Louise Alder

Soprano

One of the most in demand artists today, British soprano Louise Alder has firmly established herself as “an instinctive singing-actress” (The Arts Desk) and “a terrific talent, combining a big, lustrous voice with flawless intonation and keen intelligence” (The Times). A hugely versatile artist she is equally at home in the world’s most important opera, concert and recital venues such as Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Wiener Staatsoper, Glyndebourne Festival, Bayerische Staatsoper, Carnegie Hall and the Wigmore Hall, where she held a widely acclaimed artistic residency in 2024.

In the 2024/25 season, Alder will make several anticipated role debuts: her debut as Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Wiener Staatsoper; Micaëla Carmen at San Francisco Opera and her first Contessa in a new production of Le nozze di Figaro at Glyndebourne; as well as returning to the role of Susanna in the same opera, in the production she premiered at the Bayerische Staatsoper last season. On the concert platform her appearances include Strauss’ Vier Lieder Op. 27 with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra; a concert of Mozart Arias at the Royal Danish Theater; and Haydn’s The Creation with the Gulbenkian Orchestra. Handel also features heavily this season with engagements such as Messiah with the Academy of the Ancient Music, Alexander’s Feast at the Mozartwoche in Salzburg; L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato with Arcangelo; and a tour of Giulio Cesare together with The English Concert at the Barbican and in North America, culminating with Carnegie Hall. In recital, Alder joins forces with tenor Mauro Peter and pianist Joseph Middleton for Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch which they will present at the Leeds Lieder, Wigmore Hall, Musikverein in Vienna and Oper Frankfurt.

 

Her engagements last season included Fiordiligi Così fan tutte and Susanna in a new production of Le nozze di Figaro at the Bayerische Staatsoper; and Cleopatra Giulio Cesare for Glyndebourne Festival Opera. On the concert platform she sang Mozart concert arias with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; arias by Mozart and Rossini with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; the title role in Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri with the Royal Northern Sinfonia;  Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks;  Mahler’s Symphony no. 4 with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester and Vladimir Jurowski; Haydn’s Creation with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner; and Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Philippe Jordan. She also gave recitals in Schwarzenberg, Vienna, Helsinki, Stockholm and curated a season-long residency at London’s Wigmore Hall.

 

Recent opera successes include Susanna for the Wiener Staatsoper, the Bayerische Staatsoper, and the Opernhaus Zürich; Zerlina Don Giovanni for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and the Teatro Real in Madrid; Gretel Hänsel und Gretel and Marzelline Fidelio for the Bayerische Staatsoper; Sophie Der Rosenkavalier for the Wiener Staatsoper and the Glyndebourne Festival; Anne Truelove The Rake’s Progress for the Glyndebourne Festival and Cleopatra Giulio Cesare for the Theater an der Wien and Oper Frankfurt.

 

In concert, highlights include Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle and his Symphony No. 4 with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester and Vladimir Jurowski; Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen with Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Jakub Hrůša; Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Kirill Petrenko;  Strauss’s Four Last Songs with the Ulster Orchestra and Daniele Rustioni at the BBC Proms;  the title role in Theodora at the BBC Proms and at the Konzerthaus in Vienna with Arcangelo and Jonathan Cohen;  the title role in Semele on tour with the Monteverdi Choir and Sir John Eliot Gardiner; Schumann’s Szenen aus Goethes Faust with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra;  Messiah with the New York Philharmonic and Harry Bicket;  Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Tokyo Philharmonic; and Mozart Arias at the Salzburg Mozartwoche with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Daniel Harding.

 

A hugely acclaimed recitalist her appearances include the BBC Proms, the Musikverein in Graz, Madrid’s Fundación Juan March and the Fundación Privada Victoria de los Ángeles in Barcelona, Snape Maltings, and the Oxford International Song Festival.

 

Her extensive discography includes Chère Nuit: French Songs, featuring songs from Ravel to Yvain (Chandos); The Russian Connection, programming songs by Rachmaninov, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Medtner and Britten (Chandos); a disc of Strauss Lieder, Through Life and Love (Orchid Classics) with pianist Joseph Middleton; Title role Theodora (Arcangelo/Alpha Classics); Lucia The Rape of Lucretia (Opus Arte/Glyndebourne); and the Title Role in Handel’s Semele (Monteverdi Choir/SDG).

 

A former member of the ensemble of Oper Frankfurt, Alder studied at the Royal College of Music’s International Opera School where she was the inaugural Kiri Te Kanawa Scholar. She is the winner of the Young Singer Award at the 2017 International Opera Awards; the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize at the 2017 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition; the 2015 inaugural Young British Soloists’ Competition; and is the recipient of Glyndebourne’s 2014 John Christie Award.

Performances

DECEMBER 16 2024

Soprano Soloist, Messiah; Academy of Ancient Music

London, United Kingdom

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JANUARY 14 2025

Susanna, Le nozze di Figaro; Bayerische Staatsoper

München, Germany

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JANUARY 16 2025

Susanna, Le nozze di Figaro; Bayerische Staatsoper

München, Germany

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JANUARY 19 2025

Susanna, Le nozze di Figaro; Bayerische Staatsoper

München, Germany

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JANUARY 25 2025

Soprano Soloist, Alexander's Feast, Salzburg Mozartwoche

Salzburg, Austria

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More Dates

Performances

DECEMBER 16 2024Soprano Soloist, Messiah; Academy of Ancient MusicLondon, United KingdomBuy Tickets
JANUARY 14 2025Susanna, Le nozze di Figaro; Bayerische StaatsoperMünchen, GermanyBuy Tickets
JANUARY 16 2025Susanna, Le nozze di Figaro; Bayerische StaatsoperMünchen, GermanyBuy Tickets
JANUARY 19 2025Susanna, Le nozze di Figaro; Bayerische StaatsoperMünchen, GermanyBuy Tickets
JANUARY 25 2025Soprano Soloist, Alexander's Feast, Salzburg MozartwocheSalzburg, AustriaBuy Tickets
JANUARY 31 2025Mozart Arias; Royal Danish TheaterCopenhagen, DenmarkBuy Tickets
FEBRUARY 13 2025Soprano Soloist, The Creation; Gulbenkian OrchestraLisbon, PortugalBuy Tickets
FEBRUARY 14 2025Soprano Soloist, The Creation; Gulbenkian OrchestraLisbon, PortugalBuy Tickets
FEBRUARY 21 2025Italienisches Liederbuch; Wigmore HallLondon, United KingdomBuy Tickets
FEBRUARY 25 2025Italienisches Liederbuch, Mauro Peter & Joseph Middleton; Oper FrankfurtFrankfurt am Main, GermanyBuy Tickets
FEBRUARY 27 2025Italienisches Liederbuch, MusikvereinVienna, AustriaBuy Tickets
MARCH 28 2025Donna Anna, Don Giovanni; Wiener StaatsoperVienna, AustriaBuy Tickets
MARCH 30 2025Fiordiligi, Così fan tutte ; Wiener StaatsoperVienna, AustriaBuy Tickets
APRIL 1 2025Donna Anna, Don Giovanni; Wiener StaatsoperVienna, AustriaBuy Tickets
APRIL 3 2025Fiordiligi, Così fan tutte ; Wiener StaatsoperVienna, AustriaBuy Tickets
APRIL 27 2025Cleopatra, Giulio Cesare; English ConcertBerkeley, United StatesBuy Tickets
MAY 1 2025Cleopatra, Giulio Cesare; English ConcertOmaha, United StatesBuy Tickets
MAY 4 2025Cleopatra, Giulio Cesare; English ConcertNew York City, NY, United StatesBuy Tickets

Press

The British soprano Louise Alder nearly steals the show as Cleopatra, unerring vocally, every ornament or coloratura run beautifully placed.

The Guardian

Alder blazed from the start.

Reaction

Alder captured it all, with lustrous tone in the lower register, dazzling embellishments in the ledger lines, pinpoint-accurate coloratura, good intonation in the testing chromatic passages and, where needed, thrilling power.

The Times

Alder is in glorious voice, her soprano fresh and untethered; the assurance of youth and the doubt born of experience come across equally convincingly. Her high notes gleam, and her words are direct and communicative, whether in Russian, Swedish, German or French.

The Guardian

There’s no soprano more alive to the expression of musical joy and rapture than Louise Alder.

The Arts Desk

Releases

Strauss: Sechs Lieder
Lines Written During a Sleepless Night
Handel: Theodora
Through Life and Love
Requiem for my Mother
The Great War Symphony
Cesti: L'Orontea
Lehár: Der Graf von Luxemburg
Janáček: Das schlaue Füchslein
Britten: The Rape of Lucretia
Handel: Xerxes

MWA