Barbara Hendricks

女高音，1948年11月20日出生于美國阿肯色州史蒂芬斯，在亞斯本音樂學校師從托瑞爾(Jennie Tourel)，1969年到1972年進入紐約茱麗亞音樂院并以音樂學士畢業(yè)，期間曾參加過卡拉斯的大師班。1976年在舊金山歌劇院演出蒙臺威爾第的《波碧亞的加冕》是她第一次踏上歌劇舞臺，而兩年后在柏林以《費加洛的婚禮》中飾演的蘇珊娜獲得個人的國際性成功，逐漸地韓翠克絲成為最耀眼的聲樂名家之一。韓翠克絲不僅是當今最著名的三大黑人女高音之一，同時擁有“來自天堂的聲音”的美譽。
 
1978年，卡拉揚在錄制威爾第歌劇《唐卡洛》之時，其中有一個小段詠嘆調是從天上傳來的救贖聲音，大師找到一位出道沒多久的年輕女高音來演唱，由于卡拉揚的賞識，從此芭芭拉·韓翠克絲（Barbara Hendricks）便擁有「來自天堂的聲音」的美譽，一直到現年將近五十歲的她，聲音依舊如同是天上清音般吸引著世人。
　　 出生于美國阿肯色州、有著娃娃臉的韓翠克絲不僅是當今最著名的三大黑人女高音之一，同時也可以說是世界頂尖的聲樂名家。當然她不像芭托或是潔西·諾曼那樣在舞臺上光芒四射，但是她的藝術特質卻更為不凡，就像她所得到的數學與化學學士一般，在韓翠克絲那清澄透徹的聲音里，總是傳達出理性思維與感性情緒的融合音質。一九七二年她又在紐約茱莉亞音樂學院以音樂學士畢業(yè)，一九七六年在舊金山歌劇院演出蒙臺威爾第的《波碧亞的加冕》是她第一次踏上歌劇舞臺，而兩年后在柏林以《費加洛的婚禮》中的蘇珊娜獲得個人的國際性成功，逐漸地韓翠克絲成為當代最耀眼的聲樂家之一。
 
韓翠克絲靠的便是極端纖細敏銳的音色，讓她擁有最典型的抒情女高音風格，再加上那充滿靈性的詮釋手法與技巧，于是在歌劇領域當中，尤其是德奧曲目里像蘇珊娜、帕蜜娜、蘇菲（《玫瑰騎士》）等這類必須用聲音來細膩刻畫的角色，韓翠克絲的表現始終令人嘆服不已。從她灌錄的第一張錄音（一九七五年由馬捷爾指揮的蓋希文歌劇《乞丐與蕩婦》當中的克拉拉）開始，盡管她的戲碼選擇沒有特別的焦點，卻因為嚴謹與精致的演唱，即使是不同風格的歌劇演出也都鮮有失敗之作。不過她在歌劇以外的音樂領域卻更為亮眼，韓翠克絲為EMI灌錄的黑人靈歌專輯就是一張值得珍藏的錄音，而她的宗教音樂、藝術歌曲、爵士樂甚至通俗音樂等不同領域的成績，幾乎都是備受樂迷的好評。
 
而看看韓翠克絲所獲得的推崇也是令人相當咋舌，包括一九八六年獲得法國政府頒發(fā)的「藝術與文學統(tǒng)御者」的榮譽，她是有史以來最年輕的受獎者。一九八七年因為她的人道精神而成為聯合國國際難民組織的親善大使，在各大學也獲得無數的榮譽博士學位，九三年她受邀在美國克林頓總統(tǒng)的就職典禮演唱等等，這些成就，不僅顯示韓翠克絲是一位優(yōu)異的聲樂家，更展現她身為一位真正藝術家的風范。
 
Barbara Hendricks was born in Arkansas, USA and received her musical training and her Bachelor of Music at the Juilliard School of Music in New York where she studied with mezzo-soprano Jennie Tourel. Earlier, she had completed her studies at the University of Nebraska receiving the degree of Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Chemistry at the age of 20.
 
