PROGRAMME

Songs by Robert Schuman from
Frauenliebe und -leben (Chamisso), Op 42
Liederkreis (Eichendorff), Op 39
5 Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart, op.135
Mein schöner Stern! (Rückert), Op 101/4
Meine Rose (Lenau), Op 90/2
Requiem (Altkatholisches Gedicht), Op 90/7

BIOGRAPHY

Born in County Durham, mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly studied piano and singing at the Royal College of Music.

In opera, her recent appearances have included Purcell's Dido at La Scala, Milan; the title role in 'Giulio Cesare' at the Glyndebourne Festival and Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) for Scottish Opera. Other engagements in Europe have included Purcell's Dido at La Monnaie, Brussels; Nerone (L'Incoronazione di Poppea) at the Maggio Musicale in Florence; Sesto (Giulio Cesare) at the Paris Opera and the title role in 'The Rape of Lucretia' at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich. In the U.S. she has sung Annio (La clemenza di Tito) at the Metropolitan Opera, New York; the title role in 'Ariodante' and Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi) for New York City Opera and Ino and Juno (Semele) in San Francisco.

A favourite at the English National Opera, her roles there have included Handel's Agrippina; Xerxes; Ariodante; Ruggiero (Alcina); the title role in 'The Rape of Lucretia'; Ottavia (L'Incoronazione di Poppea); Dido (Dido and Aeneas / The Trojans); Romeo, Susie (The Silver Tassie) and Sesto (La clemenza di Tito) - for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera.

Her future engagements include a return to the Metropolitan Opera and to the Glyndebourne Festival; her debuts at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and at the Liceu in Barcelona; Gluck's Orfeo at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich and Octavian at the ENO.

She has appeared in recital in London and New York and her many concert engagements include appearances at the Salzburg Festival, Tanglewood Festival, BBC Proms, Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, with such conductors as Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Roger Norrington, Edo de Waart, Philippe Herreweghe and Daniel Harding. She has sung 'The Dream of Gerontius' with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis; Mahler's 'Das Lied von der Erde' with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and Daniel Harding; the 'St Matthew Passion' and 'Des Knaben Wunderhorn' with Philippe Herreweghe and Mozart's 'Requiem' with Ivor Bolton in Salzburg. Committed to promoting new music, her world premiere performances include Mark-Anthony Turnage's 'Twice through the heart' with The Schoenberg Ensemble conducted by Oliver Knussen; Jonathan Harvey's 'Songs of Li Po' at the Aldeburgh Festival and, most recently, Sir John Tavener's 'Tribute to Cavafy' at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham.

A prolific recording artist, her many discs include 'Des Knaben Wunderhorn' with L'Orchestre des Champs-élysées and Herreweghe (winner of an Edison Award); Elgar's 'Sea Pictures' with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for Naxos (nominated for a Grammy Award) and Mozart's 'Mass in C Minor' and Haydn's 'Scena di Bernice' with the Gabrieli Consort and McCreesh for Deutsche Grammophon. Her recording of Handel arias with The Sixteen and Harry Christophers was described as 'the definition of captivating' and her first recital disc, 'The Exquisite Hour', was recently released on Signum Classics to universal critical acclaim. She has also recorded the title role in Handel's 'Solomon' for Harmonia Mundi and the role of Giulio Cesare on DVD for Opus Arte. She has recorded the soundtrack, 'Fragments of a Prayer' by Sir John Tavener, for the feature film 'Children of Men'.

Forthcoming releases include a disc of Schumann lieder with Eugene Asti for Chandos and Korngold songs with Iain Burnside for Signum.

She studies with Gerald Martin Moore.