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The Belgian soprano, Sophie Karthäuser, completed her studies with Noelle Barker at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with the financial support of the British Council and the Belgian Foundation for Talent.
Sophie Karthäuser has been heard on various occasions as soloist with ensembles such as the Academy of Ancient Music, Les Arts Florissants (Director: William Christie), the European Union Baroque Orchestra (Directors: Roy Goodman and Edward Higginbottom), the group Archibudelli (Director: Anner Bylsma) and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège (Louis Langrée). She also gives recitals with her pianist Eugene Asti in places such as the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, the Palais des Beaux Arts, the Flanders Opera and the Opéra de Lille.
Sophie Karthäuser took part in the creation of Thésée (Lully) with William Christie and the European Baroque Academy of Ambronay. At the Guildhall School she performed the roles of Almirena in Rinaldo (George Frideric Handel) and Nina in Il Giovedi Grasso (Donizetti). After her first Barbarina at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie she was heard in the same house in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges under the direction of Marcello Viotti as well as in the Monteverdi Orfeo (La Musica, Euridice and Echo) with René Jacobs. She also sang Papagena in the revival of Die Zauberflöte at the Frankfurt Opera House in December 2000.
The 2003/2004 season has been very exciting for Sophie Karthäuser: she performed in Peter Grimes (2nd niece) at La Monnaie and in Bilbao. At La Monnaie, she sang her first Zerlina in David McVicar’s production of Don Giovanni, she also sang Zerlina - in the same production - at the Opéra de Lille and at the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg. She sang Eritea in Cavalli’s Eliogabalo with René Jacobs at La Monnaie and at the Innsbrucker Festwochen. Finally, she appeared as Hanako in Hanjo (Hosokawa) at the Festival International d’Art Lyrique of Aix-en-Provence.
Her future projects include Amore in the Monteverdi trilogy at the Grand Théâtre de Genève and at the Opéra de Caen with Il Giardino Armonico and her first Pamina at La Monnaie with René Jacobs. At La Monnaie, she will also be part of the revival of Hosokawa’s Hanjo. She will sing Pamina at the Opéra de Lille and Zerlina in Tokyo at the NHK. In concert she has several projects planed with the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, including The Creation (Haydn) and the Gloria (Francis Poulenc) under the direction of Louis Langrée and the Illuminations (Benjamin Britten) and Gustav Mahler’s 4th symphony under the baton of Armin Jordan. Several concerts are planned with ensembles such as La Petite Bande and Les Folies Françoises.
Sophie Karthäuser’s recording of Gretry arias received some very warm comments from the international press, including a “diapason découverte” from the French magazine Diapason. She also recorded Myslivecek’s La Passione with Christoph Spering for the Capriccio label.
In September 2003, Sophie Karthäuser received the prize of the audience and the 3rd prize at the Wigmore Hall competition, one of the most important song contests. |
