PROFILE

ANNE SCHWANEWILMS (Extract from programme article for Anne Schwanewilms's Liederabend at L'Opera National du Rhin, Strasbourg, March 8, 2008)
"Anne Schwanewilms belongs to a pedigree of sopranos almost forgotten today: a line which stretches back beyond Elisabeth Grummer to Tiana Lemnitz, Meta Seinemeyer and, above all, to Delia Reinhardt. All of them, by their bearing and control, and without a single unnecessary effect of gesture or voice, understood how to disseminate a radiance from the stage. They were self-effacing and expressed themselves through word and music alone. By the liquidity of their tone and the naturalness of their expression, they created that sympathy which is the truest communication of all.

With Schwanewilms, there were, first of all, the supreme moments at Glyndebourne. [...] In EURYANTHE she rediscovered the lost secret of the heroine whose luminous, silent spirituality is the model for Wagner's Elsa. In IDOMENEO the raging and follies of her Elettra brought into the open, with a controlled desperation, the inner torments of a conflicted soul. No wonder the characters of Richard Strauss, with their spirit and different levels of soul, inspired by the words and feelings given them by Hofmannsthal, should have pressed themselves on an artist born with the inflexion which says everything because it says just enough. Earlier, as a mezzo, she coloured eloquently the full range of her tessitura. As a soprano, she has chosen to float rather then strike, taking the route of Desdemona, not Salome. She has sung Strauss's Chrysothemis (the most youthful and unsophisticated of his heroines), Ariadne and, finally, the Marschallin.

Towards the end of Act One on the unhappy stage of the Bastille [in January 2006], the hyperactive production had finally calmed down and the sublime music of solitude and reflection, conducted with ideal transparency by Philippe Jordan, could finally begin. That was when the real curtain rose on this ROSENKAVALIER, with the monologue in which the magical symbolism of words and music began to take hold and make sense. A rapt silence gripped a house whose acoustic up to that point seemed constructed of metal. Now it was all honey and silk, and the melancholy of a painful rift. Somewhre in heaven, Hofsmannthal must have been weeping, while Strauss smiled. This miracle lasted half an hour.

At Salzburg, as the very different Carlotta Nardi in Schreker's DIE GEZEICHNETEN, equally risky and daring, Schwanewilms created afresh the achievement of Delia Reinhardt in the role. She maintained a classic equilibrium and extraordinary bearing throughout the long act, at first fine and reserved and then, in the baring, and gift, of herself, scorching. When an artist has this rare ability, on stage, to obliterate the supposed borders and contradictions between the internal and the external, then another kingdom lies open: the Lied." by Andre Tubeuf, author of Wagner et Bayreuth; Le Lied Allemand; and Richard Strauss, ou le Voyager et son Ombre

OPERA

LOHENGRIN (Amsterdam, February 2008)
"After the performance Anne Schwanewilms could not believe her ears and was almost swept away by the hurricane of bravos. The strength of her expressiveness is so intense that it looks as if she is singing under hypnosis. It is so pure and concentrated that one can only be silent." Telegraaf
LOHENGRIN (Amsterdam, February 2008)
"After the performance Anne Schwanewilms could not believe her ears and was almost swept away by the hurricane of bravos. The strength of her expressiveness is so intense that it looks as if she is singing under hypnosis. It is so pure and concentrated that one can only be silent." Telegraaf

"Anne Schwanewilms sang Elsa with a lovely lightness. The audience was mesmerized by notes that sparkled in their pure beauty. She and Klaus Florian Vogt identified themselves completely in their roles and did so in detail. Their final scene was consequently not the mere singing of roles, but became reality. No wonder there were few dry eyes in the house." Gooi en Eemlander

"The performance of LOHENGRIN was a musical experience that one will not forget. Klaus Florian Vogt and Anne Schwanewilms (a mysteriously beautiful Elsa) sang as if in an ethereal dream but both had enough volume and a beautiful high pitch for the heroic outbursts." Trouw

"Varying between feather-like lightness and intense drama, Anne Schwanewilms was a completely convincing Elsa." NRC

LOHENGRIN (Paris, February 2008)
"Klaus Florian Vogt and Anne Schwanewilms make a sumptuous couple. Visionary and determined, evanescent and naive, she draws on a rich palette of qualities, singing with purity and a precise top, colouring subtly and phrasing with ease." Concerto.net

