16
februari
zondag
Dutch bass-baritone Henk Neven is one of the most exciting song interpreters of his generation, having made regular appearances at the Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw and the BBC Proms, while being equally at home on the operatic stage. A recipient of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, records for Onyx and his discs have received outstanding critical praise. Neven was a member of the prestigious BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists Scheme and in 2011 received the Dutch Music Prize, the highest honour that the Netherlands Ministry of Culture awards to a classical musician.
Recently, Neven toured the Netherlands with the Orchestra of the 18th Century singing the role of Leporello and Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Don Giovanni And Cosi fan tutte. Recent engagements include two recitals at the Wigmore Hall where he is a regular guest, the world premiere of George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden where Neven covered the role of the King, and the title role Don Giovanni with Northern Ireland Opera.
His operatic roles include Aronte Armide; Leporello Don Giovanni; Conte Le nozze di Figaro; Don Alfonso Cosi fan tutte; Phorbas Oedipe; Mercutio Roméo et Juliette; Patrocle Iphiginie en Aulide; Aeneas Dido and Aeneas; Marco Gianni Schicchi; Schaunard La bohème; Morales Carmen; Ben The Telephone and Mr. Gobineau The Medium; Mars Vénus et Adonis; Pollux Castor et Pollux; and Frère Léon St. François d’Assise, staged by Pierre Audi and recorded for DVD by Opus Arte.
He has appeared at the Opéra National de Paris, La Monnaie, Berlin Staatsoper, Komische Oper Berlin, Theater an der Wien, Le Duo de Dijon, Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, L’Opéra National de Montpellier, Grand Théâtre de Tours, Opéra de Rouen, theatre de Champs-elysëes, Bergen Nasjonale opera and De Nederlandse Opera.
On the concert platform he has worked with and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the BBC Proms, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Het Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, BBC National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Rotterdam Philharmonsich orkest, Radio Kamer Filharmonie, Bergen Philharmonic, Noord-Nederlands Orkest, Phion, Netherlands Bachvereniging, Vlaams Radio Orkest, L’Orchestre National de France, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre d’Opéra National de Paris, Staatskapelle Berlin, L’Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Orchestre National de Lyon, Les Concerts Spirituels, Les Talens Lyriques and The Freiburger Barock Orchester.
He has worked with conductors including Simon Rattle, Edo de Waart, Marin Alsop, Jaap van Zweden, Jan Willem de Vriend, Arie van Beek, Hervé Niquet, Kenneth Montgomery, Joel Levi, Patrick Lange, Armin Jordan, John Nelson, Ed Spanjaard, Marc Minkowski, Christophe Rousset, Emmanuel Haïm and Daniel Barenboim.
He has performed in the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Operadagen Rotterdam, Cheltenham festival, Oxford Lieder, Leeds Lieder, City of London festival and Australian Festival of Chambre Music. Past highlights include debut at Carnegie Hall, performances for the BBC Proms; and recitals for La Monnaie in Brussels and Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
As a recitalist Henk worked with the following pianists: Dame Imogen Cooper, Graham Johnson, Malcolm Martineau, Pauliina Tukiainen Roger Vignoles, Anne le Bozec, Joseph Middleton and Daan Boertien.
Henk Neven and Hans Eijsackers started recording for Onyx Records in 2011, when their Gramophone-nominated debut album Auf einer Burg was received with the highest acclaim. In 2012, Onyx Records released his second album, The Sea on which he performs songs by Debussy, Fauré and Schubert followed by Rêves d’Espagne in 2016. His fourth album With Love from Russia with Cellist Jan Bastiaan Neven and Hans Eijsackers was released in May 2018.
He also recorded a programme of Elgar songs with Kathryn Rudge and the BBC Concert Orchestra in collaboration with SOMM Recordings.
This season Henk Neven will be singing, among other engagements, recitals at the the Internationaal Lied Festival Zeist and Wigmore Hall. On the oratorium stage he will perform Mendelssohns Elias and Bach Matthaeus Passion.
He was a jury member of Schubert und die Moderne Graz; Nadia et Lili Boulanger competition Paris; Internationaler Wettbewerb für Liedkunst Stuttgart (Hugo Wolf Akademie), Helsinki Lied and Internationaal Lieduo Competitie Groningen.
Henk Neven is, together with Hans Eijsackers, the artistic leader of the International Lied Festival Zeist and he is teaching at Codarts, Conservatorium van Rotterdam.
Photography: Tessa Posthuma de Boer
Design: Wilgehof + Sodaar
