Anne Schwanewilms

German soprano Anne Schwanewilms studied with Hans Sotin in Cologne, where she was also a member of the opera ensemble from 1991 to 1996. As a freelance singer, Anne Schwanewilms has chosen to place the operas of Richard Strauss at the centre of her career: principally Arabella, Capriccio, Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf Naxos, Daphne, Die Liebe der Danae and Elektra (Chrysothemis).

Recent Straussian engagements include: Ariadne (London in concert with Rattle, Covent Garden with C. Davis, Staatsoper Berlin, Dresden and Madrid); Chrysothemis (Covent Garden with Bychkov, Milan and Hamburg); Danae (Dresden, concert in Amsterdam with de Waart); Daphne (Canary Islands with Bychkov); Marschallin (Lyric Opera Chicago with A. Davis, Paris); Four Last Songs (Hallé Orchestra with Elder, at the Ravello Festival with Wächter, at the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, in Milan and Strasbourg); a Strauss Liederabend at the Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona, Porto, Strasbourg and the Edinburgh Festival, and a series of concerts with Mark Elder and the Hallé Orchestra.

Future engagements from this repertoire include: Ariadne (Dresden); Chrysothemis (Covent Garden and Berlin); Marschallin (Monaco, Dresden, in concert in Sao Paulo and a new production in Munich); Arabella in Frankfurt; Danae in Dresden; Four Last Songs (Madrid, Amsterdam, Bonn and Salzburg); Orchesterlieder (Lyon) and recitals in Barcelona, Strasbourg, Madrid, Amsterdam, Washington and London (Wigmore Hall).

Miss Schwanewilms’ opera repertoire also includes works by Bartók, Berg, Gluck, Mozart, Schumann, Schreker, Symanowski, Verdi, Wagner and Weber. Other recent and future engagements include: Wozzeck (Bordeaux and Dresden); Idomeneo-Elettra (Glyndebourne, London, Berlin, Lucerne and Salzburg); Genoveva (Leipzig and Vienna); Der ferne Klang (Berlin and Amsterdam); Otello (Malmö, Sweden and Dresden); Lohengrin (Parma, Bonn, Ravello, Essen, La Scala Milan, Cologne, Dresden and Covent Garden with Bychkov – also to be recorded); Euryanthe (Glyndebourne and London), Die Gezeichneten (Salzburg); Dialogues des Carmelites/Madame Lidoine (Hamburg); Tannhäuser/Elisabeth (on tour in Japan with the Semper Oper Dresden); Roxane (Król Roger) in Bregenz and Barcelona and Countess (Nozze di Figaro) in Chicago and Berlin.

As a concert singer, Miss Schwanewilms sings works by Berg, Mahler, Strauss, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schoenberg and Wagner. Conductors with whom she has worked include: Rattle, Elder, Chung, Maazel, Chailly, Sinopoli, Ozawa, Levine, Bychkov, Conlon, Barenboim, Jurowski and Gielen. Recent concerts include: Missa Solemnis with Nagano and the German Symphony Orchestra in, Neubrandenburg, Berlin and Bad Kissingen and with the Orchestre National de France and Kurt Masur in Paris. Whilst, Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony in Lille, Bruchstücke in Amsterdam and Paris, Mahler’s 2nd Symphony in Bamberg, Mahler’s 8th in Vienna, Gurrelieder (Tove) in Amsterdam and Brussels, Berlioz’s Nuits d’ete in London, Berg’s Bruchstücke and Der Wein in Amsterdam and Lohengrin at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and in Paris feature in her forthcoming concert engagements.

Among Miss Schwanewilms’ recordings are: Beethoven’s 9th with Ozawa, Mahler’s 8th with Chailly, Strauss Orchesterlieder with the Hallé Orchestra, Chrysothemis with Bychkov and Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang with the Gewandhaus Orchester and Chaillly. In 2002, Miss Schwanewilms was chosen as "Singer of the Year" by the German opera magazine, OPERNWELT.

MALCOLM MARTINEAU

Malcolm Martineau was born in Edinburgh, read Music at St Catharine's College, Cambridge and studied at the Royal College of Music. 

Recognised as one of leading accompanists of his generation he has worked with many of the world’s greatest singers including Sir Thomas Allen, Dame Janet Baker, Olaf Bär, Barbara Bonney, Ian Bostridge, Angela Gheorghiu, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Della Jones, Simon Keenlyside, Angelika Kirchschlager, Magdalena Kozena, Solveig Kringelborn, Jonathan Lemalu, Dame Felicity Lott, Christopher Maltman, Karita Mattila, Lisa Milne, Ann Murray, Anna Netrebko, Anne Sofie von Otter, Joan Rodgers, Amanda Roocroft, Michael Schade, Frederica von Stade, Bryn Terfel and Sarah Walker.

He has presented his own series at St Johns Smith Square (the complete songs of Debussy and Poulenc), the Wigmore Hall (a Britten series broadcast by the BBC) and at the Edinburgh Festival (the complete lieder of Hugo Wolf). He has appeared throughout Europe (including London’s Wigmore Hall, Barbican, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Royal Opera House; La Scala, Milan; the Chatelet, Paris; the Liceu, Barcelona; Berlin’s Philharmonie and Konzerthaus; Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and the Vienna Konzerthaus and Musikverein), North America (including in New York both Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall), Australia (including the Sydney Opera House) and at the Aix‑en‑Provence, Vienna, Edinburgh, Schubertiade, Munich and Salzburg Festivals.

Current and forthcoming engagements include an international recital tour with Magdalena Kozena, a recital tour of New Zealand with Jonathan Lemalu, European recital tours with Michael Schade and Susan Graham, an American recital tour with Bryn Terfel, and his own French song series at the Wigmore Hall.

Recording projects have included Schubert, Schumann and English song recitals with Bryn Terfel (for Deutsche Grammophon); Schubert and Strauss recitals with Simon Keenlyside (for EMI); recital recordings with Angela Gheorghiu and Barbara Bonney (for Decca), Magdalena Kozena (for DG), Della Jones (for Chandos), Susan Bullock (for Crear Classics), Solveig Kringelborn (for NMA); the complete Fauré songs with Sarah Walker and Tom Krause, the complete Britten Folk Songs for Hyperion, the complete Beethoven Folk Songs for Deutsche Grammophon.

He was a given an honorary doctorate at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2004.