Christine Brewer, soprano and Craig Rutenberg, pianist
7:30 pm, Tuesday, November 28, 2006

American soprano Christine Brewer’s appearances in opera, concert and recital are marked with her own unique timbre, at once warm and brilliant, combined with a vibrant personality and emotional honesty unique in her generation of vocalists. 

As the 2005-06 season commences, Ms. Brewer will undertake her first complete Isolde at the Edinburgh International Festival in concert performances with Jonathan Nott leading the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.  Ms. Brewer will perform one of her signature roles, Leonore (Fidelio) several times this season, beginning with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Sir Charles Mackerras, at the San Francisco Opera under the baton of  Donald Runnicles, and finally with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra.  Concert highlights this season include semi-staged performances of Schönberg’s Gurrelieder at the Saito Kinen Festival with Seiji Ozawa, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with Leonard Slatkin and the National Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and the role of Chrysotemis in Strauss’ Elektra with James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Mozart’s Requiem with David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and Verdi’s Requiem with the symphony orchestras of San Francisco and Chicago (Ravinia Festival) – both under the baton of James Conlon.  Ms. Brewer will continue her prolific collaboration with Donald Runnicles in Zemlinsky’s Lyrische Symphonie with the Berlin Philharmonic and Strauss’ Four Last Songs with the Atlanta Symphony, which will be recorded for release on Telarc.. 

Ms. Brewer's 2004-2005 season included recitals in New York, Washington, D.C., St. Louis, and Cleveland. In Los Angeles, she joined forces with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Peter Sellars, and filmmaker Bill Viola for the groundbreaking Tristan Project, a semi-staged version of Tristan und Isolde conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Other concert highlights from last season included Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev, and Strauss’ Drei Hymnen with the BBC Orchestra under the baton of Donald Runnicles. Also, Ms. Brewer performed and recorded Mozart’s Requiem with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for Telarc. Ms. Brewer closed the season with Colin Graham’s new production of Britten’s Gloriana to much critical acclaim in her hometown of St. Louis and returned to the Santa Fe Opera as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes.

Ms. Brewer has appeared under the batons of Kurt Masur, Robert Shaw, Pierre Boulez, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir Simon Rattle, Christoph von Dohnányi, Sir Charles Mackerras, Herbert Blomstedt, Sir Neville Marriner, Leonard Slatkin, and Charles Dutoit. Ms. Brewer’s repertoire encompasses the works of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Verdi, Strauss, Mahler, Janáček, and Britten and she regularly performs with many of the world's leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic; Cleveland Orchestra; Philadelphia Orchestra; the National Symphony Orchestra; Los Angeles Philharmonic; Orchestre de Paris;  the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Boston, London, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Dallas; the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

On the opera stage Ms. Brewer has been seen in a variety of roles, including the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos, which has become a signature role for her, at the Metropolitan Opera,  Opera de Lyon, Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Santa Fe Opera, English National Opera and Opera Colorado; the title role in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride at the Edinburgh Festival, in Rio de Janeiro, and in Madrid; and the title role in Die ägyptische Helena at Santa Fe Opera.  Her professional career began with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis and her affiliation with that company includes leading roles in Peter Grimes, Ariadne auf Naxos, Haydn's Armida, and Don Giovanni.  Ms. Brewer joined Plácido Domingo in a concert to celebrate the re-opening of Covent Garden. She has performed another signature role, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, to critical acclaim at Covent Garden, New York City Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and at the Edinburgh Festival, among others, and has recorded for the Telarc label with Sir Charles Mackerras.

Ms. Brewer is also a stunning recitalist and, in addition to her many appearances at London’s Wigmore Hall, has graced Lincoln Center’s “Art of the Song” series at Alice Tully Hall and made appearances in St. Louis, Santa Fe, Cleveland, Portland (Oregon), Oklahoma City and Washington. D.C. 

Ms. Brewer’s recordings include a contribution to Hyperion’s prestigious Schubert series with pianist Graham Johnson; the Janáček Glagolithic Mass and Dvořák’s Te Deum with Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (Telarc); the Dvořák Stabat Mater (Naxos); and an appearance as soloist on a recording of opera choruses entitled "Grand & Glorious" (Telarc).  Opera Theatre of St. Louis produced and released two recital recordings of Ms. Brewer entitled "Saint Louis Woman” and “Music for a While.” Recent recordings include Barber’s Vanessa (Chandos) with the BBC Symphony and Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and Experience (Naxos), both conducted by Leonard Slatkin; Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 (EMI) with Sir Simon Rattle conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; a disc of lieder for Hyperion's new Richard Strauss series with pianist Roger Vignoles; and Fidelio in English (Chandos) with the London Philharmonic and David Parry.

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Pianist Craig Rutenberg, “whose playing ranged from sterling directness to expansive beauty,” (San Francisco Chronicle) has collaborated with many of the world’s greatest vocalists and is recognized as one of the most distinguished accompanists on the stage today.

Having studied with John Wustman, Geoffrey Parsons and Pierre Bernac, Mr. Rutenberg has appeared in recital with Denyce Graves, Sumi Jo, Harolyn Blackwell, Susanne Mentzer, Frederica von Stade, Angelika Kirchschlager, Joyce Castle and Dawn Upshaw, and frequently with Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner and Jerry Hadley as well as Olaf Baer, Simon Keenlyside and Stanford Olsen. He has performed with Mr.Hampson at the White House under the Clinton administration. 
                                   
Mr. Rutenberg, whose latest recording prompted Opera News to praise him for “(making) the piano sing with clean articulation and a palette of colors to coordinate with…every mood,” records for Deutsche Grammophon, EMI/Angel, BMG/RCA and Koch International. He has appeared repeatedly in concert on national and international television and radio, including numerous PBS specials.

Currently Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Music in London and Guest Coach at Operahögskolan in Stockholm, Sweden, Mr. Rutenberg also regularly coaches and gives master classes at the Chicago Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, the Pittsburgh Opera Center, Chicago Opera Theatre and the Vancouver Opera as well as the training programmes at the Washington Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Former Head of Music Staff at the Metropolitan Opera, Craig Rutenberg has also worked for the Opera Studio de Paris, the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, the Santa Fe Opera and the Glimmerglass Opera.

In addition to his teaching activities in the 2005-06 season, Mr. Rutenberg appears in recital with Christine Brewer, Nicole Cabell, Susanne Mentzer, Vivica Genaux, Ben Heppner, Quinn Kelsey and Thomas Hampson in the United States and Europe.