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The Dutch mezzo-soprano, Talitha van der Spek, studied singing at the Conservatorium of Amsterdam with Margreet Honig. She is currently coached by Ira Siff, who made his mark internationally in theater and as a teacher.
Talitha van der Spek is a lyrical mezzo-soprano with a flexible voice and great versatility. She has a lot of experience with oratorio, opera and song repertoire. She sings the low alto parts of J.S. Bach's Passions and the Gustav Mahler's Kindertotenlieder, as well as the real mezzo repertoire such as Carmen by Georges Bizet and Armide by Lully. She loves to tell stories and that is the driving force behind every piece of music she performs.
Talitha van der Spek gained a lot of experience in early music with her Baroque ensemble Les Eléments, with Bob Smith on cello and Israel Golani on theorbo, among others. They played their French repertoire all over the country, and also in the Concertgebouw and for Radio 4. She also sang for a number of years in an ensemble with Claron McFadden: Le donne di Ferrara, with music for three female voices by Luzzaschi. She sang two concert programs with Baroque ensemble Eik&Linde, of which a live registration was released on CD: La Diavolessa. In addition, she sang in many passions and oratorios at home and abroad, with Marcel Beekman (tenor) and Mattijs van de Woerd (baritone) and conductors such as Jos van Veldhoven, Jos Vermunt, Alfredo Bernardini and Nico van der Meel.
Talitha van der Spek specialized for many years in opera and theatre music. The combination of singing and playing is what she prefers to do. She quickly learns new pieces by heart, which creates a lot of room for play and interaction with colleagues and the audience. She sang the title role from Georges Bizet's Carmen at De Nederlandse Opera (open day, April 2012), various productions at the Nationale Reisopera (Resident Artists Program: Dritte Dame in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Vendredi in Offenbach's Robinson Crusoe), and again Carmen in the production of La Mascotte. She often works with dance company LeineRoebana, in which she sang in the productions 'Merg' and 'Light'. In these productions she collaborated with Claron McFadden (soprano), Helena Rasker (alto), the Locke consort (Merg) and with Bernadeta Astari (soprano), Heather Ware and Tim Persent (dance) and the fantastic gamelan ensemble Kyai Fatahillah. with modern music by Iwan Gunawan (Light). She also danced in these performances. She also played in operas by, among others, Opera Nijetrijne, Opera Spanga and Holland Opera.
Talitha van der Spek forms a duo with pianist Harimada Kusuma. They got to know each other at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where they immediately had a musical and personal click. They share a love for Robert Schumann's Lieder, but have made several programs with more modern repertoire by, among others, Copland and Sibelius. Their latest program Lied en Literatuur is a musical narration based on poems from three German novels, including Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre by Goethe. The response from the public to this interactive program has been exceptionally positive. |
