Harry Bicket Leads The English Concert in Handel's Solomon at Carnegie Hall

On Sunday, March 12 at 2:00 p.m., Harry Bicket conducts Handel's Solomon at Carnegie Hall with acclaimed baroque orchestra The English Concert. In this concert presentation, mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg performs the title role, joined by sopranos Miah Persson (Solomon's Queen and First Harlot) and Elena Villalón (Queen of Sheba), tenor James Way (Zadok), bass-baritone Brandon Cedel (A Levite), mezzo-soprano Niamh O'Sullivan (Second Harlot) along with The Clarion Choir (Steven Fox, Artistic Director).

This concert marks the ninth year of an acclaimed multi-year Handel operas and oratorios project by Harry Bicket, The English Concert, and Carnegie Hall. This initiative began in 2013 with Radamisto featuring soprano Brenda Rae singing Polissena, and has continued in subsequent seasons, with performances including Handel's oratorio Theodora; mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato singing the title roles in both Alcina and Ariodante; and Iestyn Davies in the title roles of Orlando and Rinaldo.

Mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg studied at the National College of Operatic Art in Stockholm. She regularly appears at the world's leading opera houses and festivals. Her operatic repertoire includes works by Rossini, Mozart, Gluck, Massenet, Bizet, Handel, Vivaldi, and Monteverdi. Equally at home on the concert platform, she frequently appears at venues and festivals throughout Europe and North America. She has built an unusually large concert repertoire that spans music from the early 17th to the late 20th century.

Ms. Hallenberg has worked regularly with many of the world's foremost conductors, including Ivor Bolton, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Daniel Harding, Paavo Järvi, Louis Langrée, Riccardo Muti, Kent Nagano, Sir Roger Norrington, and Sir Antonio Pappano. She has made more than 45 CD and DVD recordings of works by J. S. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Mozart, Haydn, Gluck, Rossini, Mendelssohn, Brahms, and Bruckner, to mention a few. Two of her solo CDs have won the award for "Best Operatic Recital" at the International Opera Awards in London.

Internationally renowned as an opera and concert conductor of distinction, Harry Bicket is especially noted for his interpretation of baroque and classical repertoire. Since 2007, he has been Artistic Director of The English Concert, one of Europe's finest period orchestras. In 2013, following regular guest appearances for Santa Fe Opera, he became their Chief Conductor and, in 2018, assumed the music directorship. Since taking up his position with Santa Fe Opera, he has conducted A Midsummer Night's Dream, Carmen, Così fan tutte, Fidelio, La Finta Giardiniera, Le nozze di Figaro, Roméo et Juliette, Alcina, and Candide. In the 2019 season, he also performed Strauss' Four Last Songs with Renée Fleming. Born in Liverpool, Mr. Bicket studied at the Royal College of Music and the University of Oxford.

Projects with The English Concert in the 2022-2023 season, in addition to performances that are part of the ensemble's London season and recording projects, include tours to Europe and the United States with Handel's Solomon and a fully-staged Ariodante for Paris Opera's Palais Garnier. This season, Mr. Bicket also returns to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for a special collaboration with the Joffrey Ballet; the Orchestra of St Luke's; the Canadian Opera Company (Le nozze di Figaro); and Santa Fe Opera.

The English Concert is one of Europe's leading chamber orchestras, specializing in historically informed performance. Under the artistic direction of Harry Bicket and principal guest Kristian Bezuidenhout, The English Concert has earned a reputation for combining urgency, passion and fire with precision, delicacy, and beauty. The artistic partners the orchestra collaborates with reflect and enhance its pursuit for new ways to bring music to life. Joyce DiDonato, Dame Sarah Connolly, Iestyn Davies, Alison Balsom, Trevor Pinnock, Dominic Dromgoole, Tom Morris, and many more have not only brought their extraordinary skills to individual projects but continue to help the ensemble to shape the way it performs.

One cornerstone of the orchestra's annual cycle is its international Handel opera tour. Blossoming from an ongoing relationship with Carnegie Hall, the itinerary now regularly takes in the Theater an der Wien, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Elbphilharmonie and Barbican Hall, and the roster of great halls continues to grow. In winter/spring 2023, in the lead up to this March 12 appearance at Carnegie Hall, the company will be touring to Auditorio Nacional de Música, Madrid (February 26), Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA (March 5), and LA Opera, Los Angeles (March 10).

Program Information

Sunday, March 12 at 2:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage

THE ENGLISH CONCERT
Harry Bicket, Artistic Director and Conductor
Ann Hallenberg (Solomon)
Miah Persson (Solomon's Queen and First Harlot)
Elena Villalón (Queen of Sheba)
James Way (Zadok)
Brandon Cedel (A Levite)
Niamh O'Sullivan (Second Harlot)
The Clarion Choir
Steven Fox, Artistic Director

HANDEL Solomon, HWV 67 (concert performance)

Lead support is provided by The Rosenthal Fund and Phyllis Rosenthal in memory of Charles M. Rosenthal.