soprano
Performance Dates
June 7/8/9 8:00 PM
ORFF: Carmina Burana
Cyndia Sieden’s performances on the world’s most prominent opera stages, in the most prestigious concert halls, and in recording have established her as a coloratura soprano of rare distinction. She has received the acclaim of audiences and critics the world over as an interpreter of repertoire ranging from the Baroque to works by the foremost contemporary composers such as Thomas Adès’s The Tempest which she premiered this past season at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden.
Cyndia Sieden’s Archiv recordings of the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte and Blondchen in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, both with John Eliot Gardiner, affirm the soprano’s status as one of the preeminent Mozart interpreters of her generation. As a result she is in unparalleled demand by presenters worldwide for programs commemorating the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth. Miss Sieden’s interpretation of the role of the Queen of the Night has taken her to the world’s greatest opera houses including: the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich in performances conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch, the Paris Opéra Bastille in a Robert Wilson production, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, de Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp, the English National Opera, La Monnaie in Brussels, as well as in the United States to the Santa Fe Opera, Florida Grand Opera, the Carmel Bach Festival and Opera Colorado. Recently, she performed the Queen of the Night for the first time in Asia at the Macau International Festival and in Beijing, and adds Australian performances with Symphony Australia in the Perth Concert Hall to her schedule in the upcoming season. Adding Constanza to her repertoire, the soprano covered the role at the Metropolitan Opera.
Her reputation as an exemplary Mozart interpreter is deserved not only for her performances in the standard Mozart repertoire, but also for her forays into Mozart’s rarely-performed earlier works. Cyndia Sieden has performed Serpetta in the Tim Albery production of La Finta Giardiniera at the Welsh National Opera, Sifare in Mitridate Re di Ponto at the Wexford Festival, and Aminta in Il re pastore in a concert version with Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Miss Sieden made her debut at the Salzburg Festival in the highly acclaimed Ombra Felice, a fully-staged production of Mozart concert arias produced by Karl-Ernst and Ursula Hermann, which toured throughout France with performances in Montpellier, Lille and at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, conducted by Louis Langrée. She was re-engaged in Salzburg to sing Aspasia in a new Jonathan Miller production of Mitridate conducted by Roger Norrington. Other early Mozart appearances include Elisa in Il re pastore in a Pierre Audi production which was televised from the Netherlands Opera. Miss Sieden gave concert performances (in Munich and Köln) of Elisa in Il re pastore with The München Kammerorchester under Artistic Director Christoph Poppen. She returned to the Netherlands Opera as Cinna in Jossi Wieler’s production of Lucio Silla KV 135 last season.
In recent seasons, she also has appeared in highly acclaimed standard repertoire productions as Sophie in Werther (Willy Decker production from the Netherlands Opera) and as Gilda in Rigoletto (Guy Joosten production from De Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp). Both productions were televised throughout Europe. Memorable performances at her home company, Seattle Opera, include the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor in which she performed the Mad Scene two semitones higher than usual (in F instead of E-flat), following Donizetti’s original intention.
In America, she has appeared in concert with Maestro McGegan with the Milwaukee Symphony (performing Bach Cantata No. 51, “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen” and Mozart concert arias), and with the Atlanta Symphony (performing Vivaldi arias). She returned to the Atlanta Symphony for Handel’s Messiah and a program of Bach cantatas in consecutive seasons. Offering Seattle audiences an interesting comparison, Miss Sieden appeared as soloist in Handel’s Messiah with both Seattle Baroque and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra in December 2000. Her Carnegie Hall debut was with the Oratorio Society performing the Bach Magnificat. With Music Director Louis Langrée she performed The Creation in the closing concerts of the 2003 Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. In season 2004-2005, she appeared for the first time with the St. Louis Symphony in performances of Israel in Egypt conducted by Nicholas McGegan. The California native appeared at the Hollywood Bowl in summer 2005 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing Vivaldi’s Gloria and Bach’s concert aria Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen BWV51 (conducted by Nicholas McGegan). The soprano looks forward to returning to her home orchestra, the Seattle Symphony, for performances of Handel’s Messiah in December 2005.
A native of California, Miss Sieden lives in Washington State.
Updated: 08/31/06
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Cyndia Sieden 
