Santo Domingo Music Festival 2015
Tara Erraught
“a beautifully formed mezzo-soprano voice”
-La Clemenza di Tito, Bayerische Staatsoper, The New York Times, 17 February 2014
“Erraught was touching… every moment beautifully sung and acted, ardent and appealing. Her voice is rich with dark glints and bright promise and she offered some of the best singing of the evening.”
-Der Rosenkavalier, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, The Guardian, UK 25 May 2014
Praised for her rich voice, expansive range and appealing stage presence, Irish-born mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught has been called “a true rising star” by the press. Her international stature has continued to grow since she stepped in on five-days’ notice to sing the role of Romeo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Bayerische Staatsoper in 2011, her performance winning worldwide acclaim. In the seasons since, she has sung a world premiere, made numerous role debuts, and successfully toured North America twice.
Ms. Erraught’s 2014 – 2015 season features performances in Germany, Ireland, Latin America, and the United States. With the Bayerische Staatsoper, she makes role debuts as Carlotta in Strauss’s Die Schweigsame Frau, Op. 80, Christa in Janáček’s The Makropulos Affair, Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, as well as sings the role of Zweite Dame in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. She also debuts with the Santo Domingo Festival in the Dominican Republic. With the Hamburg Staatsoper, she sings Rosina in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Angelina in La Cenerentola. She travels home to Ireland in spring 2015 to sing with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, and then to the United States for her company debut with the Washington National Opera in its season concluding production of La Cenerentola.
Past highlights include: creating the role of Kitty in the world premiere of Iain Bell’s A Harlot’s Progress at Theater an der Wien; role debuts as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Sesto in La Clemenza di Tito, Nicklausse/The Muse in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Prince Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro and singing in a new production of Hänsel und Gretel with the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. With the Wiener Staatsoper she sang Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, as well as the premiere performances of a new production of La Cenerentola, earning accolades from the press as the “New Queen of Belcanto”. In February 2011, Ms. Erraught came to worldwide attention, replacing an ailing colleague and learning the role of Romeo in five days for a new production of Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi. This was after singing the title role of a new production of Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges with Bayerische Staatsoper earlier that month. In summer 2010 she joined internationally celebrated French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet for the Prinsengracht-concert telecast from the canals of Amsterdam and made her Glyndebourne debut.
In spring 2013, the Bavarian government bestowed upon Ms. Erraught the prestigious Pro meritis scientiae et litterarum in recognition for outstanding contribution to the arts. She is only the fifth musician, and the youngest recipient, to be honored with the annual award since its inception in 2000.
A native of Dundalk, Ireland, Tara Erraught has been a member of the opera studio at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich since 2008. In March of 2010 she was the recipient of Dublin’s National Concert Hall’s Rising Star Award. Other honors include First Prize in the Jakub Pustina International Singing Competition in the Czech Republic, along with the Zdar nad Sazavou Audience Prize in 2008. In that same year she was awarded both the Houston Grand Opera Prize and the Washington National Opera Prize at the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna. In 2007 Ms. Erraught won Dermott Troy Award for the Best Irish Singer.
A graduate of the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, Ms. Erraught considers herself fortunate to continue her studies with the acclaimed Royal Opera soprano Veronica Dunne, who has been the guiding force in her musical career. In Munich, where she makes her home, she has the privilege to work with famed German mezzo-soprano Brigitte Fassbaender on her current repertoire.