Imogen Cooper, pianist
Henk Neven, baritone

Regarded as one of the finest interpreters of Classical and Romantic repertoire, Imogen Cooper is internationally renowned for her virtuosity and lyricism. Recent and future concerto performances include the Berliner Philharmoniker with Sir Simon Rattle, Sydney Symphony with Simone Young, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra with Thomas Dausgaard and the Aurora Orchestra with Nicholas Collon, the latter including performances in London and at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Her recitals this season include solos in London (including as part of the Wigmore Hall’s lockdown concert series), Paris, Philadelphia and Vienna.
Imogen has a widespread international career and has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Budapest Festival, NHK and London Symphony Orchestras. She has played at the BBC Proms and with all the major British orchestras, including particularly close relationships with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Britten Sinfonia, play/directing. Her recital appearances have included Tokyo, Hong Kong, New York, Singapore, Paris, Vienna, Prague and the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg.
Imogen is a committed chamber musician and performs regularly with Henning Kraggerud and Adrian Brendel. As a Lieder recitalist, she has had a long collaboration with Wolfgang Holzmair in both the concert hall and recording studio. Her discography also includes Mozart Concertos with the Royal Northern Sinfonia (Avie) and a cycle of solo works by Schubert under the label ‘Schubert Live’. Her recent recordings for Chandos Records feature music by French and Spanish composers, Beethoven, Liszt and Wagner.
Imogen received a CBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours in 2007 and was the recipient of an award from the Royal Philharmonic Society the following year. In 1997 she was awarded Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music and in 1999 she was made a Doctor of Music at Exeter University. The Imogen Cooper Music Trust was founded in 2015, to support young pianists at the cusp of their careers and give them time in an environment of peace and beauty.

Dutch baritone Henk Neven is one of the most exciting song interpreters of his generation, having made regular appearances at the Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw and the BBC Proms, whilst being equally at home on the operatic stage. A recipient of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, he has an ongoing recording contract with Onyx and his discs have received critical praise. Neven was a member of the prestigious BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists Scheme and in 2011 received the Dutch Music Prize, the highest honour that the Netherlands Ministry of Culture awards to a classical musician.

This season Neven covers the role of King in the world premiere of George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He also appears with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra with Stravinsky’s Pulcinella and with the Residentieorkest perfoming arias by Mozart. Other appearances include songs and arias by Mahler and Mozart with Orchestre de Picardie.
Last season Neven returned to the UK to reprise the title role Don Giovanni with Northern Ireland Opera. On the concert platform performed Die schöne Müllerin with pianist Imogen Cooper at the Wigmore Hall and with Joseph Middleton at Leeds Lieder, as well as making appearances with the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, the International Cello Festival Biennale in Amsterdam, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Sinfonia Rotterdam and Lausanne Cathedral. He also recorded a programme of Elgar songs with Kathryn Rudge and the BBC Concert Orchestra in collaboration with SOMM Recordings.
His operatic roles include Aronte Armide, title role Hamlet, the title role and Leporello Don Giovanni; Conte Le nozze di Figaro; Phorbas Oedipe; Mercutio Roméo et Juliette; Patrocle Iphiginie en Aulide; Aeneas Dido and Aeneas; Marco Gianni Schicchi; Schaunard La bohème; Morales Carmen; Ben The Telephone and Mr. Gobineau The Medium; Mars Vénus et Adonis; Pollux Castor et Pollux; and Frère Léon St. François d’Assise, staged by Pierre Audi and recorded for DVD by Opus Arte. He has appeared at the Opéra National de Paris, La Monnaie, Berlin Staatsoper, Theater an der Wien, Le Duo de Dijon, Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, L’Opéra National de Montpellier, Grand Théâtre de Tours, Opéra de Rouen and De Nederlandse Opera.
On the concert platform he has worked with Marin Alsop and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the BBC Proms performing Brahms Requiem, St Matthew Passion with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Beethoven Mass in C with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Concertgebouw, BBC National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio Kamer Filharmonie, Bergen Philharmonic, Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, Noord-Nederlands Orkest, Netherlands Bachvereniging, Vlaams Radio Orkest, L’Orchestre National de France, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre d’Opéra National de Paris, Staatskapelle Berlin, L’Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Orchestre National de Lyon, Les Concerts Spirituels and Les Talens Lyriques. He has worked with conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Simon Rattle, Edo de Waart, Jaap van Zweden, Jan Willem de Vriend, Hervé Niquet, Kenneth Montgomery, Joel Levi, Patrick Lange, Armin Jordan, John Nelson, Ed Spanjaard, Marc Minkowski and Christophe Rousset.

An outstanding recitalist, he is a regular guest of the Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and at the NTR ZaterdagMatinee series. He has performed in the Festival Oude Muziek in Utrecht, Operadagen Rotterdam and the Gergiev Festival. Past highlights include debuts at the City of London Festival and Cheltenham Festival; performances for the BBC Proms; and recitals for La Monnaie in Brussels, Amsterdam’s Beurs van Berlage and Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
Henk Neven started recording for Onyx Records in 2011, when his Gramophone-nominated debut album Auf einer Burg was received with the highest acclaim. In 2012, Onyx Records released his second album, The Sea on which he performs songs by Debussy, Fauré and Schubert.

 

Lessons:

13, 14 December 2021

Theme:

Robert & Clara Schumann

Category: