Described by critics as ‘extraordinary’ with ‘flawless technique’ and ‘gorgeous stage presence’, French-Cypriot soprano Sarah Aristidou is a star in the making, and has already worked with a number of major conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Sir Simon Rattle and François-Xavier Roth.
Sarah has twice been nominated as “Best Newcomer” by Opernwelt for her interpretations of Franziska in Christian Jost’s Die arabische Nacht (2016) and for Claude Vivier’s Kopernikus (2019). She was most recently awarded the Luitpold Prize for outstanding performance of a newcomer at the Kissinger Sommer Festival (2021) and in 2022 became the first vocalist to be award the Belmont Prize for Contemporary Music.
Her potential was quickly recognized whilst a member of the Studio at Staatsoper unter den Linden and she has since gone on to debut Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos) with the company and will reprise the role in the 2021/22 season. The role also served as her debut with Oper Frankfurt, where she returns in the current season as Nausikaa in Dallapiccola’s Ulisse. Elsewhere Sarah returns to Denmark for a programme of Stravinsky, Delage and Saint-Saëns with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under Corinna Niemyer, and for Ismene (Mitridate) in a co-production at The Royal Danish Opera and Malmӧ Opera. Her debut at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam will be with Asko|Schӧnberg for the world premiere of Thomas Larcher’s The Living Mountain, a piece she recently recorded with the Münchener Kammerorchester. She subsequently returns to Munich for Fausto Romitelli’s En Trance. This season also includes the launch of Sarah’s first album, AETHER, on the Alpha Classics label. The album features Sarah in collaboration with the Orchester des Wandels under Thomas Guggeis and accompanied by Daniel Barenboim and Emmanuel Pahud, in a programme which ranges from Handel to Varèse to Adès and includes the premiere of Jӧrg Widmann’s Labyrinth V.
Most recently, Sarah made her debut at the Salzburger Festpiele in Morton Feldman’s opera Neither with ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien. She also appeared last season in the role of Ismene (Mitridate) on tour with Les Musiciens du Louvre under Marc Minkowski, and in the title role in Lucia Ronchetti’s Pinocchio at Staatsoper unter den Linden.
Further collaborations include Johannes Passion and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with Gürzenich-Orchester Köln led by Music Director François-Xavier Roth, Edgard Varèse Offrandes which marked her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic also under François-Xavier Roth, Arnold Schӧnberg’s Pierrot Lunaire with Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, and Matthias Pintscher’s With Lilies White with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks conducted by the composer and her debut in Thomas Larcher’s Das Jagdgewehr in a co-production with Bregenzer Festspiele and Aldeburgh Festival.
A series of compositions have been written for Sarah Aristidou including Aribert Reimann’s Cinq fragments lyriques premiered with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Robin Ticciati and Jörg Widmann’s Labyrinth IV premiered by the Boulez Ensemble, conducted by Daniel Barenboim. In July 2020 she was invited to participate in Daniel Barenboim’s & Emmanuel Pahud’s Festival of New Music at the Boulez Saal in Irini Amargianaki's Eumeniden.
