vier letzte Lieder), Zilcher, Ravel (baritone version of Shhrazade), Brahms (Die schne Magelone) and Duparc. He has worked with many conductors including Riccardo Chailly, Marek Janowski, Marcello Viotti, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Pinchas Steinberg, Ulf Schirmer, Jonathan Nott, Gustav Kuhn, Philippe Herreweghe, Peter Schreier and Helmut Rilling and with such orchestras as the Concertgebouw Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg and in Germany with the Gewandhaus Orchester Leipzig, the Bamberger Symphoniker, Mnchener Rundfunkorchester and Bayerisches Staatsorchester. His opera roles include Guglielmo (Cos fan Tutte) in Savonlinna, Onegin (Eugen Onegin) in Baden-Baden, Yeletzky (Pique Dame) in Glasgow, Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas) in London, Harlekin (Ariadne auf Naxos) in Garmisch, Pellas (Pellas et Mlisande) in Innsbruck, Tambourmajor (Gurlitts Woyzeck) in Madrid and Amfortas (Parsifal) in Monte-Carlo and Frankfurt. In June 2007 Konrad Jarnot made his Royal Opera House Covent Garden debut as Don Fernando (Fidelio), conducted by Antonio Pappano.
Reinild Mees - piano After extensive piano studies with Grard van Blerk (Amsterdam), Malcolm Frager (USA) and Nol Lee (Paris) the Dutch pianist Reinild Mees concentrated her activities on accompanying singers and instrumentalists in recital. High-ranking artists such as Elly Ameling, Grard Souzay and Sandor Vgh helped her refine and perfect her talents in this demanding mtier. Today Reinild Mees is a much sought-after accompanist for song recitals and duo concerts. She performs regularly in radio and television broadcasts. For Channel Classics Records she has recorded a number of interesting CDs: The Complete Songs of Ottorino Respighi, Franz Schreker and Karol Szymanowski. Currently she is recording all song cycles by Robert Schumann with the German baritone Jochen Kupfer, playing a historical grand piano dating from Schumanns time. All of her CDs have received extremely good reviews in Gramophone, Fono Forum, Musica, Luister and other magazines. In 2004 Reinild Mees won the Szymanowski-Award and the Medal Merit of Polish Culture for her achievements in promoting the song repertoire of Karol Szymanowski. Recently the Szymanowski CDs won the Fryderyk Award, the most prestigious music award in Poland for the best recording of Polish music. As a vocal coach Reinild Mees has taught at the Amsterdam and Utrecht Conservatory, the European Centre for Opera and Vocal Art (Ghent) and the Opera Studio in Amsterdam. In addition to accompanying masterclasses for Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Irmgard Seefried, Galina Vishnevskaja, Grace Bumbry and other famous singers she played as an official accompanist for a number of international competitions. In order to promote the revival of the beautiful songs, mainly from the interbellum, which have been neglected since the Second World War, Reinild Mees founded the 20th Century Song Foundation. This foundation aims to bring back these musical treasures to the public by producing (semi-staged) song recitals with special themes: Spotlights concerts. |
| Quotes |
Elgar the songster should not go underestimated, as this lovely surround sound disc proves. I have been it written more than once that Elgar was not a very successful songwriter, this new release seeks to put those sorts of sentiments directly into the grave, Amanda Roocroft seems to ooze love for these works, as does Konrat Jarnot, and the pair will have quit a success on their hands with this series is brought to fruition. Audiophile Audition De vertolkingen zijn bijzonder verdienstelijk. Reinild Mees' richtinggevende begeleidigen staan garant voor karakter en houvast. Pianowereld Pas de doute, Elgar est entre de bonnes mains pour la suite de cette intgrale, que l'on attend avec impatiebce. Comme on dit outre-Manche: We can't wait....... Classica Rpertoire
() Verrukkelijk, deze ernstige, plechtstatige, pathetische muziek uit de jaren 1875-1910. Reinield Mees maakt echt werk van de meester die nauwelijks als liedercomponist bekendstaat. 'Native speakers' Roocroft en Jarnot zijn gedroomde interpreten. Financieel Dagblad
() Prachtige opnamen van twintig Songs die een perfecte indruk van de liedkunst in laat-Victoriaanse Engeland schetsen, het smaakt naar mr. Veel mr. De Gelderlander
This is a really pleasant recital that easily encourages repeated listening... Highlights include Sea Pictures--sung with authority and proper dramatic flair by baritone Konrad Jarnot--and the characterful, artful performances by soprano Amanda Roocroft in In the Moonlight and The Wind at Dawn. Both of these singers manage to deliver even the more parlor-ish songs in a manner that captures the music's essential emotional aspects and melodic features... It helps that the voices are so appealing, strong, and technically assured, with ideal timbre and character for this music... Highly recommended!" Classics Today
() Reinild Mees besticht am Klavier nun gerade durch ihre unaufdringliche Art des Spiels. Sie hlt sich im Hintergrund, ist so verlssliche Sttze der Snger. Diese sind sehr prominent und kompetent besetzt: Amanda Roocroft und Konrad Jarnot stellen sich, gleich ihrer Partnerin am Piano, vollends in den Dienst der Musik Elgars. Dadurch entstehen wunderbar anrhrende Momente, wie in 'There Are Seven That Pull The Thread', komponiert 1901: Ein uerst simples melodisches Muster, welches die Sopranstimme kaum ber den Ambitus einer Sprechstimme hinaus lsst, bildet die Grundlage einer fesselnden Schlichtheit. Es bleibt zu hoffen, dass die Reihe von Aufnahmen Elgar'scher Lieder tatschlich fortgefhrt und qualitativ an diese erste CD der Reihe angeknpft wird. Klassik.com