LOHENGRIN (Milan, January 2007)
"An Elsa of angelic timbre and gracious appearance, very measured on stage. Her Elsa is constantly dreaming, even drifting into sleep, to the point of suggesting that much of waht happens is the fruit of her own nocturnal imaginings." Il giornale della musica

DER ROSENKAVALIER (Chicago, January 2006)
"She has a lovely silvery soprano, strong enough to hold its own in the large Civic Opera House but with a soft edge that gives her Marschallin womanly warmth. Slim and graceful, she found a fine balance between self-awareness and imperiousness....Schwanewilms captivated the eye and ear, especially in her Act 1 monologue. Longing to freeze time in its tracks, she seemed to be having a quiet conversation with herself, a touching, poetic one...As she unfurled Strauss's long-lined, wistful phrases, as she compared time to a wind rustling against her face, we could almost feel that unsettling breeze ourselves." Chicago Sun-Times

"With her svelte figure and Elisabeth Schwarzkopfesque beauty, Anne Schwanewilms not only looked the part of the Marschallin but was fully inside the music and words...Her soprano revealed a warm, creamy middle range and lustrous high notes that floated over Strauss's sumptuous orchestrations. This Marschallin wore melancholy like a fine French perfume in her monologue, and her natural dignity and grace rescued the finale from any hint of mawkishness." Opera

"Schwanewilms not only looked the part but sounded it, radiantly so. She commanded a warm, creamy middle range and lustrous high notes that floated over Strauss's sumptuous orchestrations." Chicago Tribune

DIE LIEBE DER DANAE (Dresden, November 2005)
"...first and foremost Anne Schwanewilms in the title role, a warm soprano with a radiant high register...lyrical lustre and sounds of pensive reverie reminiscent of Ariadne. The nuances of her voice ranged from transfigured sweetness in Act 2 via the luxurious vocal splendour of the great monologue at the beginning of Act 3 to melancholy tenderness in the final scene." Opera

DIE GEZEICHNETEN (Salzburg, August 2005)
"...Above all, Anne Schwanewilms was transfixing as Carlotta. With her hotly expressive stage presence and coolly beautiful soprano voice, she caught the ambiguities of Carlotta's character and, by extension, all the fire and ice of Schreker's world." The New Yorker

"As Carlotta, the soprano Anne Schwanewilms was the standout, with an icy radiance to her voice and a mesmerizing stage presence." New York Times

ARIADNE AUF NAXOS (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, June 2004)
"Tall, gainly, commanding, with a voice that can send shivers through you, Schwanewilms is one of the greatest singers on the operatic stage today." The Independent

"...Schwanewilms is a highly intelligent musician, who thinks about what she is singing. And today, that's a rare quality." Daily Telegraph

"Schwanewilms is a singer at the height of her powers, in a role that suits her completely." Opera

"The role fits her like a glove." Financial Times

IDOMENEO (Glyndebourne, June 2003)
"But for sheer vocal thrill the honours go to Anne Schwanewilms in the role of the self-torturing Greek princess Elettra, vainly in love with Idamante. Her sweet, wheedling sound in 'Idol mio' gives way to piercing shrieks and insane laughing in her final furious aria 'D'Oreste.' It's as if she's about to combust with anger, and it's the highlight of the evening." The Independent

"Anne Schwanewilms sings the technically phenomenal Elettra" Der Tagesspiegel

ELEKTRA (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, March 2003)
"But the revelation is the German soprano Anne Schwanewilms as Elektra's sister Chrysothemis, reassuring us that there still exists such a creature as the svelte, sylph-like diva who can act affectingly while singing the most taxing vocal lines with effortless ease and ravishing beauty." The Observer

EURYANTHE (Glyndebourne, June 2002)
"Anne Schwanewilms as Euryanthe is a natural stage star. Her great quality is an ethereal stillness. She brings to the role a lieder singer's inwardness and attention to fine detail, but the voice is possessed of a thrilling reach, too." The Independent

"...the heroine's music is often very beautiful indeed, and as sung by Schwanewilms, an unfailingly expressive, sensual soprano, it was irresistible." The Guardian

"...the performance is carried by Schwanewilms, who looks divine, moves with classical grace and sings with Straussian purity of tone. She is not only technically perfect, she is also very touching." Financial Times

