Biography
The Dutch mezzo soprano Cécile van de Sant is a charismatic musician, with a sound recently described by the conductor Nicholas McGegan as having the quality of a fine dark chocolate with 80% cocoa.
The critics have praised her “impressively cultivated voice with a colour one seldom comes across”; and particularly noted her “warm tone” and “luxuriant phrasing”.
An experienced artist in baroque and Rossini opera, her vocal agility and rich, elegant timbre make her equally suited to Mozartian, Romantic and to much 20th Century repertoire.
Cécile van de Sant studied with Cora Canne Meijer at the Sweelinck Conservatorium Amsterdam where she graduated Cum Laude and continued her studies in New York with Marlena Kleinmann Malas.
She won prizes at numerous competitions amongst others the Internationaal Vocalisten Concours ‘s Hertogenbosch, the Concours de Chant in Toulouse and the prestigious Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition in Vienna.
Her operatic roles include the Messagiera and Proserpina in L’Orfeo (Monteverdi) with the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and Speranza at the Teatro Liceu, Barcelona (recorded on DVD with Opus Arte); Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice (Gluck) with Scottish Opera; Iphigénie en Tauride at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Third lady in Die Zauberflöte for Opéra National de Paris, Sesto in La Clemenza di Tito (Mozart) with the Orquestra Simfònica de Balears in Palma, Dido and Aeneas at Opéra de Lausanne,
the title role of La Cenerentola in Kaiserslautern and Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) in London; Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel (Humperdink) in Vredenburg, Olga in Eugene Onegin at the Nationale Reisopera and with Opera North; Geneviève in Pelléas et Mélisande; Suzuki in Madama Butterfly in Sweden; Tamiri in Il Rè pastore, Kate in Owen Wingrave (Britten) at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and Zweite Knappe and Blumenmädchen in Parsifal in Monte Carlo. And she sang numerous roles in Händel operas like Cyrus in Belshazzar and Irene in Atalanta with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Francisco; Tauride in Arianna in Creta, Unulfo in Rodelinda, and Goffredo in Rinaldo with the Göttingen Händel Festival; Second harlot and the Queen of Sheba in Solomon with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra; Cornelia in Giulio Cesare with Opera Ireland; the titlerole in Tamerlano in Utrecht and Amsterdam and Medea in Teseo at the Britten Theatre in London.
Cécile also performs extensively in concerts and oratorio such as Bach’s St. Matthew Passion under the baton of John Nelson with the Residentie Orchestra, Bach’s Hohe Messe under Jordi Savall in Cuenca, Händel’s Messiah with the Residentie Orchestra under Paul McCreesh, Kindertotenlieder with Ensemble Basse Normandie, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Insomnio, Symphony nr. 9 of Beethoven under Marc Soustrot, Weihnachtsoratorium with the Combattimento Consort under Jan Willem de Vriend, Frank Martin’s Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke in Germany, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with RTE in Dublin and the Dutch premiere of Deus Passus by Rihm with the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest under Marcus Stenz.
She has worked with conductors including Ivor Bolton, Lawrence Cummings, Richard Farnes, Claus Peter Flor, Gabriel Garrido, Marek Janowski, Armin Jordan, Raymond Leppard, Nicholas McGegan, Kenneth Montgommery, Arnold Östman, Edo de Waart and Jaap van Zweden.
Future engagements include Iphigénie en Tauride at the Liceu Barcelona, Beethoven’s Symphony nr. 9, Diepenbrock’s Te Deum and Matthäus Passion with the Residentie Orchestra. Mahler’s Rückert Lieder with Holland Symfonia, Philip Glass’ The Witches of Venice at The Muziektheater Amsterdam, a serie of soloconcerts in Kyoto, Japan and Rossweisse in Die Walküre at The Netherlands Opera.
She recorded Mitridate (Farnace) and La Clemenza di Tito (Sesto) for Brilliant Classics, and the Matteus Passie (Bach/Jan Rot) for Deutsche Gramophone.
Promoters please note: if you wish to include this biography in a concert programme etc, please contact the Athole Still office to ensure that you receive the most up to date version
Promoters please note: if you wish to use this biography in promotional materials, concert programme etc, please contact Athole Still International for the most up to date version
Click on flag to view biography in Dutch
© Bill Cooper
