February 2024
Repertoire
G. Puccini: arias of ‘La Bohème’, ‘Madama Butterfly’, ‘Suor Angelica’, `Gianni Schicchi’ and `Turandot’
A. Guinovart: Simfonia dels Àngels (absolute premiere)
Performers
Ermonela Jaho, soprano
Franz Schubert Filharmonia
Tomàs Grau, conductor
Programme notes
The Voice of Ermonela Jaho
Ermonela Jaho is one of today’s most sought-after, acclaimed and respected sopranos. A regular guest at the most prestigious opera houses around the globe, she will make her debut at the Palau de la Música with our orchestra, performing a selection of Puccini’s best-known arias – works that have made her a living legend in the opera world.
Jaho will also be the vocal soloist in a new symphony composed by Albert Guinovart to mark the centenary of the birth of Victoria de los Ángeles, an artist with whom he worked as accompanist for around ten years.
CONCERT DATES
Ermonela Jaho & Franz Schubert Filharmonia
Biography Ermonela Jaho
In demand across the world, Ermonela Jaho is particularly recognized for her portrayals of Violetta (La traviata), Madama Butterfly, Suor Angelica (Il trittico), Adriana Lecouvreur and a lot more were she leaves her indelible mark on everything she sings. She is: Opera Rara’s Artist Ambassador, Winner of International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) 2023 Artist of the Year Winner of ICMA Vocal Music 2021 award with her solo album “Anima Rara” and Winner of Readers Award at the 2016 International Opera Awards Now.
Resident in New York, Ermonela Jaho was born in Albania and first began to take singing lessons when she was just six. At 14, she was taken to the Tirana Opera House for the first time where she heard La Traviata and decided to become an opera singer. At 19 she moved to Rome to continue her studies at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Over the next years, she won many singing competitions in Italy opening the doors to her singing career. Ermonela Jaho’s vivid interpretations and her exceptional identification with the roles she performs are highlighted in all her reviews. Over the last year, standing ovations have followed her from London, Paris, New York, Munich, Berlin, Madrid and everywhere else in between, with The Economist describing her as “Fiery angel… the world’s most acclaimed soprano”, Financial Times “she throws heart and soul into her singing. Don’t even try to resist!”, The Independent as “the best Madama Butterfly London has seen in years” and Australia’s Daily Telegraph describing her as “an unstoppable phenomenon”.
In the 2022-23 season, Jaho reprises the role of Suor Angelica in Barcelona at Teatro de Liceu, will sing Violetta at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, will sing Adriana Lecouvreur in Opera Australia in Sydney, will open the seson in Opera Royal De Liege, will sing Liu in Covent Garden’s production of Turandot, will sing Blanche in Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, will perform Violetta in Verdi’s Traviata on the Japan Tour, will sing Magda in Puccini’s La Rondine in Opernhaus Zurich and also will sing Liu in Opera National de Paris, etc.
Recent commitments of this season with great success; Suor Angelica in Barcelona, Traviata at the MET, Adriana in Sydney and the Gala in Brussels, where the whole theatre stood up the curtain calls did not stop.