Henk Neven; "LIEDERKREIS"; op. 39; Robert Schumann

Henk Neven--baritone Hans Eijsackers---piano 2011 ============================== Gramophone MagazineJuly 2011 His gift of bringing out word-meaning is enhanced by the clearest possible diction and by the beautifully balanced recording. His shading of dynamics and phrasing then crowns each interpretation. It is a consistent joy to hear a Lieder singer whose tone is pure over the widest range without a trace of roughness...It is a long time since I enjoyed a disc of Lieder from a young singer quite as much as this, and I long to hear more from him. ============================== International Record ReviewJuly 2011 [Neven] has a beautiful voice, flexible, rounded and warm, and sings, always in the middle of the note, with much intelligence and no affectation...both Neven and his excellent accompanist Hans Eijsackers manage almost to avoid sentimentality =============================== Sunday Times17th April 2011 Neven’s highly individual timbre is unlike any other lieder interpreter’s; he sings with astonishing technical finesse, verbal acuity and a youthful sense of wonder in these pieces from Schumann’s annus mirabilis of song, 1840...Eijsackers’s virtuoso piano-playing only enhances this remarkable young singer’s outstanding debut. ===================================== "Born: 1976 - Rotterdam suburb of Krimpen aan den Ijssel, the Netherlands The Dutch baritone, Henk Neven, studied with Maarten Koningsberger and Margreet Honig at the Conservatory of Amsterdam where he graduated cum laude in 2003. In 2002 he received a diploma cum laude from the New Opera Academy. He followed master-classes with Graham Johnson, Graham Clark, Rudolf Jansen, Hartmut Höll and Jard van Nes and is now regularly coached by Margreet Honig and Robert Holl. In winning the 2008 Fortis MeesPierson Award, the jury declared that "Neven has the potential to grow into a sensational artist". In 2009 Henk Neven was awarded a Borletti-Buitoni Fellowship and joined the prestigious Radio 3 New Generation Artists Scheme. In April 2011 Neven received the Dutch Music Prize ('Nederlandse Muziekprijs'), the highest honor that the Ministry of Culture can award to a classical musician. Henk Neven made his professional debut in 2004. In addition to lieder and oratorio, he has sung in many operas, performing such roles as Marco in Gianni Schicchi, Don Giovanni and Leporello in Don Giovanni, Count in Le nozze di Figaro, Phorbas in Oedipe, Patrocle in Iphiginie en Aulide, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette, Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, Donald in Billy Budd, Schaunard in La boheme, Morales in Carmen, Ben in The Telephone and Mr. Gobineau in The Medium, Mars in Vénus et Adonis, Pollux in Castor et Pollux and Frère Léon in St. François d’Assise, staged by Pierre Audi which was also recorded for DVD by Opus Arte (De Nederlandse Opera). He has appeared at the Opéra National de Paris, La Monnaie, Staatsoper Berlin Unter den Linden, Theater an der Wien, Le Duo de Dijon, Grand Théatre de Bordeaux, L’Opéra National de Montpellier, Grand Theatre de Tours, Opéra de Rouen and De Nederlandse Opera. In the Notre Dame in Paris he sung the role of Joseph in L’Enfance du Christ by Hector Berlioz, conducted by John Nelson. Henk Neven has worked with well-known ensembles such as the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic, Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Vlaams Radio Orkest, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre d’Opéra National de Paris, Staatskapelle Berlin, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Les Concerts Spirituels and Les Talens Lyriques. He has worked with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Armin Jordan, Emanuel Krivine, Patrick Lange, Joel Levi, Marc Minkowski, Kenneth Montgomery, John Nelson, Hervé Niquet, Paulo Olmi, Christophe Rousset, Marc Soustrot, Ed Spanjaard, Jos van Veldhoven, Jan Willem de Vriend, Edo de Waart, and Jaap van Zweden. Henk Neven’s first commercial album, 'Auf einer Burg' with Lieder by Robert Schumann and Carl Loewe, received much critical acclaim and was nominated for the prestigious Gramophone Award. 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. Among the singers who have studied with him and/or attended his master-classes: Elvire Beekhuizen (Soprano), Luka den Boer (Baritone), Andreas Goetze (Bass-Baritone), Meike Wijma (Soprano)."; bach-cantatas.com (edited)