She made her American and European operatic debuts in 1974 at the San Francisco Opera and at the Glyndebourne Festival and went on to appear at all major opera houses throughout the world, including the Paris Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden and La Scala. Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro was her debut role in Berlin, Vienna, Hamburg and Munich, as well as the role she sang in the last performances that the late Karl Böhm conducted of this opera.
 
Barbara Hendricks has more than 20 roles in her active opera repertoire, 12 of which she has already recorded. They range from Mozart (Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and Ilia in Idomeneo) to French classics (Antonia in Les Contes d'Hoffman, Micaela in Bizet's Carmen, Massenet's Manon and Gounod's Juliette, Debussy's Mélisande), and the Italian masterpieces (Liù in Turandot and Gilda in Rigoletto). She sang 'Liu' in the historical premiere performance of Turandot, given in the Forbidden City in Beijing in 1998, conducted by Zubin Mehta and directed by Zhang Yimou. In March 2000 she added Tatiana in Eugene Oneguin at the Nice Opera with Vladimir Chernov.
 
She made her film debut as Mimi in La Bohème, directed by Luigi Comencini. In 1994 she participated in an international prize-winning film production of The Rake's Progress singing Anne Truelove, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. She was a member of the jury at the International Film Festival in Cannes 1999, presided by David Cronenberg.
 
Since her 1974 New York Town Hall debut, Barbara Hendricks has been acclaimed as one of the leading and most active recitalists of her generation and in addition to her vast repertoire of German Lieder she is also known as a leading interpreter and staunch promoter of French, American and Scandinavian music. The pianists with whom she has performed and recorded include Dmitri Alexeev, Michel Béroff, Yefim Bronfman, Michel Dalberto, Youri Egorov, Ralf Gothoni, Radu Lupu, Maria Joao Pires, Roland Pöntinen, Staffan Scheja, Andras Schiff and Peter Serkin. Because of her love for chamber music, she regularly participates and also organises chamber music festivals with friends who share her passion. Barbara Hendricks has performed her extensive orchestral repertoire with all of the leading conductors and orchestras of our time. She is one of today's best-selling recording artists and has made nearly 80 recordings with conductors such as Barenboim, Bernstein, Davis, Dorati, Giulini, Haitink, Karajan, Maazel, Mehta, Sawallisch and Solti.
 
She made her jazz debut at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1994 and has since then performed regularly in renowned jazz festivals throughout the world with the Magnus Lindgren Quartet.
 
Barbara Hendricks has toured Japan with von Karajan (1977), Bernstein (1985), with the Vienna State Opera (1986) and the Hamburg Opera (1996). In addition to her busy concert and opera schedule in Europe and in the United States, she alternates every other year with extensive tours to the Far East or Latin America and performs regularly at international music festivals worldwide.
 
In 1974, she sang the American premiere of Gilbert Amy's Un Espace Déployé with the Chicago Symphony and Sir Georg Solti, who invited her back for the world premiere of the American Bicentennial Commission of David Del Tredici's Final Alice, which she subsequently performed with the Boston, Philadelphia and Cleveland Symphonies, and the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras.
 
She sang the American premiere of the 'Dies Irae' of Penderecki in 1976 with the Los Angeles Philarmonic and Zubin Mehta. She gave the world premiere of Tobias Picker's The Rain in the Trees with Lorin Maazel and the Pittsburgh Symphony in 1996; as a special guest of Lord Menuhin, she premiered works by five internationally known composers, dedicated to Lord Menuhin for his 80th Birthday Celebration at the closing concert of the Lincoln Center Music Festival; and in 1997, the world premiere in Japan, of songs by young Japanese composer Mari Takano. In 2000 she performed Sven-David Sandström's Mölna Elegy commissioned for her by the Gotland Chamber Festival. She performed in 2002 the world premiere of Bruno Mantovani’s Das erschaft der Dichter nicht commissioned for her by the Ensemble Intercontemporain of Paris.
 
In 2004 she premiered Arvo Pärt’s l’Abbé Agathon for eight cellos commissioned for her by the Festival L’Ensembles de Violoncelles in France. At the end of 2004 she will sing the part of The Angel in the world premiere of Peter Eötvös’s opera, “Angel” based on the Tony Kushner play “Angels in America” at the Châtelet Theatre, Paris.