Sarah Gabriel soprano
Sarah Gabriel sings music spanning 400 years. After reading English at Cambridge, she was invited by Lorin Maazel to be the only European singer to join his Chateauville young artist program in the USA. There she made her acclaimed US debut as Lucy in Britten’s The Beggar’s Opera, conducted by Maazel, returning to his Castleton Festival as guest principal artist. She made her European as Eliza Doolittle in Robert Carsen’s triumphant production of My Fair Lady at Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, opposite Alex Jennings as Professor Higgins.
Classical and baroque roles include Morgana (Handel Alcina), Mandane (Hasse Artaserse) and Pamina. 20th/21st century opera includes La Voix Humaine (Cheltenham International Festival), The Governess (Budapest), Anne Trulove, Le Feu (L’enfant et les sortileges), The Singer (Eisler The Measures Taken, The Young Vic/Sphinx), Jerusha (Gerald Barry The Intelligence Park) and new commissions with Aldeburgh/Jerwood Opera.
In addition to many oratorio works (including Bach Passions, Poulenc Gloria, Brahms Requiem, Haydn Nelson Mass, Orff Carmina Burana) Sarah’s performances with orchestra include Manchester Camerata’s New Year Concert at Bridgewater Hall, musical theatre songs with English Chamber Orchestra and the orchestral world première of Korngold’s Shakespeare songs at the South Bank with Orchestra of St. Paul’s. Appearances with London Sinfonietta include Webern songs at the South Bank and Schoenberg String Quartet no. 2 in the BBC documentary, ‘The Sound and the Fury’.
She has given recitals at Wigmore Hall, Cheltenham International Festival, Leeds International Festival and Glyndebourne, baroque programmes for European Broadcasting Union, London Handel Festival, across Europe, in Boston and New York, and has broadcast for BBC Radio 3 and 4, France Musique, RTÉ, NPR (USA) and Radio France.
Described by Le Monde as ‘As fine an actress as she is a singer’, Sarah’s work in other disciplines ranges from the world premiere of Rambert Dance Company’s Labyrinth of Love, in which she was choreographed with the dancers while singing Michael Daugherty’s orchestral song cycle, to A Berlin Kabaret (Sphinx/National Theatre) to the principal role of Cosima Wagner in Jessica Duchen’s new play, Sins of the Fathers at the Orange Tree Theatre, and her screen acting debut in Brigitte Rouan’s latest feature film, ‘Tu honoreras ta mère et ta mère&rsquo, alongside Academy Award nominee, Emanuelle Riva.
2016/17 projects include her solo shows The Trial of Artemisia (a new monologue opera by Joseph Atkins), Ethel Smyth: An Extraordinary Life with the Galos Trio, Dorothy Parker Takes a Trip (commissioned by Dartington Festival), Kenneth Hesketh’s new version of Berg’s Lulu, The Story of Lucrezia (the new dramatisation of Handel’s cantata), and The London Songbook (fourteen new songs by fourteen composers inspired by the Great American Songbook).