Concerts in the West with Hanna Hipp and Emma Abbate

THE 2014 Concerts in the West season kicks off in fine style with a superb concert by the sparkling Polish mezzo-soprano Hanna Hipp, and the supremely accomplished Neapolitan pianist Emma Abbate, at 8pm at Ilminster Arts Centre on Friday, February 21, 2014.

Catherine Hodgson, director of Concerts in the West, said: "Without any doubt, Hanna Hipp is a star for the future. There are a large number of good mezzo-sopranos currently performing, but Hanna brings something special to the stage.

“Her voice is quite exceptional and her acting is beautifully judged. She will be accompanied by Emma Abbate who is one of the finest chamber musicians of her generation and an amazing pianist.

“Concerts in the West is thrilled to have popular musicians of this quality performing in the West Country and I personally can't wait to see them in action."

Hipp, who has been described by Opera Britannia's Miranda Jackson as "one of those performers who lights up the stage" with "a voice that is pure and yet well rounded", is a graduate of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House in 2013.

For the 2013-14 season she will be making her debut with the Turku Music Festival in Finland, where she will be performing the role of Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro and as Maman/Libellule/La Tasse Chinoise in Teatro dell'Opera di Roma's L'enfant et les sortileges by Ravel.

Other performances include Suzuki in Scottish Opera's Madame Butterfly, the Glyndebourne Festival as Flora in La Traviata, the title part in Handel's Solomon with the Oxford Bach Choir and London Mozart Players, recitals at Opera de Lille and in London and she will be returning to the Royal Opera House Convent Garden.

PHOTOS - TOP: Sparkling mezzo-soprano Hanna Hipp.

PHOTO - RIGHT: Talented Emma Abbate on piano.

Her past career highlights include performances at Covent Garden such as Emilia in Verdi's Otello, singing Anna in the BBC Proms presentation of Les Troyens at the Royal Albert Hall and she has sung in concerts at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, as well as the London Handel Festival.

The leading Italian magazine Musica has described Emma Abate as "an amazingly talented pianist", but her abilities are not just limited to her instrument, Emma is also a top vocal coach, an award-winning accompanist and a professor at the GuildhallSchool of Music & Drama.

Her glittering career began when she graduated at the age of just 19 from the S. Pietro a Majella Conservatoire in Naples, followed by an Advanced Diploma from the S. Cecilia Conservatoire in Rome.

She was awarded the Postgraduate Diploma in Accompaniment with Distinction as a scholar at the Royal Academy of Music and her list of prizes include winning the Anglo-Czechoslovak Trust Award, the International Ibla Grand Prize as Distinguished Musician, the Grover Bennett Prize and the AMA Calabria Award.

Based in London Emma has performed in duo recitals for international festivals and concert societies in Salzburg, Lisbon, Naples, Ischia, Koscierzyna, Sorrento, the Wigmore Hall London, St George's Bristol and the Aldeburgh Festival. She has released two CD recordings, the second of which was with Toccata Classics. This was highly praised by music critics and rated by Classical Lost and Found as among the "Best Finds of 2012".

The programme for the evening concerts at Ilminster Arts Centre is: Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) Eight Polish Songs; Luciano Berio (1925-2003) Four Popular Songs; Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) A Charm of Lullabies Op.41; Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) Seven Spanish Folk Songs; Mieczyslaw Karlowicz (1876-1909) Nine Songs; Claude Debussy (1862-1918) La soirée dans Grenade from Estampes. 

Performance and Box Office Details for Hanna Hipp (mezzo-soprano) and Emma Abate (piano) are as follows:

Friday, February 21, 2014, at 8pm: Ilminster Arts Centre at The Meeting House, East Street, Ilminster, Somerset TA19 0AN. Box Office: 01460 55783 9.30am-4.30pm Monday to Friday (Pre-concert supper at 7pm - advanced booking required £11) www.themeetinghouse.org.uk . Tickets: £14. Bar and café, IAC and town parking, plus car parks, disabled access.

For more details about Concerts in the West – please click on their advert on the right-hand side of this website. 

Tags:
Leisure.