Born in Belgium, Anne-Catherine Gillet began her career at a very young age in the Ensemble of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège.
She sang her first principal roles at the Capitole de Toulouse, then at the most prestigious international houses including Opéra de Lausanne, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Opernhaus Zurich, La Monnaie in Brussels, Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Opéra National de Paris and Opéra National de Bordeaux.
Recently she was Hero (Béatrice et Bénédict) in Brussels and at the Glyndebourne Festival; Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Blanche (Les Dialogues des Carmélites) and Norina (Don Pasquale) in Brussels and Québec; Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande) in Oviedo and in Strasbourg; Angèle (Le Domino noir) in Liège and at the Opéra Comique in Paris; Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) in Marseille; Suzanne (Madame Favart) and Jacqueline (Fortunio) at the Opéra Comique and in Nancy; Marguerite (Faust) in Liège, Cologne and Québec; Servilia (La clemenza di Tito) in Barcelona; Clairette (La Fille de Madame Angot) at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris; Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) in Toulouse; Micaëla (Carmen) in Luxembourg; Blanche (Les Dialogues des Carmélites), Point d’Orgue and La Voix humaine in Bordeaux; and Gabrielle (La Vie Parisienne) in Liège and Toulouse.
Portuguese soprano Susana Gaspar’s recent engagements include Vitellia in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito, Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème, 1st Nymph in Dvorak’s Rusalka, and La Passion de Simone by Kaija Saariaho, for Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon. Also Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata for Nevill Holt Opera, Cio-Cio San in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly for Diva Opera, Marguerite in Gounod’d Faust for Valladolid Opera, Mahler 4 conducted by Bruno Borralhinho in concerts in Madrid and Galizia, a recording of Portuguese songs by Fernando Lopes-Graça with Nuno Vieira de Almeida, and soprano soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with Hastings Philharmonic.
Susana was a member of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme 2011-13 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, singing Barbarina Le nozze di Fìgaro, Contessa Ceprano Rigoletto, Giannetta L’elisir d’amore, First Innocent Minotaur, Papagena Die Zauberflöte, Voce dal Cielo Don Carlo and Aurore Le Portrait de Manon (Meet the Young Artists Week).
Susana represented Portugal in the 2013 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World finals.
Recordings include Portugal Matinas do Natal for Paraty, Fanny Mendelssohn songs with Malcolm Martineau, opera arias and duets with the RPO and Renato Balsadonna, and Semiramide, Le portrait de Manon and Les nuits d’été for Opera Rara.
Eiddwen Harrhy studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music, where she won the Imperial League of Opera Gold Medal. She then studied in London, winning the Miriam Licette Prize to further her studies in Paris.
She has sung with major orchestras and opera companies around the world, appearing in Amsterdam, Athens, Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, Milan, Lucerne, Naples, Turin, Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Tel Aviv, St Petersburg, Sydney, Vienna and Hong Kong. Festivals include Glyndebourne, Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Batignano, Halle, Göttingen, Lucerne, Geneva, Bruges and Hong Kong.
Notable roles include Poppea, Alcina, Iphigenie, Norina, Gilda, Michaela, Pamina, Countess, Donna Anna, Donna Elvira, Fiordiligi, Octavian, Componist, Katya Kabanova, Marenka, Madama Butterfly, Marie (Wozzeck).
Eiddwen has worked with many great conductors, including, Colin Davis, Georg Solti, Bernard Haitink, Mark Elder, John Eliot Gardiner, Roger Norrington, John Pritchard, Christopher Hogwood, Ivor Bolton, Richard Hickok, Mariss Janssons, Marc Minkovski and Phillipe Herreweghe.
Eiddwen Harrhy’s teaching career includes master classes and one-to-one teaching around the world , including Singapore, Prague, Berlin, Vilnius, Utrecht, Helsinki, Stockholm, Vienna, National Opera Studio (London) and USA. She travels to Indiana University every year to work with the students at the prestigious Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, preparing their performances of Handel operas and oratorios.
She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Music (London) Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Royal Society of Arts, and has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Swansea, Wales.
Krassimira Stoyanova is one of the leading sopranos of our time, highly acclaimed by press and public alike. She was born in Bulgaria where she studied violin at the Conservatory and singing and violin at the Plovdiv Music Academy and made her professional debut in 1995 at the Sofia National Opera House, where she debuted a wide range of roles.
Since 1998 Krassimira Stoyanova has a close relationship with the Vienna State Opera where she has sung Rachel/ La Juive (new production with TV-production), Contessa/ Le nozze di Figaro, Micaela/ Carmen, Antonia/ Les contes d’Hoffmann, Liù/ Turandot, Nedda/ I Pagliacci, Mimi/ La Bohème, Violetta/ La Traviata, Alice/ Falstaff (new production), Rusalka (new production), Desdemona/ Otello (new production), Elisabetta/ Don Carlo (new production), Ariadne/ Ariadne auf Naxos (new production), Amelia/ Un Ballo in Maschera, Amelia/ Simone Boccanegra, Anna/ Anna Bolena, to mention only a few.
