KUPFER, JOCHEN - baritone
EHLERT, SIBYLLE - soprano
BUTER, ANNE - mezzosoprano
MEES, REINILD - piano

F. Schreker Complete Songs for voice and piano (vol.2)
Drei lieder von Vincent Ziesner 1899;
Fnf Gesnge; Zwei Lyrische Gesnge (Walt Whitman);
Ave Maria; Und wie mag die Liebe (Rainer Maria Rilke);
Lied der fiorina;
Waldeinsamkeit (Jens Peter Jacobsen);
berwunden; Die glhende Krone, eine Ballade from Der ferne Klang;
Entfhrung (Stefan Geroge);
Das feurige Mnlein (Alfons Petzold)

Jochen Kupfer, baritone Jochen Kupfer was born in Grimma, Germany in 1969, and has been studying voice since the age of ten. He began his conservatory studies in 1989 with Prof. Helga Forner at the Musikhochschule Leipzig. Study with Elio Battaglia, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf completed his training. Mr. Kupfer has sung with such distinguished conductors as Rene Jacobs, Krzysztof Penderecki, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Mark Soustrot, Hartmut Hhnchen, Rafael Frhbeck de Burgos, Helmuth Rilling, Masaaki Suzuki and Trevor Pinnock. Concert tours have taken him to various European cities and to Japan. He has also worked at many international music festivals, most notably Nuits Romantiques in Aix-les-Bains, lle de France Paris, Festival International de Musique et d'Art Lyrique Montreux, the Rossini Festival and the Salzburg Festival. Among his operatic repertoire are such roles as Wolfram in Wagner's Tannhuser, Olivier in Strauss Capriccio and Harlekin in Ariadne auf Naxos. He is currently engaged at the Semper Oper in Dresden, where he sings roles such as the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro, Papageno in Die Zauberflte, and Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte. A recent guest engagement has taken him to the Staatsoper 'Unter den Linden' in Berlin. In addition to his work in the fields of opera and concert singing, Mr. Kupfer has a special preference for the art of Lieder singing. In 1996 he sang Mahler's Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen for the first time with the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, under the baton of Kurt Masur. For Channel Classics Jochen Kupfer has recorded several CDs: Songs of Schumann and Schreker, Complete Songs, vol. 1. Future recordings will include songs by Gustav Mahler aranged by Arnold Schoenberg.

Reinild Mees, piano After extensive piano studies with Grard van Blerk, Nol Lee and Malcolm Frager, the Dutch pianist Reinild Mees concentrated her activities on accompanying singers and instrumentalists in recital. High-ranking artists 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. In addition to accompanying master-classes for Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Irmgard Seefried and Galina Vishnyevskaya she also accompanies at a number of international competitions. As a vocal coach Reinild Mees has taught at the Amsterdam Sweelinck Conservatory, the European Centre for Opera and Vocal Art (Ghent) and at the International Opera Centre Amsterdam. For Channel Classics Reinild Mees has recorded Songs of Schumann with Jochen Kupfer as well as the Complete Songs of Ottorino Respighi and Franz Schreker. In order to promote the revival of Respighi, Schreker and other forgotten song composers, she recently founded the 20th Century Song Foundation Amsterdam. From 2000 this Foundation is represented in several international concert series with specialized 20th Century Song Recitals.

Sibylle Ehlert, soprano After studying in Detmold German soprano Sibylle Ehlert was engaged at the Stadttheater Bern from 1991-1994. Since 1994 she embarked on an international career singing great operatic rules as Gilda Rigoletto, Marenka The Bartered Bride, Pamina Magic Flute, Konstanze Entfhrung aus dem Serail. 1997 included her debuts at the Salzburg Festival and Thetre Musical de Chtelet Paris in a new production by Peter Sellars of Ligetis opera Le Grand Macabre, conducted by Salonen. She performed the principle roles of Venus and Gepopo in this production, which was recorded by Sony. After recording the Mysteries of Macabre for Sony with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra 1995, she was immediately re-invited to record Ligetis Requiem the following year. In 1996 she also participated in concertperformances of this work in London and Paris. She made her USA debut in April 1998 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in Ligetis Requiem and the Mysteries. As a concert singer she performs regularly in Europe with conductors like Pierre Boulez, Andrew Davis in Debussys Le Martyre de St. Sbastien and other repertoire. Sibylle Ehlert also appears in recitals and has performed a programm of works by Clara and Robert Schumann and Alma and Gustav Mahler as well as Webern-Lieder without opus numbers. She recently recorded a programm of Lieder by Mendelssohn for the BBC.

  Anne Butter was born near Cologne. Her voice studies at the Munich Hochschule fr Musik with Professors Daphne Evangelatos, Margret Bence and Brigitte Fassbaender resulted 1993 in a masters degree. A superb interpreter of Lied, she perfected this skill in masterclasses with Wolfram Rieger and Professor Helmuth Deutsch. She was winner of a Pfitzner lied prize in 1994 and of the International Bach Prize in Leipzig in 1996. In that same year she became a member of the Munich Liedtrio. Ms. Buter is also an active opera performer. After singing Dorabella in Mozarts Cosi Fan Tutte a study production with Sir Colin Davis, she made her opera debut as Niklas in Tales of Hofmann at the Grtnerplatztheater in Munich in 1995. In the last opera season she appeared as Annius in Mozarts La Clemenza di Tito at the opera house in Luzern. She has performed oratios, chamber music and Lieder on radio and international concerts with Christopher Eschenbach, Christian Ivaldi, Pascal Devoyon, Bruno Giuranna, Alain Meunier, Isabelle Faust and Reinild Mees. An avid chamber musician, Ms. Buter is a guest at international festivals as in London at the Jewish Music Festival and the Festival of Central European Culture, in Naples at the Scarlatti-Festival, in Lyon at Les Musicades, at the Traunsteiner Orgelwochen and in Sarasota/Florida at the international chamber music festival La Musica. She has recorded several cds with Lieder and Oratorios.

(..) Elk lied is een wereld op zich. Haagse Post