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Simone Kermes

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Simone Kermes is a German coloratura soprano, born in Leipzig in 1965. She is known for her virtuoso voice, which is especially suited to the opera seria of the Baroque and the early Classical period. She has sung in many major theatres and concert halls, including the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York and the Staatsoper in Stuttgart. She was also a guest at festivals such as the Schwetzinger Festspiele, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and the Bachfest in Leipzig.

Music and breakthrough

On the opera stage she has sung countless Handel heroines, such as Adelaide in Lotario, Asteria in Tamerlano and the title roles in Alcina and Rodelinda. She also sang Mozart, as Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. In 2000 she sang in Schwetzingen in the first modern performance of La divisione del mondo by Legrenzi, and in 2014 the role of La Folie in Platée by Rameau in Vienna and New York.

Influence

Her records show the same breadth. She recorded Handel operas, such as Rodelinda and Lotario, but also Vivaldi in Amor sacro and Amor profano, Arias for Cuzzoni in La Diva and Bel Canto: From Monteverdi to Verdi. In 1993 she won first prize at the Mendelssohn competition in Berlin, and in 2011 she was named singer of the year by Echo Klassik. Her work shows how much colour and fire Baroque singing can have.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to an aria from La Diva and notice the coloratura: the fast, agile ornaments with which she leaps between high and low notes in a single breath.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists