Kindra Scharich
Mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich has been praised by The San Francisco Chronicle for her "exuberant vitality," "fearless technical precision," "deep-rooted pathos" and "irrepressible musical splendor." As a dedicated recitalist, she has performed over 200 art songs in 12 languages and given solo recitals at the American Composer's Forum, the Wagner Society, Lieder Alive and The La Jolla Athenaeum. Ms. Scharich toured in Brazil, where she performed with Ricardo Ballestero and Cristiano Alves at the acclaimed Sala Cecília Meireles. She and Mr. Ballestero continued their collaboration, presenting all of the non-Portuguese songs of the great Brazilian composer Alberto Nepomuceno, which until now have remained in relative obscurity.
A great proponent of Lieder specifically, she recently released a critically acclaimed recording, in collaboration with the Alexander String Quartet, of new quartet and voice arrangements of the great orchestral Lieder (Rückert, Kindertotenlieder, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Wesendonck-Lieder, and Vier letzte Lieder). Symphonic works performed include Les nuits d’été, Rückert Lieder, Pulcinella, Fauré’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, and the great choral works of J.S. Bach and Handel.
In the world of opera, Ms. Scharich ended her 2022 season at San Francisco Opera, covering the role of Aunt Xue in Bright Sheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber. She returned to SFO in the fall of 2022 for the world premiere of John Adams’ Antony and Cleopatra, covering the roles of Octavia and Iris. Kindra has sung over 30 roles in the lyric mezzo repertoire, including, to much acclaim, Minerva in West Edge Opera's production of Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria. She has appeared with Opera Parallèle in Sophia’s Forest, as Agathe in Les enfants terribles, Kaminsky’s Today It Rains and as the Fox in The Little Prince, and with the Yakima Symphony in Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky.
Enthusiastic about working with living composers, she has premiered works by Kurt Erickson, Elinor Armer, Anno Schreier, and was heard in Janis Mattox's chamber opera Sueños de Medianoche (Midnight Dreams), set in Spanish and based on Bolivian legend. She is a featured performer in David Conte’s Everyone Sang: Vocal Music of David Conte, released in 2018.
January 2024
Not to be altered or copied without permission.
To My Distant Beloved…
Kindra Scharich, mezzo-soprano and Jeffrey Ladeur, piano, performing works of Beethoven and Schumann.
In meinem Himmel…
Songs cycles of Gustav Mahler performed by mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich, with the Alexander String Quartet.
““The jewel of this album is mezzo- soprano Kindra Scharich, whose burnished, smoky instrument is perfectly suited to the mood and range of each of the fifteen songs, and whose timbre blends seamlessly into the soundscape of Grafilo’s transcriptions… Kindra Scharich is an outstanding soloist who makes these songs and transcriptions seem tailor-made for her artistry. There are bewitching moments throughout the album when the lush viola tones of her voice melt into the timbre of the quartet, such as in the sensuous lines of “Liebst du um Schönheit” and the taut dissonances of “Wenn denn Mutterlein.” There is an effortlessness to her singing that amplifies Mahler’s most beautiful melodies and yet lends tension and drama to the outbursts and climaxes of “Ich hab’ ein glühend Messer” and “In diesem Wetter.” Along with the impassioned, elegant and exquisitely nuanced playing of the members of the Alexander String Quartet (Paul Yarbrough, viola; Sandy Wilson, cello; Frederick Lifsitz and Zakarias Grafilo, violin), Scharich makes this album an extraordinary and complete musical and poetic accomplishment, something that should be savored for both its new perspectives on Mahler’s well-known songs and for the exemplary artistry of these musicians.”
Review of “In Meinem Himmel: The Mahler Song Cycles”
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