Fiona Kimm
Fiona Kimm’s beautiful mezzo soprano voice and exciting acting talent have made her one of the most distinguished singers of her generation, with an extensive and eclectic operatic, oratorio and concert repertoire from Monteverdi to the present day.
With impressive versatility, she has encompassed a broad spectrum of musical styles and dramatic characterizations. Her operatic roles include Sextus (“La Clemenza di Tito”), Hansel, Orlofsky, Dido (Purcell), Hermia, Julie (“Showboat”), Olga, Fyodor, Nicklaus, Baba the Turk, Wife/Sphinx/Doreen (“Greek”), Rosalind (“The Mines of Sulphur”), Clairon, Fricka, Mistress Quickly, Azucena, Ulrica, Marcellina and Orfeo. She has created roles in many World, European and British premieres, as well as performing in notable new productions, including the acclaimed Tarkovsky production of Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov”, Ian Judge’s production of “Faust”, the ENO “Rusalka” (Dvorak) and Peter Sellers’ Glyndebourne production of “Die Zauberflote”.
She has performed the major oratorio roles in the United Kingdom and abroad and has worked with distinguished conductors including Abbado, Haitink, Rattle, Handley, Pritchard, Rozhdestvensky and Downes; and orchestras which include the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, London Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, English Chamber Orchestra, Musique Oblique, Lontano and the Nash Ensemble. As a recitalist, she performs with leading accompanists, among them, Andrew Ball, Iain Burnside and Wyn Davies. She has a wide-ranging recital repertoire of music in Russian, Italian, German, Spanish and French. With the latter she has a particular affinity, as she is half French. Her acclaimed recital at the Wigmore Hall entitled “In Flanders Fields”, explored music and conflict in the 20th Century.
Fiona has performed works by many contemporary composers including Boulez, Berio, Henze, Berkeley, Donatoni, Maw, Turnage, Carpenter, Goehr, Schnittke, Gubaidulina, Cowie, Harbison and Holt, and has had many pieces written specifically for her.
She is a regular broadcaster, and has made several television films, including the Thames Television production of “L’Enfance du Christ” (Mary), the award-winning B.B.C. production of “Greek”, several operas from Glyndebourne, and S.T.V.’s film of Elgar’s “Sea Pictures”. Her recent recordings include “L’Enfance du Christ”, Weill’s “Street Scene”, Simon Holt’s “Canciones”, Decca’s recording of “Greek”, Sony’s recording of Goldschmidt’s “Beatrice Cenci” and Turnage’s “Lament for a Hanging Man” with Oliver Knussen and the Nash Ensemble.
She has appeared as soloist at many prestigious state events, including a Command Performance at Buckingham Palace, official memorial services at Westminster Abbey and at conferences for visiting Heads of State.
Recent performances include “Andrea Chenier” for the ROH, “The Return of Ulysses” in Lisbon, Mistress Quickly for Garsington, the British premiere of “L’Arlesiana” at Holland Park, the world premiere of Simon Holt’s first opera for Opera North, Fricka in both “Das Rheingold” and “Die Walkure”, Azucena, Ulrica for COC in Toronto and Madame Larina for GTO.
