Bernarda Fink & Roger Vignoles
7:30 pm Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Bernarda Fink, daughter of Slovenian parents, was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and received her vocal and musical education at the „Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón where she used to perform frequently.

Acclaimed for her musical versatality, Bernarda Fink's repertoire ranges from ancient music up to music of the 20th century. She frequently appears with such well known orchestras as the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe as well as with the best known Baroque Orchestras under such famous conductors as Herbert Blomstedt, Semyon Bychkov, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Valery Gergiev, René Jacobs, Nikolaus Hamoncourt, Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Muti, Sir Roger Norrington, Trevor Pinnock, Franz Welser-Möst among others.

Bernarda Fink has performed to wide critical acclaim at the Grand Théâtre de Génève, Czech National Opera, the Opera houses of Montpellier, Innsbruck (Il Ritorno d’Ulisse In Patria), and Salzburg (Così Fan Tutte), Barcelona, the Nederlandse Opera (Il Ritorno d’Ulisse In Patria), Teatro Colón and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (Così Fan Tutte & Il Matrimonio Segreto). In 2005 and in the year of Mozart's anniversary, 2006, she will perform the role of Cecilio in a new production of Mozart's Lucio Silla in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien with Nikolaus Hamoncourt and Claus Guth.

Bernarda Fink regularly appears in recital at the Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Festwochen der Alten Musik Innsbruck, Salzburg Mozarteum, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Carinthischer Sommer, Prague Rudolfinum, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall in London, Carnegie Hall in New York, Théâtre des Champs Elysdes in Paris, Sidney Opera House, in Santiago de Compostela, Granada, Barcelona and Japan.

Highlights of the last seasons include concerts with the Vienna Hofmusikkapelle with Riccardo Muti in Vienna Musikverein, Berlioz' Les Nuits d'été under Sir John Eliot Gardiner in Paris, Rouen, Metz and Madrid and Mahler's Symphony No. 3 with the WDR Radio Symphony Orchestra and Semyon Bychkov. Recently she sang Mozart's Requiem under the baton of Nikolaus Hamoncourt in Vienna, with Sir Colin Davis in Dresden and with Mariss Jansons in Munich and Luzern, Schubert's Mass In A Flat Major with the Berliner Philharmonic Orchestra under Nikolaus Hamoncourt Mahler's Kindertotenlieder with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Dvorák’s Svata Ludmila with Jiri Belohlavek in Prague, Handel's Theodora with Nikolaus Hamoncourt in Vienna Musikverein, as well as recitals at the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg, Bilbao, in the Wigmore Hall in London, Bordeaux, Bruxelles, Antwerpen, Eindhoven, Nantes.

Bernarda Fink has made numerous highly acclaimed recordings including Monteverdi, Handel, Bach, Rameau, Hasse, Caldara, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Rossini as well as Bruckner and Schumann. Her recording of Handel's Giulio Cesare was awarded a Grammy, two other recordings a „Diapason d'Or", Caldara's Maddalena Ai Piedi Di Christo a Gramophone Award. Further recordings are Bach's Matthauspassion with Nikolaus Harnoncourt (TELDEC), which was awarded a Grammy in 2002 as well as a solo recording with Spanish Songs (HYPERION). HARMONIA MUNDI has also published Gluck's Orfeo (with Rend Jacobs), a CD with Schumann Lieder, Scarlatti's Griselda (with René Jacobs) and most recently Lieder by Dvorák with Roger Vignoles which has been awarded the Diapason d'Or. HARMONIA MUNDI plans to release some other solo recordings with Bernarda Fink.

Website for Bernarda Fink

The pianist Roger Vignoles is one of Britain's most outstanding musicians. Originally inspired by the playing of Gerald Moore, he decided on leaving University to pursue a career as a piano accompanist, completing his essential training with the distinguished Viennese-born teacher Paul Hamburger.

Since then reviewers worldwide have consistently recognised his distinctive qualities as a player. Among his first partners was the great Swedish soprano Elisabeth Söderström, whom he regularly accompanied throughout the 1970s and 80s. During this period, he also developed particularly fruitful collaborations with Dame Kiri to Kanawa; with Sir Thomas Allen, recording many works including Schumann's Dichterliebe and Schubert's Winterreise; and with Sarah Walker, in a wide repertoire of song, from German Lieder and French Mélodies to cabaret songs by Gershwin, Britten and others.

Recent seasons have included tours with Sylvia McNair, Dame Felicity Lott, Susan Graham, Véronique Gens, Sir Thomas Allen and Joan Rodgers, as well as recitals with Olaf Bär, Kathleen Battle, Brigitte Fassbaender, Bernarda Fink, Christine Schäfer, Thomas Hampson, Lorraine Hunt, Stephan and Christoph Genz, Monica Groop and Sarah Walker, including appearances at the Bath, Cheltenham, Brighton, Aldeburgh, Prague, Schleswig-Holstein, Verbier and Ravinia Festivals. He is also a regular visitor to the Schubertiade in Feldkirch.

In 1997, the Schubert year, he devised and directed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London a week-long series entitled "Landscape into Song", in which his culminating performance of Winterreise with Robert Holl was described by The Times as "one of the most memorable performances of the year." In 1998 he inaugurated the Nagaoka Winter Festival in Japan, giving recitals and masterclasses based on Schubert's Winterreise and has subsequently returned each year as artistic director. Last December he was the subject of BBC Radio 3's Artist in Focus series. In 2001 he took part in the Schumann Festival at the South Bank in London giving recitals Wolfgang Holzmair, Christiane Oelze and Robert Holl and gave staged performances of the complete Britten Canticles in Barcelona with John Mark Ainsley and Michael Chance.

Among his recent recordings, La Belle Epoque with Susan Graham (devoted to the songs of Reynaldo Hahn), Nuits d'Etoiles with Véronique Gens (Fauré, Debussy, Poulenc) and a CD of Strauss, Mahler and Marx with Katarina Karneus all have been nominated for Gramophone awards, while his recording of Beethoven songs with Stephan Genz on Hyperion won the 1999 Award in the Song Category. Future releases include the complete Wolf Mörike-Lieder with Stephan Genz and Canciones Amatorias, a CD of Spanish Songs with Bernarda Fink. His new CD with Lieder by Dvorák (sung by Bernarda Fink) has received many awards.

Future engagements include recitals with Robert Holl, John Mark Ainsley, Michael Chance, Bernarda Fink, Katarina Karneus, Olaf Bar, Miah Persson and Mark Padmore.