SOLENT DUO (Columbia, Slovenia)
Meliza Metzger Gómez, soprano
Mario Kurtjak, guitar
Programme:
Ferdinando Paër (1771–1839)
Two Italian Ariettas (La timida dichiarazione, Pupille tenere)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Veilchen K. 476, Abendempfindung K. 523
Mauro Giuliani (1781–1829)
Two Cavatinas (Amor perchè m’accendi, Quando vedo il pastorello)
Bernardo Simões (1984)
Guitar Rhapsody, for guitar solo (first performance in Slovenia)
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959)
Aria from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5
Bernardo Simões
(A new work for soprano and guitar)
Gabriel Fauré (1845–1924)
Two Songs (Le papillon et la fleur, Mai)
Joaquín Rodrigo (1901–1999)
Four Madrigals of Love
(Con que la lavare?, Vos me matásteis, De donde venís amore?, De los alamos vengo madre)
Charles Gounod (1818–1893)
Valse-ariette from the opera Mireille (O légère hirondelle)
Solent Duo was established at the Royal Academy of Music in London with a particular interest in new arrangements and the unexplored repertoire for high soprano voice and guitar. Colombian soprano Meliza Metzger Gómez and Slovenian guitarist Mario Kurtjak offer a recital of diverse and exciting repertoire of songs and arias.
Meliza Metzger Gómez finished her MA study of singing at the Royal Academy of Music in London this year under the tutelage of Catherine Benson and Iain Ledingham. She began her musical education on flute, violin and oboa, while singing in the Palestrina choir of the University of Pamplon and youth choir of the Bodø cathedral in Norway. Then she studied singing with Ximena Bernal and Andrés Silva at the Los Andes University (Colombia), graduated with honours and completed also the Culture studies and the study of the Italian language at the same university (she is fluent in English, German, French and Norwegian as well). In 2016 she graduated in singing also from the Conservatoire Jacques Thibaut in Bordeaux under the guidance of Sharon Coste. She additionally attended many masterclasses of renowned singers (Susan Bullock, Luciana Serra, Yvonne Kenny, among others) and international summer academies in Nice and Cagliari. She is presenting her coloratura soprano in operas, oratorios, art songs and chamber groups. She has sung as a soloist in oratorios with the orchestra of the Los Andes University, in oratorios and operas (The Secret Marriage, Sister Angelica) with the orchestra of the Conservatoire of Bordeaux and in October 2018 she played the role of the Queen of the night with the Tallis Chamber Orchestra in Suffolk. She appeared in the Opera scenes of the Royal Academy of Music in 2017 and 2018 and last year she also performed a recital with piano accompaniment in the Opera Bordeaux.
Mario Kurtjak is a Slovenian guitarist, professor of guitar, composer and chemist with a PhD in science. Accepted as an exceptional musical talent at the early age of 16, he graduated from the Academy of Music in Ljubljana with an MA degree and diploma summa cum laude in 2010 as a student of Prof. Andrej Grafenauer. Last year he completed (with distinction) another MA study of guitar, with Prof. Michael Lewin, David Russell and Fabio Zanon at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He has received first prizes in national and international competitions, the Antonio Tarsia award, the Škerjanc prize, the February prize of the Logatec Commune, the Prešeren award of the Academy of Music Ljubljana and the Blyth Watson award at the Royal Academy of Music. He has been actively performing as a soloist and a chamber musician, with a diverse repertoire, including his own compositions. The critics proclaimed him an excellent interpreter of guitar music with technical skills, a prominent musical sense, intensified quality of sound and sensation for sound nuances.
Admission: 12€.
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