From there her international career developed rapidly and since takes her to the world’s leading opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden London, Teatro alla Scala di Milano, the Bastille Paris, to the State Operas of Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden, and Zürich. She performed at Rome’s Teatro dell’ Opera, at the Liceu in Barcelona, at the Nederlands Opera in Amsterdam, in Bilbao, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, and at the New Israeli Opera Tel Aviv. In 2003 the artist made her debut at the Salzburg Festival where she is a regular guest since then.
She worked with the most renowned conductors which include Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Chailly, Myung-Whun Chung, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Daniele Gatti, Bernard Haiting, Manfred Honeck, Mariss Jansons, Fabio Luisi, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Georges Pretre, Yuri Temirkanov, Christian Thielemann, Franz Welser-Möst.
Krassimira Stoyanova’s repertoire covers a wide variety of roles ranging from belcanto operas, the great Verdi and Puccini heroines as well as Richard Strauss to the Slavic repertoire. She also dedicates herself also to less well-known titles such as I Guarani, Fosca, La battaglia di Legnano, Maria di Rohan, Les Huguenots, Dmitry and Die Liebe der Danae.
Stoyanovais one of the most sought-after singers on the concert stage. Highlights of her concert work are: with Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at the Ravenna Festival under the baton of Riccardo Muti, with Sir Colin Davis at the St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, with Mariss Jansons at the Vatican in Rome, with Christian Thielemann and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. Her concert repertoire includes the Messa da Requiem by Verdi, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Four last songs by R. Strauss, Dvorak’s Requiem and Stabat Mater, to mention only a few.
Her solo CD recordings I palpiti d’amor, Slavic Opera Arias, Verdi Arias (label: Orfeo) have all received prestigious awards. Her 4th CD Verismo was released in Dec 2016 winning a Critics Choice designation by Opera News magazine, Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. She also recorded a CD of all the Songs of Giacomo Puccini (label: Naxos).
In 2009 Krassimira Stoyanova was awarded with the title Kammersängerin der Wiener Staatsoper.
Rebecca Von Lipinski was born in Mansfield, and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. She has been the recipient of many prizes and awards including the Clonter Opera Prize and Audience Prize, and the Elizabeth Harwood Memorial Award. During her time at the RNCM, the Peter Moores Foundation supported her vocal studies. Rebecca was a member of the National Opera Studio in London during the 2002/03 season. Her extensive concert and oratorio repertoire includes performances of Vivaldi’s Gloria, Messiah, Mozart’s Mass in C and Coronation Mass, Rossini’s Petite messe Solenelle, and Mahler’s Symphony No 2 Rebecca has also appeared on numerous recordings, radio broadcasts, and made several television appearances.
Krassimira Stoyanova was born in Bulgaria and studied violin at the Conservatory in Rousse and singing and violin at the Plovdiv Music Academy. She made her professional debut in 1995 at the Sofia National Opera, where she sang a wide range of repertory: Rigoletto (Gilda), Le Nozze di Figaro (Susanna), Il Guarany (Cecilia), and Antonio Carlo Gomes’ I Fosca (Delila), La Juive (Rachel), La Clemenza di Tito (Vitellia) and Idomeneo (Ilia). Since 1998 she has been engaged at the Wiener Staatsoper – and has sung in La Juive (Rachel), Le Nozze di Figaro (Contessa), Carmen (Micaela), Les contes d’Hoffmann (Antonia), Turandot (Liù), I Pagliacci (Nedda), La Bohème (Mimi), La Traviata (Violetta). In October 2009 Krassimira Stoyanova was nominated Kammersängerin by the Vienna State Opera. For Opera Rara she has recorded the title role in Donizetti’s Maria di Rohan.
In demand across the world, Opera Rara’s Artist Ambassador Ermonela Jaho is particularly recognised for her portrayals of Violetta (La traviata), Madama Butterfly, Suor Angelica (Il trittico), Adriana Lecouvreur and a lot more were she leaves her indelible mark on everything she sings. She won the 2021 International Classical Music Awards for Vocal Music 2021 with her solo album “Anima Rara”.
Now resident in New York, Ermonela Jaho was born in Albania and first began to take singing lessons when she was just six. At 14, she was taken to the Tirana Opera House for the first time where she heard La Traviata and decided to become an opera singer. At 19 she moved to Rome to continue her studies at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Over the next years, she won many singing competitions in Italy opening the doors to her singing career. Ermonela Jaho’s vivid interpretations and her exceptional identification with the roles she performs are highlighted in all her reviews. Over the last year, standing ovations have followed her from London, Paris, New York, Munich, Berlin, Madrid and everywhere else in between, with The Economist describing her as “Fiery angel… the world’s most acclaimed soprano”, Financial Times “she throws heart and soul into her singing. Don’t even try to resist!”, The Independent as “the best Madama Butterfly London has seen in years” and Australia’s Daily Telegraph describing her as “an unstoppable phenomenon”. Ermonela Jaho is a member of the Academy of Sciences of Albania and she supports many causes. She is the ambassador of the YWCA of Albania.
Ermonela Jaho made her studio recording debut with Opera Rara’s recording of Leoncavallo’s Zaza. For Opera Rara, she has also recorded Puccini’s Le Willis and her debut solo album Anima Rara.
