Genre Opera | Record label Albany Records | |
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Albums Lowell Liebermann: Little Heaven Similar Sarah Connolly, Sebastian Weigle, Frankfurter Opern‑ und Museumsorchester, Orchestra of the Age of Enlight, Kenneth Kiesler | ||
Brenda Rae is an American operatic soprano who has performed leading roles in opera houses internationally. She has been a resident artist at the Opern- und Schauspielhaus Frankfurt since 2008. She is a featured performer on the Naxos Records 2015 recording of Milhaud's L’Orestie d’Eschyle which was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.
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Life and career
Born and raised in Appleton, Wisconsin, Rae is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison (Bachelor of Music, 2005) and the Juilliard School (Master of Music, 2008). While a student at Juilliard she portrayed roles in several productions of the Juilliard Opera Center, including Mary Shrike in the world premiere of Lowell Liebermann's Miss Lonelyhearts (2006), Eurydice in Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld (2006), Arminda in Mozart's La finta giardiniera (2007), and the Countess Adele in Rossini's Le comte Ory (2007). In 2013 she made her debut at Carnegie Hall as Polissena in Handel's Radamisto with David Daniels in the title role and conductor Harry Bicket leading The English Concert orchestra. That same year she made her debut at the Santa Fe Opera as Violetta in Verdi's La traviata. She returned to Santa Fe in 2014 as Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni and The Cook in Le Rossignol. In 2015 she portrayed the title role in Handel's Semele at the Seattle Opera.
Rae has performed in many operas at the Opern- und Schauspielhaus Frankfurt beginning with her debut there in 2008. Her other performances at the Frankfurt Opera House, include Aithra in Die agyptische Helena (2015), Amina in La sonnambula (2014-2015), Angelica in Vivaldi's Orlando furioso, Anne Trulove in The Rake's Progress (2012), Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare (2012-2013), Eternità and Giunone in Cavalli's La Calisto (2011-2012), Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte (2014), Helmwige in Die Walküre (2012), Konstanze in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail (2011), Lora in Wagner's Die Feen (2011), Musetta in La bohème (2012), Olympia in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffman (2011), Pamina in The Magic Flute (2011), Servilia in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito (2011), Violetta in La traviata (2011), Zerbinetta in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos (2013-2014), and the title roles in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda (2012) and Lucia di Lammermoor (2015-2016) among others.
Rae's other European performance include appearances at the Bavarian State Opera (debut as Konstanze, 2012), Glyndebourne Festival Opera (Arminda in Rinaldo, 2011), Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux (Zerbinetta, 2011), and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (debut as Polissena in Radamisto, 2013) among others. In 2017 she is scheduled to perform the role of Amenaide in Rossini's Tancredi with Opera Philadelphia.
Songs
Fantasio: Act III Tableau II: Scene 4-5: Sous ta banniere on se rallie2014
Appalachian Liebeslieder: Little HeavenLowell Liebermann: Little Heaven · 2012
Fantasio: Act II Scene 1: Quand l'ombre des arbres2014