Emőke Baráth
© Zsófia Raffay
About
Emőke Baráth quickly attracted the attention of the musical world by becoming a prizewinner in several prestigious competitions – First Prize in the Cesti Competition in Innsbruck, Grand Prix de l'Académie du Verbier Festival, Prix Junio Prima Primissima in Hungary, etc. Her career took off when she sang Sesto in Handel's Giulio Cesare conducted by Alan Curtis. A little later, she made a dazzling debut at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence in the title role of Cavalli's Elena.
In addition to her obvious virtuosity, music lovers discovered a full-bodied timbre capable of the most diaphanous nuances in the upper register, and a refined singing of incomparable embodiment driven by her love of words.
On the strength of these assets, Emőke Baráth's art is deployed in a vast repertoire under the baton of some of the most illustrious conductors. These include La Musicà and Euridice in Monteverdi's L'Orfeo (Iván Fischer and Emiliano Gonzalez Toro); Romilda in Cavalli's Xerse (Emmanuelle Haïm); the title role in Cavalli's Hipermestra (William Christie); Morgana in Händel's Alcina (Ottavio Dantone and Emmanuelle Haïm); Haydn's The Creation and The Seasons (György Vashegyi and Ádám Fischer); Susanna in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro (Marc Minkowski). For the 20th century, she has sung Poulenc's Stabat Mater and Gloria (Bernard Têtu and Bertrand de Billy) and the Angel in Messiaen's Saint François d'Assise (Sylvain Cambreling).
The best-known orchestras compete for his talent, including baroque ensembles such as Il Pomo d'Oro, Europa Galante, Le Concert d'Astrée, Les Arts Florissants, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Concerto Köln, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, or symphony orchestras such as the Orchestres Nationaux de France and de Lyon, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Royal Orchestra, the Detroit and Washington Symphony Orchestras, the Bergen Philharmonic, the Saõ Paulo Symphony Orchestra and the Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra.
Last season's engagements were unanimously acclaimed by press and public alike: the role of Aminta in Il Re Pastore in concert version at the Salzburg Mozarteum with Christina Pluhar, successfully reprised at the Salzburg Festival 2023 this time conducted by Ádám Fischer); Sister Constance in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites at the Rome Opera conducted by Michele Mariotti with staging by Emma Dante; triumphant tour of Asia in La Storia di Orfeo with Philippe Jaroussky and the Artaserse Ensemble.
Emőke has established herself as an accomplished Mozartian, as demonstrated recently by the roles of Ilia in Idomeneo at the Budapest Opera, Sifare in Mitridate at the Copenhagen and Götteborg Operas with Ádám Fischer, and Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan Tutte conducted by Giovanini Antonini. She will make her debut as Donna Anna under the baton of Emmanuelle Haïm, then Pamina in The Magic Flute at the Rome Opera with Michele Spotti.
Haydn will also be an important focus of her 2023/2024 season, with Angelica in Orlando Paladino conducted by Giovanni Antonini, in Madrid and Barcelona.
The baroque repertoire will continue to be very present. She will sing Minerva and Amore in Monteverdi's Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria conducted by Emiliano Gonzalez Toro throughout Europe, and above all will sing three great Handelian heroines: Ginevra in Ariodante at the Opéra du Rhin with Christopher Moulds, Armida in Rinaldo with Thibault Noally and Les Accents, and Maria Maddalena in La Resurrezione with Julien Chauvin and Le Concert de la Loge.
Her extensive discography includes several titles recorded for Erato-Warner Classics, Naïve, Alpha Classic, Cpo, Glossa and Hungaroton. She sang Ormindo in Handel's Partenope with Il Pomo d'Oro and alongside Philippe Jaroussky. Jaroussky invited her to take on the different roles of Euridice in his recording La Storia di Orfeo with Diego Fasolis. With the same partners, she recorded Amore in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice.
An exclusive artist with Erato-Warner Classics, Emőke released her first solo disc, Voglio Cantar, in 2019, devoted to the finest pages of the Seicento. Her recent disc Dualità, devoted to arias by Handel, was released in 2022, conducted by Philippe Jaroussky.