News for 2024
STRAUSS FOUR LAST SONGS Claire begins a busy 2024 with a series of appearances with Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie Orchestra under Jonathan Heywood, performing Strauss’ late vocal masterpiece. Both she and Jonathan will reprise the Strauss in Spain, later in the spring with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia. Claire follows up the Strauss with a series of debuts, singing Mozart at the Janacek Festival in Prague, and Mahler’s Der Knaben Wunderhorn with the Armenian National Philharmonic.
SCHOENBERG 150th ANNIVERSARY Claire leads the way in promoting Arnold Schoenberg’s music in his anniversary year, with not one but two new recordings. The first, EXPRESSIONIST MUSIC: A SCHOENBERG SONGBOOK, pairs Schoenberg’s songs with eight of his own paintings, taking its cue from Schoenberg’s own comment that ‘painting is the same to me as making music’, and is generously supported by the Schoenberg Centre in Vienna. The second sees Claire record Pierrot Lunaire, a work with which she is increasingly associated, with the highly talented Ensemble 360, with whom she performed in 2023. Catch Claire in multiple performances of Pierrot Lunaire in 2024 including the Aldeburgh International Festival
NOT ONE BUT TWO WORLD PREMIERES Working with Helen Grime and Zoe Martlew, Claire has commissioned 2 world premieres for 2024. Grime’s new work, Folk, is a collaboration with author Zoe Gilbert, reworking her critically acclaimed novel Folk into a series of scenes for Soprano and Orchestra. It debuts in September with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Ryan Wigglesworth. Taking her cue from Schoenberg’s Cabaret Songs, Martlew is writing a new theatrical song cycle for Claire and pianist Jâms Coleman. Catch it at numerous festivals around the UK, or at London’s Wigmore Hall in November.
MUSSORGSKY SUCCESS⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for Claire’s recent recording of Mussorgsky songs, entitled UNORTHADOX MUSIC. Classic’s Today writes, “Booth’s light and agile soprano voice navigates Mussorgsky’s wide interval leaps with ease, while her superb diction and rhythmic pointing bring stylish vividness… highly recommended.” The Guardian, giving 5 STARS, stating “Booth brings each song to life with operatic vividness… every one of them becomes a miniature scene. They whole thing is a joy, brilliantly conceived and presented with tremendous panache.”⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Claire Booth’s previous release: Edvard Grieg: Lyric Music.
Soprano Claire Booth and pianist Christopher Glynn trace an arc through Edvard Grieg’s Lyric Music, interspersing vocal miniatures with solo piano pieces that range in mood from bright, youthful innocence to shades of autumnal twilight.
“Booth and Glynn are certainly on fire here… Booth goes all out to capture the yearnings and frustrations of (Haugtussa) with a truly contemporary lack of inhibition…. This new recital, strongly recommended, contributes greatly to the catalogues..” Gramophone Autumn 2019 Click here for more information and to buy.
Edvard Grieg: Med En Vandlilje (With A Waterlily) Ibsensangene Op.25
Claire Booth / Christopher Glynn / Avie Records
