Recitals in December & January at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden
Juan Diego Flórez & Vincenzo Scalera
On December 17, the Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez makes his debut at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in a recital in the great hall, with pianist Vincenzo Scalera. In addition to well-known songs by Schubert and Bellini and romances by the southern Italian singer and composer Paolo Tosti, Juan Diego Flórez sings virtuoso bel canto arias from operas by Rossini, Donizetti and Verdi.
Juan Diego Flórez, born in Lima in 1973, is one of the most renowned tenors of our time. At the age of 23 he made his debut at the opening of the Teatro alla Scala di Milano 1996-97 season under Riccardo Muti. Since then, he has been a regular guest at all internationally important opera houses and works with the outstanding conductors of our time. At the beginning of his career, Juan Diego Flórez was best known for his appearances in the bel canto repertoire. Today he is mainly celebrated for his interpretations of heroes of French romanticism. He was named one of the best tenors in music history by the BBC and has won many awards and prizes, including the Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru, the highest honor in his homeland. In 2012 he was honored with the title of Austrian Chamber Singer.
In 2011 Juan Diego Flórez founded Sinfonía por el Perú, an integrative social project based on the model of El Sistema in Venezuela. All over his home country, the project maintains orchestras and choirs to support children and at-risk young people.
The pianist Vincenzo Scalera has made guest appearances in all important centers of the music world and at many important festivals. He performs regularly with Juan Diego Flórez and has also accompanied Carlo Bergonzi, Andrea Bocelli, Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Leyla Gencer, Vittorio Grigolo, Sumi Jo, Raina Kabaivanska, Katia Ricciarelli, Renata Scotto, Cesare Siepi, and Lucia Valentini Terrani.
Lise Davidsen & Leif Ove Andsnes
On January 6, 2022, the Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen and pianist Leif Ove Andsnes will perform a recital in the Great Hall of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. The program includes works by Edvard Grieg, Richard Strauss, and Richard Wagner. The sounds of their home country Norway are the focus of the recital, which begins with Grieg's "Six Songs" op. 48 and the song cycle "Haugtussa" op. 67. In the second part of the program, Lise Davidsen sings well-known Strauss songs, including "Cäcilie" op. 27/2 and "Morgen" op. 27/4 as well as Wagner's "Wesendonck-Lieder", which were written around "Tristan und Isolde" and played an essential role in the development of his musical language.
On January 7th - one day after the Lied recital at the State Opera - the new album by Lise Davidsen and Leif Ove Andsnes, which is also dedicated to songs by Grieg and Strauss, will be released by Decca Classics.
The Norwegian soprano was awarded two international prizes in the summer of 2015: She won both the Operalia and the Queen Sonja competition. Soon after, she made celebrated debuts at the Glyndebourne Festival, the Zurich Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, the BBC Proms, and at Wigmore Hall. In 2018, Lise Davidsen signed an exclusive record deal with Decca Classics. Her self-titled debut album was released in May 2019. In the 2018-19 season, Lise Davidsen made her eagerly awaited debut at the Bayreuth Festival as Elisabeth in a new production of »Tannhäuser« under the musical direction of Valery Gergiev. Further highlights were her debut as Lisa in Tchaikovsky's "Queen of Spades" at the Stuttgart State Opera and her house debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden London in the "Ring" cycle, as well as numerous appearances on international concert stages, including the BBC Proms and Edinburgh International Festival. Recent operatic successes include the title role in Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos" at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, the Vienna State Opera, and the Glyndebourne Festival, the role of Agathe in a new production of "Freischütz" at the Zurich Opera House, Cherubini's "Médée" at the Wexford Festival and the Santuzza in "Cavalleria rusticana". As a lieder singer, she made her debut at the Rosenblatt Recital Series at London's Wigmore Hall and at the Bergen International Festival.
The Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes gives music lectures and concerts in the leading concert halls and with the most outstanding orchestras in the world and has been awarded numerous prizes. A passionate chamber musician, he is the founding director of the Rosendal Chamber Music Festival, was artistic co-director of the Risør Chamber Music Festival for almost two decades and was musical director of the Ojai Music Festival in California in 2012. He was inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame in 2013 and received honorary doctorates from the Juilliard School in New York and the Norwegian University of Bergen in 2016 and 2017, respectively.