Without doubt the recording is a triumph, and must certainly go the top of recommended recordings of the songs. Amanda Roocroft and Konrad Jarnot are excellent throughout, with impeccable diction, warmth of tone, and the sense that they believe in the songs, and so they emerge as much finer works than they have sometimes been thought to be. Elgar Society Journal
() een waar waagstuk dat Channel Classics het plan heeft opgevat alle liederen van Elgar op cd te zetten. () Als dan iedere snaar trilt, het ene aangrijpende beeld zich aan het andere rijgt en de liederen tevens grootse schilderingen zijn, is het aan de vocalist en zijn 'begeleider' (hier een volkomen onjuist begrip) om deze rijke aders los te beitelen en ze onopgesmukt te laten glinsteren. Als muziek al 'maniertjes' verdraagt, dan deze liederen in ieder geval niet. Roocroft en Jarnot scheppen lied na lied het unieke beeld zoals dat uit de muziek zelf voortkomt. De kracht van hun vertolkingen berust alleen op hetgeen Elgar voor hen heeft uitgespreid, ze kruipen als het ware in zijn expressie, zijn gevoelens, zoals de dichtregels hem daartoe hebben genspireerd. Gedrien hebben ze gekozen voor eenheid in grote verscheidenheid en dt maakt van ieder lied op deze cd een bijzondere, ontroerende gebeurtenis. www.audiomuziek.nl
Folge 1 der geplanten Gesamteinspielung bietet einen reprsentativen, nicht systematisch geordneten Querschnitt aus Elgars Liedschaffen. Mit von der Partie sind die Sea Pictures', die hier einmal in einer Klavierfassung und von einem Bariton zu hren sind. Konrad Jarnot macht seine Sache ziemlich gut. Er deklamiert die Texte genau und kann zu ihrer Gestaltung auch Dynamik und Farben angemessen einsetzen. Sein leicht tenoral timbrierter, auch im hohen Register rund klingender Bariton ist das eigentliche Ereignis dieser CD, und natrlich sein glnzendes hohes A am Ende von The Swimmer. Amanda Roocroft setzt Jarnots feiner Deklamation die Produktion wohlklingender Tne entgegen. In puncto Ausdruck schlgt sie jedenfalls zu viel ber denselben Leisten. Das klingt schn, wirkt aber auf Dauer monochrom. Zudem gert ihrer voluminsen Stimme leicht alles zur groen opernhaften Szene. Da bleibt der kammermusikalische Aspekt auf der Strecke. Fono Forum (Musik: 4 ****, Klang: 4 **** von 5)
() Sound and prsentation are absolutely first-rate. All in all, an encouraging starts to what promises to be a fascination enterprise. Roll on, vol.2 Gramophone
(...) Fr eine umfassende Dokumentation des vllig unbekannten Elgar-Liedschaffens ist dies ein echt gelungener Anfang. Rondo () Channel Classics nous transporte au cur d'une personnalit attachante, bien loin des fulgurances orchestrales de ses uvres symphoniques. La soprano Amanda Roocroft et le baryton Konrad Jarnot se partagent, en alternance, des groupes de lieder, accompagns aves finesse par piano de Reinild Mees. Dans une belle prise de son en pur DSD respectant le naturel des timbres, cet enregistrement est un petit bijou. Opus
() There is more to Edward Elgar's song output than Sea Pictures, as this disc, the first in a projected complete series, reminds us. That cycle appears here in a doubly unusual guise: with its original piano accompaniments and sung by a baritone. Konrad Jarnot, tonally firm and sensitive to the words, makes a good case for this version, and Reinild Mees's resourceful piano playing makes the usual orchestral finery seem almost superfluous. Amanda Roocroft, lyrical and perceptive in her interpretations, shares with Jarnot the remaining 15 songs on this disc, which take a selective journey from Victorian drawing-room balladeer to consummate late-Romantic melodist. Telegraph () This is a fascinating disc and I look forward to the remainder of the series. The performances are strong and convincing, both singers have fine diction and convey both the music and the text in a way, which is wholly admirable and necessary in this style of song. Reinild Mees makes a good accompanist with good feeling for the orchestral nature of Elgar's piano parts. Musicweb international
() a top release () (.) Roocroft steps over the traces of sentimentality associated with the songs to find refreshingly subtle vocal colours and shadings. Likewise Jarnot strikes the profoundly complex emotional heart of pieces often milked for surface pathos () (.) Eloquently matched by Mees's playing Classics FM
() beautifully sung by Amanda Roocroft and Konrat Jarnot with his agreeable light baritone () () all the songs are accompanied with great sensitivity and musicianship by Reinild Mees (..) International Record Review
(...) the distribution of material between the soprano Amanda Roocroft and bariton Konrad Jarnot is well considered. Extraordinairy colourful, varied and powerfull playing by Reinild Mees. Jarnot too is an impressive artist, always driving the vocal line with firmly pointed and expressive handling if text and using a wide range of color and weight in his phrasing. Opera News
Konrad Jarnot is mesmerising in the opening slumber and with noble tones from the pianist Reinild Mees he makes Elizabeth Barratt Browning's 'Sabbath morning at Sea' more persuasive than I've ever heard it. (...) Mees is clean and bright in the rather undistinguished piano parts, assisted by Channel Classic' full and natural l recital ambience. BBC Music Magazine
() the performances are excellent () () Nothing is exaggerated, nothing treated with condescending irony, nothing pumped up into more than it is [Roocroft] sings with a fluent sense of rubatoand a seductive purity[Jarnot] is even more impressive, alert to the special flavor of each song in a way that gives this repertoire far more variety than it usually hasMees, a superlative accompanist, draws more than you might have thought possible from the piano reductionIf you're interested in Elgar's songs, this is the place to start. Fanfare |
