The outstanding South African soprano Golda Schultz and her piano accompanist, Jonathan Ware, have selected a programme that embraces two centuries of outstanding song art. Songs by Franz Schubert unfold their expressive power and are complemented by the glowing poetry and rich colours of Richard Strauss' poetry compositions - a truly remarkable experience.
In cooperation with Schloss Elmau as part of the "Woche der Romantik".
Golda SchultzAfter recent critically-acclaimed debuts ranging from Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) at Salzburger Festspiele, Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) at Teatro alla Scala, and Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) at the Metropolitan Opera, to the creation of Sibilla in the world-premiere of Beat Furrer’s La bianca notte at Staatstheater Hamburg, Golda Schultz has secured a firm place on the operatic map. Of her Glyndebourne Festival debut as Contessa Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) The Guardian wrote, “It’s hard to imagine finer soprano singing or a more exuberant portrayal than that supplied by Golda Schultz,” and she continues to be enthusiastically received by audiences and critics alike while sowing the seeds of several long-term musical collaborations.
Born in South Africa, Schultz is a graduate of New York’s prestigious Juilliard School and a former member of the Bayerische Staatsoper’s Opernstudio in Munich, before spending one season at Stadttheater Klagenfurt where she earned considerable attention in new productions of both Der Rosenkavalier (Sophie) and Giulio Cesare (Cleopatra). Also a former ensemble member of the Bayerische Staatsoper, Schultz has appeared there in a wide variety of roles, including Sophie in the historic Otto Schenk production as part of the 2014 Opernfestspiele, Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Liù (Turandot), Musetta (La bohème), Micaëla (Carmen), Freia (Das Rheingold) and Pamina. It was her first Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito) that marked her 2017 return to the Salzburger Festspiele under Teodor Currentzis, in a new production by Peter Sellars, and as Sophie that she returned to Japan last season for her debut at the New National Theatre Tokyo after previous Japanese performances on tour with Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen in Beethoven’s Fidelio under Paavo Järvi.
A natural concert performer, Golda Schultz has recently joined Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s Symphony No.2 (Christoph Eschenbach), the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig in Tippett’s A Child of Our Time (Stefan Asbury), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in a programme of Mozart arias (John Storgårds), Iceland Symphony Orchestra in Strauss’ Brentano Lieder (Andrew Litton), and The Cleveland Orchestra in Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten (Franz Welser-Möst). Additionally she sang Beethoven’s Ah! Perfido under Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla at Musikfestival Heidelberger Frühling, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with Richard Farnes at the BBC Proms, Mendelssohn’s Elijah under Fabio Luisi at Opernhaus Zürich, and Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne under Vasily Petrenko at the Aspen Music Festival.
The 2018/19 season includes Contessa Almaviva with both Wiener Staatsoper and Opernhaus Zürich, Clara in Jake Heggie’s It’s a Wonderful Life with San Francisco Opera, guest appearances at Bayerische Staatsoper as both Pamina and Liù, and a return to the Metropolitan Opera as Nannetta (Falstaff). In Mahler’s Symphony No.4 she tours with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel to Lisbon, Paris, Frankfurt, Cologne, Barcelona and Madrid, before joining Riccardo Minasi for Beethoven and Mozart with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Hannu Lintu and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra for Mahler Symphony No.2, and Nicholas Carter and Das Kärntner Sinfonieorchester for Ravel’s Shéhérezade. After their highly acclaimed debut recital at London’s esteemed Wigmore Hall, Golda Schultz and Jonathan Ware join forces again this season for an all-Schubert recital at Berlin’s Boulez Saal.
Jonathan WareSought after as a song accompanist and chamber musician, over the last year Jonathan has given recitals at Wigmore Hall (with Golda Schultz, Robin Tritschler and Ludwig Mittelhammer), the Aldeburgh Festival and Boulez-Saal. He collaborated with the Vogler Quartet in Europe and with oboist Olivier Stankiewicz in the US, appearing at the Morgan Library in New York to critical acclaim.
Engagements this season include recordings for Bayerischer Rundfunk and BBC Radio 3, and recitals at Wigmore Hall, Berlin Konzerthaus and Heidelberger-Frühling Festival. He undertakes projects at Snape Maltings as a Tunnard Artist and collaborates with trombonist Peter Moore as part of ECHO Rising Stars.
Jonathan teaches at the Hochschule ‘Hanns Eisler’ and Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin and regularly returns to the Verbier Festival Academy as staff. He studied at the Eastman School of Music, Juilliard School and the Hochschule ‘Hanns Eisler’.
Awards include 1st Prize in the Hugo Wolf Competition and the Pianist’s Prize at the Das Lied and Wigmore Hall Song Competitions.
