Lisa Saffer
Soprano
New England First Place Winner 1984
National Council Winner, 1984	review

Lyric soprano Lisa Saffer has graced opera and concert stages worldwide with her versatility, intelligence, and musicality in a range of repertoire. Whether it be with the English National Opera at London ’s Coliseum in the title role in Berg’s Lulu, Handel’s Messiah with the Philadelphia Orchestra, or Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the New York Philharmonic, Lisa Saffer is “one of those special singers whose technique and blooming sound always serves sense and emotion”.

The reviews for her London performance as Lulu said it was “grippingly acted [and] -- not a given in this marathon of a part -- musically sung. Saffer commands the stage.” For her portrayal she was honored to receive the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for best vocal performance, and she was nominated for an “Olivier” for outstanding achievement in Opera - London’s prestigious equivalent of Broadway’s “Tony”. Of her performance in the role of Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, The Boston Globe noted, “Her silvery, brainy vocalism was world-class throughout and in the last celebratory aria, she brought the house down, rocketing off coloratura with flourish and showing off a splendid high C”. She is as much at home singing Susanna in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro as she is his C Minor Mass, and has delighted and astonished audiences with performances in Britten’s opera, The Rape of Lucretia, conducted by Oliver Knussen, and his Spring Serenade written for orchestra and conducted by Robert Spano.

Highlights of Ms. Saffer’s 2009-2010 season include The Princess in Philip Glass’s Orpheé for Portland Opera; Messiah with the Seattle Symphony and at Duke University; Oliver Knussen’s Whitman Songs with the Atlanta Symphony and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Portland Symphony.

Lisa Saffer first came to prominence for her performances of baroque operas in Stephen Wadsworth’s Monteverdi cycle. Soon she began appearing on CD in a landmark series of Handel recordings with conductor Nicholas McGegan on Harmonia Mundi USA. Ms. Saffer is now much in demand for Handel roles at venues including Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass, New York City Opera, San Diego, the International Handel Festival in Göttingen, Germany, and Barcelona’s Gran Teatro del Liceu. In addition she appears with leading orchestras in baroque repertoire, including the orchestras of Detroit, Indianapolis, Minnesota, and Philadelphia, the National Symphony in Washington, DC, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, with whom she appeared on tour at Disney Hall in Los Angeles and Carnegie’s Zankel Hall in New York City.

Ms. Saffer is sought after as a Mozart interpreter, acclaimed for her performances as Sandrina/La Finta Giardiniera, Despina/Così fan tutte, Servillia/La Clemenza di Tito, Aminta/Il Re Pastore, and Susanna/Le Nozze di Figaro, and for concert arias, Exsultate Jubilate, and his masses. She takes particular joy in performance of bel canto roles, especially Adina in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore and Norina in Don Pasquale.

Ms. Saffer is also widely recognized for her skill as an interpreter of contemporary scores and is identified with the works of Oliver Knussen, several of which she has recorded for DGG. With the Chicago Symphony Orchestra she has performed James Primrosch’s From a Book of Hours/Rilke (Christoph Eschenbach, conductor) and John Harbison’s Four Psalms (conductor Antonio Pappano); Ravel’s L’enfant et les Sortileges with the Cleveland Orchestra/Boulez at Carnegie Hall; David del Tredici’s Ecstatic Alice with the Atlanta Symphony/Spano; and numerous works with Amsterdam’s Schoenberg Ensemble. In addition to Lulu, on the opera stage she has been acclaimed for performances in Harrison Birtwhistle’s Punch and Judy and Morton Feldman’s Neither for Netherlands Opera, Hans Werner Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and at the Tanglewood Festival, Janácek’s Cunning Little Vixen for Houston Grand Opera, and was particularly acclaimed as Marie in Zimmermann’s Die Soldaten, which she has performed at ENO, Opera Bastille, and at New York City Opera.

Her gift for contemporary repertoire is also displayed in her frequent chamber music appearances under the auspices of such organizations as the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New York Festival of Song, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and recitals on Lincoln Center’s “Art of the Song” series and at the Kennedy Center for the Vocal Arts Society.

Ms. Saffer’s many recordings appear on HMU USA, Virgin Classics, New World Records, DGG, Chandos, and Telarc. Her most recent release is Chandos’ 3-disc set of Alban Berg’s opera Lulu.

A native of Ann Arbor, she now makes her home in Portland, Maine. She is a voracious reader who also enjoys hiking and yoga. She also loves to cook, exploring her Greek and Italian culinary heritage.

For current engagements you can visit her agent's site. Miss Saffer is represented by Schwalbe and Partners

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