Laura Aikin
LAURA AIKIN (USA)
Possessing a range of more than three octaves, the repertoire of world-renowned American soprano Laura Aikin embraces works from the Baroque to the contemporary and makes her a highly sought-after artist the world’s major opera houses and concert halls. She began her career as a company member at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin (1992-98) under the artistic direction of Daniel Barenboim and has since become a regular guest at the leading opera houses worldwide such as the Vienna State Opera, La Scala Milano, Bavarian State Opera, Opernhaus Zurich, Netherlands Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Semperoper Dresden, Gran Teatro del Liceu Barcelona, Opera Frankfurt, Chicago Lyric Opera, Santa Fe Opera, San Francisco Opera and Metropolitan Opera New York and important festivals such as Salzburg.
Highly in demand as a concert singer, Laura Aikin performs with orchestras such as the Berlin, Munich and Vienna Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago and Vienna Symphonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the WDR, SWR and MDR Radio Symphony Orchestras as well as with the Ensemble Intercontemporain, Les Arts Florissants, Concerto Köln and Concentus Musicus Wien.
She appeared with leading conductors as Claudio Abbado, Alain Altinoglou, Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Martin Brabbins, Sylvain Cambreling, William Christie, Christoph von Dohnányi, Iván Fischer, Mikko Franck, Daniele Gatti, Michael Gielen, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Manfred Honeck, Jakub Hrůša, René Jacobs, Fabio Luisi, Kent Nagano, Zubin Mehta, Cornelius Meister, Ingo Metzmacher, Riccardo Muti, Helmuth Rilling, Donald Runnicles, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Michael Tilson Thomas and Franz Welser-Möst.
Among her many recent successes are Emilia Marty in Janáček´s Vec Makropulos at the Vienna State Opera, Henze´s Elegie für junge Liebende / Elegy for young lovers at the Theater an der Wien. Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) with Iván Fischer in Budapest, at the Edinburgh Festival and New York, Lulu in Paris and at the Lyon Opera, La Scala and the Wiener Festwochen, Rossini’s Semiramide in Naples, Strauss´ Aithra (Die ägyptische Helena) and Mozart´s Don Giovanni (Donna Anna) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Zimmermann´s Die Soldaten at La Scala.
Her many acclaimed recordings include Beethoven's Christus am Ölberge with Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, DVDs of Lulu (Opernhaus Zurich), Henze´s L’Upupa and Die Entführung aus dem Serail (both from the Salzburg Festival) and Dialogues des Carmélites with Riccardo Muti (La Scala), a solo recording of Songs and Cycles by Rorem with pianist Donald Sulzen (Orfeo) as well as Beethoven’s Christus am Ölberge and his Missa solemnis - both under the baton of Nikolaus Harnoncourt (Sony Music). Most recently, a widely acclaimed recording of Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus with Laura Aikin as Rosalinde appeared (Pentatone) – recorded with the NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Lawrence Foster.