CONCERTS

STRAUSS FOUR LAST SONGS (London Philharmonic Orchestra/S Young, Royal Festival Hall, London, October 2007)
"Schwanewilms...is a very experienced (and eminent) Straussian and sang with a relish of the words (impeccable ennuciation) and the rapturous music that Strauss composed as his 'farewell'. With dignity and restraint, and masterly legato, Schwanewilms, with Young, sustained spacious tempos to mesmerising effect and a glorious sunset without ever indulging in histrionics. The third song, 'Beim Schlafengehen (On Going To Sleep), was brought off with rapt dedication...but then this was a performance of one's dreams." classicalsource.com

"Schwanewilms has made something of a specialisation of the Four Last Songs and has already given performances this year in Madrid, Amsterdam, Stuttgart and Bonn. Tonight her clear soprano floated beautifully over a warm, glowing accompaniment from the London Philharmonic Orchestra." musicomh.com

"...the elegantly imposing figure of Anne Schwanewilms took to the stage. Throughout the songs, she sang with glorious tone, her voice soaring effortlessly...there was no resisting the tonal beauty of Schwanewilms' lustrous soprano..." musicalcriticism.com

MENDELSSOHN "LOBGESANG" (Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra/Riccardo Chailly, September 2005)
"Anne Schwanewilms is spectacular, her voice powerfully soaring over choir and orchestra, yet perfectly balanced and pure." Musicweb International

VERDI REQUIEM (LSO/Colin Davis, New York, September 2005)
"Ms Schwanewilms ...is a very fine soprano with a clear, dusky-toned and focused voice. Her soft sustained high notes, delivered with scant vibrato and true pitch, were ravishing." New York Times

STRAUSS FOUR LAST SONGS (Halle/Elder, Manchester, May 2004)
"...From her first few bars it was clear that Schwanewilms is something out of the ordinary, and not merely in terms of her effortlessly virtuosic vocal technique. Her unfailing instinct for the finest details of phrasing and timing lifted this performance into stratospheric reaches of musical experience. Although there are many sopranos who sing these songs beautifully, with Schwanewilms every word counts in a way that communicates with breathtaking intensity." The Guardian

CHRISTMAS CONCERT (LSO/Hickox, London, December 2003)
"...Glyndebourne's German soprano, Anne Schwanewilms, a true star without a whiff of glitz... the meat of the moment...was Miss Schwanewilms's singing of Strauss's Die heiligen drei Könige aus Morgenland...followed by an unbelievable Ave Maria, ascending from quadruple piano to triple forte. Simply sensational." The Independent

HANSEL AND GRETEL (LSO/Hickox, London, 2001)
"Schwanewilms was unusually sympathetic as the Mother, a woman driven to despair by hardship rather than a harridan. Hickox also cast Schwanewilms as the Witch, a dangerous, leggy, Dietrich-like creature in mini-skirt and high boots, who straddled a music stand as though it were a broomstick while flinging out high notes with eruptive glee. She is one hell of a lady...." The Guardian

RECITAL

STRAUSS/MAHLER LIEDERABEND (Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, September 2007)
"After the magnificent CD that came out earlier this year, the wish to hear her live increased. Could she realise our hopes that she has become the leading Strauss singer of today, knowing that she has to fight the shadow of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf? Yes, she could!" Parool

"Tuesday evening Schwanewilms showed us again why she is one of the most interesting singers of her generation, ably served by the piano playing of Manuel Lange...The CD she has recorded of Strauss songs is fabulous, but nothing can beat a live performance, especially in the case of Anne Schwanewilms. She really is the classic example of how to combine perfect singing technique with apparent effortlessly produced sounds...Her sound is heavenly, sometimes so real you think you can touch it...A superb recital..." Trouw

STRAUSS/MAHLER LIEDERABEND (Malcolm Martineau, Edinburgh Festival, August 2006)
"German soprano Anne Schwanewilms brought rapturous beauty to the songs of Strauss and Mahler...[she] is both physically and vocally a consummate actress, revealing pathos and poignancy and ambiguity. With a voice as gorgeous as Schwanewilms's, everything sounds fabulous." Glasgow Herald

"...there is no doubting that her voice is well-suited to the Straussian sound world - all long, liquid lines and lustrous floated high notes." The Scotsman