About Alison
The Dutch mezzo-soprano Alison Metternich went to study at the Royal Academy of Music with the famous singer Noelle Barker after her diploma at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam with Margreet Honig (voice) and Wim Leising (piano).In London she followed the concert- and opera post-graduate course where she has been given masterclasses by Sarah Walker (contemporary music), Graham Johnson, Peter Langridge and many others. Alison was praised for her warm alto-timbre and she has won the Isabelle Lukas Prize for best final exam-recital of the Royal Academy of Music.
Alison made her debut in the Queen Elisabeth Hall in London with 'Les nuits d’été' van Berlioz with the orchestra de Bretagne with which she made a tour in southern England.
In the 'Grote Zaal' of the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam she sang the alt-solo in Mahlers’ second Symphony conducted by Bas Pollard with the CREA orchestra in 2008.
She has promoted Dutch contemporary composers and composers of other periods like Constantijn Huygens. She recorded modern songs by the Dutch composer Jan van Amerongen together with Maarten Koningsbergen and other Dutch musicians that has been commercially released in 1999. In Theater Vredenburg in Utrecht she sang the romantic piece for alt and orchestra Hymne and die Nacht (Novalis) by the Dutch composer and friend of Gustav Mahler, A.Diepenbrock with the USC orchestra conducted by Bas Pollard. Alex Manassen has been a teacher of hers at the Amsterdam conservatory and made her curious for good quality contemporary music with hints to jazz and improvising. The last she has trained with the famous Dutch pianist and composer Peter Kellenbach for many years. Later at the Royal Academy she followed contemporary song classes with Sarah Walker.
With Alison’s beautiful rich low voice, her expressive performances and her ear for detail she touches many hearts of her public. Since her alt-timbre reminds many of Kathleen Ferrier, Alison has given a tribute to her remembering of Kathleen’s exceptional singing, personality and her courageous fight against breast-cancer in the English church, Begijnhof, Amsterdam. She tried to keep alive the memory of this special singer, Kathleen, by making two live radioshows broadcasted by Radio 5 (show performed in the DESMET studio) and Radio 4 (show performed from Spiegelzaal, Royal Concertgebouw Hans v.d.Boom).
Her diversity made her sing in many different performances from ancient old music to Mahagonny by Brecht and from a lot of baroque performances to Verdi. From Radio making to story writer. From outside theaters in warm summer blowing winds at Festival of Aix-en-Provence where she sang many lied recitals and in Fallstaff, with E.Mazola as conductor. To cold windy performances at the harbour of Terneuzen with the sailing ship, the Europa Bark, for the magnificent version of Wagners 'der Fliegende Holländer' at the Zeelands Nazomer Festival in the role of Marie with Jeroen Lopes Cardoso, director and Ed Spanjaard, conductor.
Alison is performing opera concerts next to lied-recitals and many oratorio work. She has been asked to sing in Festivals’ like for example Festival de Monthondon (France) where she sang the alt-soli in Petite Messe Solomnelle by Rossini. And she sang during the Salzburger Festspiele in the International Summeracademy with the American Tennor Richard Miller. For the Festival of Aix-en-Provence, France, she has been asked to sing in many lied-recitals in and around Aix-en-Provence. The production of Fallstaff in which she sang during the Festival as well braught her to Paris the next year. Where in the theatre de Champs-Elysées this production has been repeated just after the death of our director at that time, Herbert Wernicke. Alison likes to sing in France and became twice a finalist in ‘concours de Chant’ of the Opera house la Bastille and of the international Concours de chant in Macon.
In London she was prize winner of the Minnie Hauk song recital prize, the Isabel Jay Opera prize, the Blyth-Buesst Operatic prize, the Isabelle Lukas best concert prize 2000, Major van Somere Godfery English song prize and semi-finalist in London’s Wigmore Hall with the Young Concert Artist Trust.
At the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in London she sang in the Handel opera Oreste the role of Filotete conducted by Laurence Cumming and under direction of Tom Hawkes.
Concerts are planned in Haarlem Doopsgezinde kerk where she will sing alt-soli from cantates by J.S.Bach with Baroque orchestra, Belcanto opera-recital in open air theater (opposite theatre Meervaart) in Amsterdam, opera-recital in the Noorderkerk of Amsterdam-centre. Opera roles she will then sing are Carmen, Dalila, Cieca from la Giaconda, Pauline from Pique Dame (in Russian),Mignon, Orfeo and opera’s from Verdi. Alison will sing this year more oratorio like the alt-soli in Dvoraks’ Requiem in the St.Urbanus church in Amstelveen (10th of October 2008), alt-soli in Verdi’s Requiem in the big church of Alkmaar and passions like the St.John's Passion in 2009.