Scene (Concert Arias) Christiane Karg

• 1'Ah, Perfido!', Op. 6511:30
• 2Recitativ - Rondo09:59
• 3'Miseri noi, misera patria', Hob.XXIVa:710:43
• 4'Scena di Berenice', Hob.XXIVa:1012:07
• 5Misera, dove son!, K.369: Scene - Aria06:51
• 6Infelice, Op. 94 (1. Version, 1834)12:55
• Total Runtime01:04:05

Info for Scene (Concert Arias)

Emotional scenes that tear at the heart strings: concert arias are great dramas reduced to a few minutes and focussed on one single character. But what is the origin of the genre? And what inspired the great composers, stimulated by great voices and great moments in literature or even by the operas written by their fellow musicians? What they composed were moving, dramatic scenes for the concert hall, and they gave their all in creating them.

Christiane Karg is one of those fascinating voices, and who knows which concert arias Haydn or Mozart may have written for her? She is certainly one of today's most interesting German singers with an international profile. After studying in Salzburg her career initially took off in Hamburg and Frankfurt. Her solo career has since taken her to the Semperoper in Dresden, to Salzburg, Covent Garden and Glyndebourne, and the list of her stage partners is clear evidence of her elevated status.

Following her highly acclaimed Strauss Lieder album, her fourth album is a new orchestral recording on which the soprano chooses the tried and trusted Arcangelo ensemble with its conductor Jonathan Cohen to accompany her, as was the case on her "Amoretti" album. After winning the coveted Echo Award for her debut album, "Amoretti" gave her the breakthrough.

"Scene!" is the title of her new album, and it demonstrates how her voice has developed - something she describes in the booklet as follows: "After my album of Mozart and Gluck arias I thought it was the right time to take a step outside the Classical world and to explore the fach in more detail, without suddenly turning into an Isolde." What fascinates her about these particular arias? "Large-scale emotions in a small space with lost souls at the centre - forlornness that can also turn to hatred. That's what it's about and that's what I want to demonstrate." Well then: curtain up for Christiane Karg!

Christiane Karg, soprano
Arcangelo
Jonathan Cohen, conductor

Christiane Karg
Born in Feuchtwangen, Bavaria, Christiane Karg studied singing at the Salzburg Mozarteum and at the Music Conservatory in Verona. She is a member of the ensemble of the Frankfurt Opera where her roles include Susanna, Musetta, Pamina, Servilia, Zdenka (Arabella), the title role of La Calisto. She returns to Frankfurt this season to sing Mélisande in a new Claus Guth production of Pelléas and Mélisande and for her role debut as Adele (Die Fledermaus).

In 2006 she made her auspicious debut at the Salzburg Festival and has returned to sing Amor/Orfeo ed Euridice with Riccardo Muti and Zerlina/Don Giovanni with Yannick Nezet-Seguin.

She is a regular guest at the Theater an der Wien where she has sung Ismene/Mitridate and Telaire/Castor and Pollux. She will return this season to sing Hero/Beatrice et Benedict. At the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich she has sung Ighino/Palestrina, at the Komische Oper Berlin, Musetta/La bohème and Norina/Don Pasquale, and at the Opera de Lille, Anne Trulove/The Rakes Progress. In 2010/11 she sang Poppea/L'incoronazione di Poppea with Glyndebourne Touring Opera. She will make her debut at the Glyndebourne Festival this season singing the role of Aricie in Hippolyte et Aricie.

A prestigious concert singer, Christiane Karg has recently appeared with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Concentus Musicus Wien, Daniel Harding and the Dresden Staatskapelle, Yannick Nézet-Séguim and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Marek Janowski and the OSR, and Laurence Equilbey at the Salzburg Festival. She has also sung with Emmanuel Krivine in Paris, Josep Pons in Madrid, Paul McCreesh in London and Paris (Haydn's Seasons), Jonathan Cohen and Les Arts Florissants in Paris, and Thomas Hengelbrock for the opening of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival (Solveig/Peer Gynt).

Her concert engagements this season include the Salzburg Easter Festival with Christian Thielemann and the Dresden Staatskapelle (Brahms Requiem), the Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra and Mariss Jansons in Tokyo (Beethoven 9) and Daniel Harding in Munich (Schumann Faustszenen), the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Mahler 4), the RSO Wien and Cornelius Meister at the Vienna Konzerthaus (Brahms Requiem), and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and Jonathan Nott on tour in Spain (Mahler 4).

Christiane Karg is a committed and distinguished recitalist and has made excellent recital debuts at the Vienna Musikverein, Schwarzenberg Schubertiade, Wigmore Hall and Edinburgh Festival. Other recent appearances include the Mozarteum Salzburg, Philharmonie Essen, Philharmonie Köln, Schwetzinger Festspiele, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and Innsbruck. In 2012/13 she will make recital debuts at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Wien, Oper Frankfurt, and Musikfest Stuttgart.

Booklet for Scene (Concert Arias)