Cast

Soprano

Marie Smolka

Soprano Marie Smolka was born in Ostrava. Since the 2023/24 season, Marie Smolka has been a member of the ensemble at the Tyrolean Landestheater in Innsbruck, where she has performed the roles of the Countess in Mozart´s"Le nozze di Figaro", Mimí in"La Bohéme", and Simplicius in"Des Simplicius Simplicissimus Jugend". Her portrayal of Simplicius received high praise in the magazine Opernwelt, which described her as "an exceptional performer.“ In the 2024/25 season, she will have two more role debuts in Innsbruck, including Tatyana in"Eugene Onegin" and Frau in Schoenberg's"Von heute auf morgen". In January 2025, she will make her debut at the Hamburg State Opera in"Epilog" and can be heard in Mozart's Requiem in Karlovy Vary and Prague.

Marie Smolka regularly collaborates with conductors such as Marc Albrecht, Cornelius Meister, Antonello Manacorda, Joanna Mallwitz, and Yoel Gamzou. She has worked with directors such as Marina Abramović, Robert Carsen, Tobias Kratzer, Eva Maria Höckmayr, Tatjana Gürbaca, and Lydia Steier.

During the 2022/23 season, she made her debut as Traviata in Marina Abramović's"7 Deaths of Maria Callas" at the Royal Theater in Amsterdam, in cooperation with the Bavarian State Opera Munich. From 2021 to 2023, Marie Smolka was a member of the ensemble in Bremen, where she performed as Pamina, Angel (“Angels in America"), and Poppea (“L'incoronazione di Poppea"). Furthermore, she has performed at prestigious venues, including the Berlin State Opera, Frankfurt Opera, Baden-Baden, Hanover State Opera, Grand Théâtre de Sarrebourg, Teatro Massimo Palermo, and Saarländisches Staatstheater.

Find further information about Marie Smolka here.

Performances

• Epilogue

Pianist

David Fray

Described as "Perhaps the most inspired, certainly the most original Bach player of his generation," David Fray maintains an active career as a recitalist, soloist and chamber musician worldwide. He has collaborated with leading orchestras and distinguished conductors such as Marin Alsop, Pierre Boulez, Semyon Bychkov, Christoph Eschenbach, Asher Fisch, Daniele Gatti, Paavo Järvi , Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Jaap van Zweden among others. Orchestral highlights in Europe have included performances with the London Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, Bayerische Rundfunk, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Deutsche Sinfonie Orchester, Salzburg Mozarteum, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France and Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris. David Fray made his US debut in 2009 with the Cleveland Orchestra which was followed by performances with the Boston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Recital debuts followed in Carnegie Hall, at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York and the Chicago Symphony Hall.

In 2014-15, Mr. Fray will perform with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, London Philharmonic, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Tonhalle Zurich, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Among this season’s recital appearances are concerts at the Theatre de Champs Élysées in Paris, the Philharmonie in Berlin and the Van Cliburn Foundation in Fort Worth, Texas. In Chamber music Mr. Fray will partner again with Renaud Capuçon playing sonatas by Bach and Beethoven.

Mr. Fray holds multiple awards including the prestigious German Echo Klassik Prize for Instrumentalist of the Year and the Young Talent Award from the Ruhr Piano Festival. In 2008 he was named Newcomer of the Year by the BBC Music Magazine. At the 2004 Montreal International Music Competition, Mr. Fray received both the Second Grand Prize and the Prize for the best interpretation of a Canadian work.

An exclusive Warner Classics artist, David Fray recorded his first CD with works of Bach and Boulez to great critical acclaim. The disc was praised as the "best record of the year" by the London Times and Le Soir. Mr. Fray’s second release was a recording of Bach keyboard concerti with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen awarded by the German Recording Academy followed by Schubert’s Moments Musicaux and Impromptus. Mr. Fray’s most recent releases include a Schubert recital, Mozart piano concerti with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Jaap van Zweden and Bach Partitas Nos. 2 and 6 along with Toccata in C minor. In 2008 the TV network ARTE +7 presented a documentary on David Fray directed by the renowned French director Bruno Monsaingeon. The film "David Fray records Johann Sebastian Bach" was subsequently released on DVD.

David Fray started taking piano lessons at the age of four. He furthered his studies with Jacques Rouvier at the National Superior Conservatory of Music in Paris where he currently resides.

Performances

• Epilogue
• Death In Venice

photo: Marco Borggreve

Pianist

Emmanuel Christien

Emmanuel Christien graduated with honours from the Paris Conservatoire in the class of Jacques Rouvier. The pianist also attended masterclasses with Jean-Claude Pennetier, Aldo Ciccolini, Paul Badura-Skoda, Anne Queffélec and Ruben Lifschitz. He has won prizes at various international competitions and the Alfred-Reinhold Foundation awarded him a Blüthner grand piano.

Emmanuel Christien is a passionate chamber musician: He has performed with many important artists such as David Fray, Valeriy Sokolov, Samika Honda, Dame Felicity Lott, Clémentine Margaine, Jean-Claude Pennetier, Adam Laloum, Aurélienne Brauner and many more. He is a member of the Ensemble Monsolo and the Trio Gallien, winner of the International Franz Schubert Competition in Graz, Austria.

Emmanuel Christien has performed both as a soloist and with chamber music in France, such as at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Salle Pleyel, Paris, at the Festival Saint-Denis, in la Roque d'Anthéron, the Folle Journée de Nantes, but also in Japan, India, China, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Russia and Dubai.

Emmanuel Christien has performed piano concertos with the Caen Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Moldavia, the Orchestra of Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon, the Orchestre de Paris, the Orchestre de Chambre Lyon under the direction of Didier Talpain, Stefan Asbury, Lawrence Foster, Cornelius Meister and other conductors.

His newest recordings include Schumann's Fantasiestücke (Artie's Records) and Bach's concertos for two, three and four pianos/harpsichords with David Fray, Jacques Rouvier and Audrey Vigoureux (Warner Classics).

Find further information about Emmanuel Christien here.

Performances

• Epilogue