I promised myself I would sing
Award-winning French soprano Sarah Aristidou is an innovative artist and has been described by critics as “extraordinary” and “with flawless technique”. Aristidou is the first singer ever to be awarded the Belmont Prize for Contemporary Music (2022), she also received the Luitpold Prize for Outstanding Performance at the Kissinger Sommer Festival (2021) and has been nominated three times for Opernwelt’s Best Newcomer award, for her performances of Claude Vivier’s Kopernikus (2019), Christian Jost’s Die arabische Nacht (2016) and her art (2023).
Sarah Aristidou ’s 2023/24 season has György Ligeti ’s Le Grand Macabre in central focus with new productions at both Wiener Staatsoper (Jan Lauwers) under Pablo Heras-Casado and Bayerische Staatsoper (Krysztof Warlikowski) under Kent Nagano alongside concert performances with Orchestre National de France under François-Xavier Roth and at the George Enescu Festival under Arnaud Arbet. Aristidou presented a world-première by Brett Dean together with the Scharoun Ensemble at the Berliner Philharmonie, and will be part of a special project directed by Bertrand Bonello for Orchestre de Paris entitled ‘Transfiguré – 12 vies de Schönberg’ with conductor Ariane Matiakh. Later in the season, she reunites with conductor Finnegan Downie Dear and Staatskapelle Berlin for George Benjamin’s Into the Little Hill at Staatsoper unter den Linden. As part of Berliner Philharmoniker’s late night concert series, Sarah performs with Jörg Widmann at the Philharmonie, joins RIAS Kammerchor and Akademie für Alte Musik under Justin Doyle for Bach ’s St John Passion in Berlin and Paris and collaborates with DJ Max Cooper at the Felsenreitschule as part of the 2024 Salzburg Easter Festival.
An intense and committed actress, Sarah Aristidou received outstanding reviews for her breakthrough performances as Shoko in the world premiere of Thomas Larcher’s Das Jagdgewehr in co-production with Bregenzer Festspiele and Aldeburgh Festival and her recent debut at Bayerische Staatsoper in a collaborative production of Toshio Hosokawa’s Hanjo between choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija brought considerable further acclaim. As Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Aristidou has performed at Berliner Staatsoper unter den Linden, Oper Frankfurt and Semperoper Dresden and as Ismene in Mozart ’s Mitridate, she joined productions in Copenhagen, Malmö and Berlin, the latter conducted by Marc Minkowski. Further appearances on the opera stage include Dallapiccola’s Ulisse at Oper Frankfurt and Lucia Rochetti ’s Pinocchio at Staatsoper Unter den Linden.
Aristidou, an enthusiastic champion of new music, has inspired several compositions including Aribert Reimann’s Cinq fragments lyriques, premiered with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Robin Ticciati and Jörg Widmann ’s Labyrinth IV, presented with Boulez Ensemble and Daniel Barenboim and she made acclaimed debuts at Salzburger Festspiele in Morton Feldman’s Neither with ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien and Roland Kluttig and with Berliner Philharmoniker in Edgard Varèse Offrandes under François-Xavier Roth.
Although much time on the concert platform has been dedicated to contemporary music, Sarah Aristidou’s repertoire equally encompassing core classics like Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem (Lahti Symphony Orchestra/ Masaaki Suzuki), Pergolesi ’s Stabat Mater
(Gürzenich-Orchester/Roth), Orff ’s Carmina Burana (WDR Sinfonieorchester/ Cristian Măcelaru) and Bach’s St John ’s Passion (Gürzenich-Orchester/Roth). She has further appeared with WDR Sinfonieorchester under Roderick Cox in Ligeti ’s Mysteries of the Macabre, sang the world premiere of Larcher’s The Living Mountain at Amsterdam ’s Concertgebouw, Abrahamsen ’s Let Me Tell You with Philharmonie Zuidnederland and Duncan Ward, Schӧnberg ’s Pierrot Lunaire with Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Matthias Pintscher ’s With Lilies White with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, conducted by the composer himself and Benjamin’s Mind of Fire with Finnegan Downie Dear conducting Staatskapelle Berlin.
Aristidou released her debut album ÆTHER on Alpha Classics in 2021 featuring a collaboration with Thomas Guggeis and Orchester des Wandels. The album was nominated for a BBC Music Magazine Award and includes guest artists Daniel Barenboim, Emmanuel Pahud and Christian Rivet in a programme ranging from Haendel to Varèse and the premiere of Jörg Widmann’s Labyrinth V. Aristidou’s second album ENIGMA is set for release on Alpha Classics in November 2023. Other recordings include Thomas Larcher’s The Living Mountain for ECM and Sarah’s first EP S’Agapo with composer Kaan Bulak and DJs Ricardo Villalobos and Ale Hop for Feral Note, combining Cypriot folksongs with electro music.