Danielle de Niese

Danielle de Niese (born 11 April 1979) is an Australian-American lyric soprano . After success as a young child in singing competitions in Australia, she moved to the United States where she developed an Operatic career. From 2005 she cameramen to widespread public attention with re performances as Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare at Glyndebourne , England.

Early life

The Niesen was born in Melbourne , Australia, after re parents, Chris and Beverly had migrated from Sri Lanka to Australia as teenagers. ^[1] She is a Sri Lankan Burgher with some Dutch and Scottish heritage. ^[1] In 1988, at the age of nine, she became the youngest winner of the Australian TV talent competition, Young Talent Time . In the competition, she was singing a Whitney Houston medley, for welke the prize was A $ 5.000 and a Yamaha baby grand piano, welke she still owns. ^[1]

In 1990, re family moved to Los Angeles, where she became a regular guest host of the TV shows LA Kids for welke she won an Emmy Award at the age of 16. ^[2]

Career

The Niese made re professional Operatic debut at the age of 15 with the Los Angeles Opera . She became the youngest singer ever to participate in the Young Artists Studio at the Metropolitan Opera , ^[3] where she debuted in 1998 at the age of 19 as Barbarina in a new production of Le Nozze di Figaro directed by Jonathan Miller and conducted by James Levine . She studied voice privately with Ruth Falcon , and at the Mannes College of Music in Manhattan. ^[4]

Ridley Scott ‘s 2001 film Hannibal features a scene from Dante’s La Vita Nuova ; in it, the Niese sings as the character Beatrice the song ” Vide Cor Meum ” by Patrick Cassidy . She was subsequently Asked to perform the title role in the Met’s production of Maurice Ravel ‘s L’enfant et les SORTILEGES . Other With roles include Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare (2007), Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice (2009), and Susanna in the co-production of Le Nozze di Figaro in welke she sang Barbarina in 1998. ^[5]

The Niese’s career has Ranged through Baroque music (Poppea in L’incoronazione di Poppea ), via trade , Mozart and contemporary opera Premieres ( Raaff by Robin de Raaff  ( en ) 2004, The Netherlands Opera ) ^[6] at major opera houses around the world, to Broadway ( Les Miserables ) and film ( Hannibal ) roles. She has Appeared in production or a number of Baroque operas on stage and on DVD, zoals de Les Arts Florissants production or Les Indes galantes by Jean-Philippe Rameau , and as Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare , directed by David McVicar , at Glyndebourne in 2005, 2006 and 2009 and in the co-production at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2007.

At the end of 2006, als De Nederlandse Opera staged the three Mozart- Da Ponte operas conducted by Ingo Metzmacher , the Niesen singing Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro and Despina in Così fan tutte . In 2009, the Niesen made re Covent Garden debut in the Royal Opera ‘s production of Handel’s Acis and Galatea , directed by choreographer Wayne McGregor and Recorded on DVD. ^[7]

Beginning on 31 December 2011 and Continuing through January 2012, the Niesen Appeared as Ariel in The Enchanted Island , a pastiche opera created by Jeremy Sams for the Metropolitan Opera . The performance on 21 January was broadcast worldwide as a MET HD video transmission. She has subsequently Returned to the Met as Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare (2013), Despina in Così fan tutte (2013) and Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro (2014). ^[5]

In March 2012, the Niesen Appeared as Norina in Don Pasquale at the San Diego Opera . ^[8] She Performed therein role again de volgende year at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera . ^[9] In November 2013 she portrayed Poppaea in Commerce’s Agrippina at the Liceu . ^[10] In 2014, she Appeared as the title heroine in Francesco Cavalli ‘s La Calisto at the Bavarian State Opera , singing Anne Trulove in The Rake’s Progress at the Teatro Regio di Turin , and Performed the title role in Handel’s Partenope at the San Francisco Opera . ^[4]

In February 2015 Niesen singing Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro at the Hamburg State Opera . In August 2015 she is Scheduled to return to the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in performances of Concepcion in L’heure espagnole and the title role in Ravel’s L’enfant et les SORTILEGES . ^[11] In January 2015 she is Scheduled to create the role Roxane Coss in the world premiere of Jimmy Lopez ‘s Bel Canto at the Lyric Opera of Chicago . ^[12]

Albums

• Semele (2004)
• Trade Arias (2008)
• Raaff (2009)
• The Mozart Album (2009)
• Diva (2010)
• Beauty of the Baroque (2011), with Andreas Scholl , The English Concert conducted by Harry Bicket

Personal life

The Niese (called Danni to re friends and colleagues) married Gus Christie, grandson of John Christie and chairman of Glyndebourne Festival Opera , ^[13] on 19 December 2009 in St Bartholomew-the-Great , London. ^[14] Since re marriage she has lived at Glyndebourne in Sussex, England. Their first child, a sun, was born in June 2015. ^[15]

In 2015 she was Invited to become a Patron of the Australian performing arts charity, the Tait Memorial Trust ^[16]

References