To include works by: | ||
Wolf, Vaughan Williams, Finzi, Elgar, | ||
Respighi, Ravel, Villa-Lobos |
Born in Brazil, Michel de Souza (baritone) won the Maria Callas Vocal Competition in São Paulo and the Margaret Dick and Ye Cronies Competition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scot-land, where he attended the Alexander Gibson Opera School, gaining a masters de-gree in opera with distinction. He went on to join the Jette Parker Young Artists Pro-gramme at the Royal Opera Covent Garden, which led to many appearances with the company and the beginning of his international career in principal theatres, both in Europe and South America. He also appears regularly in concert, including with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the Proms, with L’Orchestre National de Lyon and the Orchestra of Scottish Opera as well as giving recitals of Lieder, Chanson and Brazilian song. He was an Emerging Artist at Scottish Opera.
Recently, Michel has appeared as Ping for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Schaunard for the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Le Grand Prête de Dagon for Grange Park Opera, Guglielmo for the Teatro Argentino de La Plata, Papageno for the Teatro Municipal de São Paulo and Crown for the Grande Teatro do Palacio das Ar-tes de Belo Horizonte. Future engagements include Bernstein Mass and the Messiah at the Theatro Municipal in São Paulo and a CD with Brazilian songs.
Described as "an amazingly talented pianist" by the leading Italian magazine Musica, the Neapolitan pianist Emma Abbate enjoys a demanding career as a piano accompanist and chamber musician, working with some of the finest singers and instrumentalists of her generation. She has performed in duo recitals for international festivals and concert societies in Salzburg, Lisbon, Naples, Ischia, Koscierzyna and Sorrento, and at many prestigious UK venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Southbank Centre, Royal Opera House, St John’s Smith Square, St George’s, Bristol and Aldeburgh Festival, in addition to broadcasts on BBC Radio 3.
Emma is releasing a series of recordings devoted to 20th century Italian vocal chamber music, the latest of which is the world-première disc of Shakespeare Sonnets by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco with the BBC New Generation Artist Ashley Riches for Resonus Classics. Future plans include the world-première recording of songs by Ildebrando Pizzetti with the mezzo-soprano Hanna Hipp for Resonus Classics. Emma has also recently released the first of two volumes of Mozart's complete piano duets on original fortepianos with Julian Perkins for Resonus Classics, and two discs devoted to works by Stephen Dodgson for Toccata Classics: world-première recordings of his cello and piano music with Evva Mizerska, and his piano quintets with the Tippett Quartet.
Based in London, Emma is a professor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and a staff coach at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.