STEVEN THARP

Whether performing Bach or Rorem, Wagner or Donizetti, STEVEN THARP convinces critics and audiences alike that the work at hand is his specialty. The Badisches Neueste Nachrichten called him "a lyrical tenor of refined vocal style" whose "Lieder had the effect of entering a cozy room....his phrasing radiated thoughtfulness." In the New Yorker, Andrew Porter described his performance in Frank Martin's Le Vin Herbe as "ideal...strong, free, and forward in tone, verbally sure, lyrical in utterance," and the Newark Star-Ledger noted, "he thrilled all with his blazing high register." Opera News has praised the "bel canto flexibility and sweetness" of his voice. Will Crutchfield in The New York Times wrote: "He can handle the coloratura of Mozart and Rossini (including real trills) at a level that was simply not available from tenors 30 years ago and is still rare."

Mr. Tharp has appeared with most of the major US orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony (under Solti and Barenboim); the New York Philharmonic (Masur); and the Cleveland Orchestra (von Dohnanyi); as well as the Royal Philharmonic and Hong Kong Philharmonic. His repertoire ranges from the great baroque and classical liturgical masterpieces to contempory works.

Early in his operatic career Mr. Tharp received awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council and San Francisco Opera auditions. He has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera and other distinguished companies throughout the United States and Canada and in Europe. His operatic repertoire of over forty roles includes the major tenor parts of Mozart and Handel. He performed in the American premier of Partenope and the first modern revival of Scipione; Nemorino in L'Elisir d'amore, Almaiva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, David in Wagner's Die Meistersinger, the Steersman in Der Fliegende Hollander and Lysander in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Mr. Tharp has a special interest in lesser-known operas of the classical and early romantic era, and has taken roles in Haydn's L'Isola Disabitata and L'Infedelta Delusa, Gretry's Zemire et Azor, and Schubert's Alfonso und Estrella.

With Will Crutchfield as pianist, Mr. Tharp presented The World of Schubert's Songs and The World of Heinrich Heine, both multi-evening lieder series, at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. He performed at gala recitals celebrating Schubert's 200th birthday at the 92nd Street Y and Weill Recital Hall, and has appeared in recital at Newport Chamber Music Festival, the Carmel Bach Festival, and Caramoor. He is a frequent guest artist with the New York Festival of Song, most recently in Ned Rorem's new full-evening song-cycle, Evidence of Things Not Seen.

Steven Tharp sang with the Metropolitan Opera in 2002 in Prokoffiev's War and Peace and returned shortly for Giordano's Andrea Chenier and Puccini's Turandot. Highlights of season 2004/05 include recitals at the Trinity Church in New York and Currier Museum of Art in NH, Monteverdi's Madrigals and Messiah with the American Bach Soloists and Israel in Egypt with the Music of Baroque. Mr. Tharp recently made his debut with the Nationale Reisopera as Sospiro in Florian Leopold Gassmann's L'Opera Seria last season.

He can be heard on Sir Georg Solti's Grammy award-winning recording of Die Meistersinger for London/Decca and excerpts of La Calisto, from the Glimmerglass Opera, released by BBC Music. His world-premiere recording of the complete songs of Edward MacDowell has recently been issued by Naxos American Classics.

 

MARCH