American soprano to sing

Press, 15 October 1986, Page 23

American soprano to sing

An American soprano, Linda Mabbs, will present a masterclass and a recital in a short visit to Christchurch this week.. She will take a masterclass for singing students at the School of Music of the University of Canterbury tomorrow and give a lunch-time recital at 1.10 p.m. at the Great Hall in the Arts Centre on Friday. The recital will include music by Mozart, Argento, Debussy, Richard Strauss, Cole Porter and Gershwin. Born and raised in Illinois, Linda Mabbs is fast becoming one of the leading exponents of Handel. In demand for orchestral,

chamber and solo recital appearances, her repertoire ranges from the great masterpieces of Baroque literature to the twentieth Century. She performs with major orchestras including the Minnesota Orchestra, the National, St Louis and Chicago Symphonies and the St Paul, English, and Smithsonian Chamber Orchestras. Winner of the 1981 Oratorio Society of New York Competition, Miss Mabbs devotes much of her career to the oratorio. She appears regularly with the Kennedy Center Handel Festival, the Maryland Handel festival and Chicago’s Music of the

Baroque. She has sung at Lincoln Center with Musica Sacra, Carnegie Hall with the Oratorio society and the Handel Festival and at the Kennedy Center with the Paul Hill Chorale, the Choral Arts Society and the Washington Oratorio society, and, the Handel festival. Among her teachers was the tenor, Sir Peter Pears, with whom she appeared in an American recital. In 1982, the National Opera Institute presented her with its Achievement Award at a competition at the Kennedy Center. Her opera roles include Mimi

in Puccini’s “La Boheme,” Fiordiligi in Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutti,” Ilia in his “Idomeneo,” Brigitta in Tchaikovsky’s “lolanta,” and title role in Gustave Hoist’s “Savitri,” which she prepared with the composer’s daughter, Imogen, for the Library of Congress’ Chamber Music series. Her Handel opera roles include “Semele,” Angelica in “Orlando” and Romilda from “Xerxes.” Linda Mabbs holds two degrees from Northwestern University. She is an. associate professor of voice at the University of Maryland and recipient of a Maryland Creative and Performing Arts Award.