Elisabeth von Magnus
Mezzo-soprano Elisabeth von Magnus' most important engagements of the 2006/07 season were Mozart's Mass in C minor and Michael Haydn's Requiem at the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, the Messiah (Mozart version) with the Bachakademie Stuttgart, Betulia Liberata at the Salzburger Mozartwoche and the Salle Pleyel Paris, the St. Matthew Passion at the Philharmonie Köln, Bach cantatas at the Bachfest Leipzig as well as Beethoven's Mass in C major at the styriarte Graz.
The first half of 2006 was shaped by the anniversaries of Mozart and Schumann. Elisabeth von Magnus was heard in Mozart's first opera Die Schuldigkeit des 1. Gebotes at the Theater an der Wien and the Lucerne Festival under Nikolaus Harnoncourt, in three concert performances of La finta giardiniera at the Konzerthaus Berlin under Lothar Zagrosek and with Betulia liberata at the Wiener Musikverein, Casino Basel, Salle de Concerts Grande Duchesse Luxembourg and the Kreuzkirche Dresden. Under John Fiore she opened the Schumann-Fest Düsseldorf with Schumann's Manfred and sang his Faust-Scenes at the styriarte Graz.
In 2005 she appeared at the Gewandhaus Leipzig (Messiah) and the St. Michaelis-Kirche Hamburg (Mozart’s Requiem) and with recitals in Amsterdam and New York. With the Schöpfungsmesse at the Haydn-Festival Eisenstadt 2005 mezzo-soprano Elisabeth von Magnus finalized a Haydn-cycle which she began in 2004 with the Paukenmesse, also in Eisenstadt. Since then she has taken part in concerts at the Wiener Musikverein, Brucknerhaus Linz and the Festival Lucerne (Mariazeller Messe), at the Philharmonie Köln (Harmoniemesse) and two highly acclaimed concert performances of Orlando Paladino at the styriarte Graz.
The artist performed at many other important European venues and festivals, like the Alte Oper Frankfurt, Philharmonie Berlin, Wiener Konzerthaus and Festwochen, Barbican Centre London, Göttinger Händelfestspiele, Carinthischer Sommer, Théatre des Champs Elysées Paris, Münchner Marstalltheater, Musikfestspiele Potsdam and Salzburger Festspiele, where she sang Mozart's Mass in c minor, Marienvesper and the opera L'Incoronazione di Poppea by Claudio Monteverdi.
Elisabeth von Magnus made her US-debut with Bach's St. Matthew Passion together with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Peter Schreier. Furthermore she worked with many outstanding conductors like Claudio Abbado, Frieder Bernius, Frans Brüggen, Dennis Russell Davies, Adam Fischer, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Thomas Hengelbrock, Philippe Herreweghe, Ton Koopman, Sir Neville Marriner, Marc Soustrot, Markus Stenz, Hans Vonk, Bruno Weil and Jaap van Zweden.
Elisabeth von Magnus is specialized in the Mozart-repertory and Baroque music. She sang Marzellina in Jürgen Flimm's Le nozze di Figaro in Amsterdam and Zürich, Henry Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas as well as the title-role in Handel's Serse and Piramo in the opera Piramo e Tisbe by J.A. Hasse. Presenting Bach-oratorios Elisabeth von Magnus performed along with Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir at the most important music centres of Europe, Japan and the USA.
Elisabeth von Magnus has worked with several chamber-music-ensembles and completes a permanent duo with pianist Jacob Bogaart for many years. Together they worked on a broad repertoire of diverse programs (Baroque, Classic, Romanticism, Alban Berg, Kurt Weill and others). Further more they engage in the richness of Dutch song-composers. The result can be heard on a new CD soon. Basing on her actors' education Elisabeth von Magnus assumes cross-border roles often, too. Preiser Records currently released her record Tonight Weill, which can be seen as a sum of her work as actor and singer.
The artist's extensive discography, mainly at Teldec and Erato. Recordings of Strauss' Zigeunerbaron and Haydn's Stabat Mater with Harnoncourt, Bach's Christmas Oratorio and Magnificat as well as TV-recordings like Le Nozze di Figaro at Opernhaus Zürich, proves her broad musical spectrum. Her recording of Sieben Romanzen written by Dimitri Schostakowitsch and based on poems by Alexander Blok together with Storioni-Trio Amsterdam and a CD recording of Haydn's English canzonettas and his cantata Arianna were very well received by the audience and specialised press.
Elisabeth von Magnus was born in Vienna. After studying recorder at Wiener Musikhochschule she founded the ensemble "Récréation" and was soloist at Concentus Musicus Wien. She attended the drama school Mozarteum in Salzburg. Then she studied singing with Kammersängerin Hertha Töpper in Munich at the Academy of Music, where she also was part the opera class. Beside that she worked as a freelancer for the Austrian Broadcasting Company ORF as narrator and presenter of her own series.
