Hui He
- Fri, 29 NovA Coruña29 Nov 2024, 19:00 – 23:00A Coruña, Avenida Marina, n7A, 15003 A Coruña, Spagna
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Chinese Soprano Hui He is one of the best opera opera singer in the world. She debuted as Aida in Shanghai Grand Theater, she burst into the international music scene in with her performance as the title role in Puccini’s Tosca at Teatro Regio in Parma. Hui He completed her musical and vocal studies in China and Italy. In 2000 she won the Second Prize at the Operalia Competition in Los Angeles, while in 2002 Hui He won First Prize at the Voci Verdiane in Busseto. Since her breakout performance in 2002, Hui He has sung at most of the world’s leading theaters, including the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Opernhaus Zürich, Opéra Bastille in Paris, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid, Théâtre de la Monnaie of Bruxelles, Liryc Opera in Chicago and Arena di Verona. When she debuted Madama Butterfly at the Volksoper Wien, Wiener Zeitung described her interpretation as “The best Butterfly you could wish for”. Hui He is one of the most popular Aida of our time, defined by critics as “the reference interpreter of this role” (L’Opera) and “Hui He’s Aida is an epiphany” (Paolo Isotta). Corriere della Sera about her Aida at La Scala wrote “Aida seduces La Scala with Hui He’s voice”. Engagements for the 2016/17 season include Amelia in Un ballo in maschera at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and Zürich Opera, Tosca at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Festival Puccini, Madama Butterfly at the Teatro Real de Madrid, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Den Norske Opera, and Dallas Opera.
In the 2015/16 season, Hui He sang in Madama Butterfly at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the title role in Aida at the Arena di Verona and Teatro Verdi di Salerno in Italy, in Tosca at Deutsche Oper Berlin and Semperoper Dresden, Leonora in Il trovatore at Opera National de Paris and Arena di Verona, and Leonora in La forza del destino at Teatro Filarmonico di Verona and Staatstheater Wiesbaden. Engagements for the 2014/15 season included Madama Butterfly at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Aida at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Arena di Verona and National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Tosca at Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Semperoper Dresden, Arena di Verona and Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, and Leonora in Il Trovatore at Chorégies d’Orange in France. Ms. He’s engagements for the 2013/14 season included Aida at Teatro alla Scala and Arena di Verona, the title role in La Gioconda at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Leonora at Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, Madama Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera and Den Norske Opera, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera at Arena di Verona.
In 2018 she sang Aida in Beijing, Madama Butterfly in Zurich, Tosca in Dresden and in Torre del Lago, she made her role and house debut as Elvira in Ernani at the Opéra de Marseille and she returned at the Berlin Deutsch Oper for the second time singing La Gioconda. At the beginning of 2019 she sang the same
role for her house debut at La Monnaie de Bruxelles. In march 2019 she made her role debut as Adriana Lecouvreur at the Teatro Filarmonico di Verona. She sang Aida and Tosca at Arena di Verona to celebrate her 15th anniversary, making an historic record as the first female singer to have sung at the Arena di Verona for 15 years no stop, after her return in Dresda in Tosca and her role debuts ad Turandot at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and as Mimì in La Bohème at the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago. In Summer 2019 she made her debut at Salzburg Festival with Adriana Lecouvreur, in a performance described by critics as “one of the best of all-time” (Klassik begeistert) and “the audience acclaimed her great performance […] she has a warm voice and a beautiful technique and she died with intentisy” (Le Monde).
In 2019/20 season she has returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Madama Butterfly, for 10 performances acclaimed by public and critic, every night she was welcomed at the curtain calls with a standing ovation. After that she came back to Shanghai for her Chinese debut as Turandot. After the lockdown she was the first opera singer to perform in a concert with audience in Italy, on June 15. Later she sang two excepts from Madama Butterfly at Arena di Verona, in occasion of the Puccini Gala on August 22.
In season 2020/2021 after returning at the Deutsche Oper Berlin with two performances as La Gioconda, she made her debut in Catania on October 15, with a special recital entitled Malinconia for the Bellini Festival and she hosted a masterclass at the Paride Venturi International Academy of Opera (October 20-22). In June 2021 she made her acclaimed debut at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos (Lisbon, Portugal) as Elvira in Verdi’s Ernani.
On october/novembre 2021 she triumphed at the Hamburg Staatsoper in the title-role of Tosca, celebrating her 100th performance as Floria, then she returned to China for a concert tour and her debut in the role of Nedda in Pagliacci (performing on the same evening Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana) and Turandot at the Shanghai Opera House. With the same opera company she brought Puccini’s opera to the immense spaces of the Xincheng archaeological site. In the
2021/2022 season, Hui He celebrates twenty-five years of her career, celebrated in her country with the awarding of the Ganlan Arts Award as Singer of the Year, the nomination as Artist Emerita of the Shanghai Opera House/ Shanghai Grand Theatre (celebrated with two applauded performances of Turandot) and of the NCPA National Opera in Beijing (celebrations are planned for Autumn 2022). Her country has also dedicated her two special series of stamps (one of them dedicated to her paintings), as It already happened in 2013. On May 2022 she was awarded as “Singer of the year” by the Association “VeronaLirica” at the Teatro Filarmonico di Verona and then she returned at the Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall for a concert of Italian and German Arias, conducted by M° Zhang Jiemin.
In addition: in 2019 Sony Classic published the album Verdi Opera Arias recorded with Orchestra and Chorus of Arena di Verona. In the same year
the docufilm about Hui He’s life (Hui He: a soprano from the Silk Road directed by Andrea Prandstraller and Niccolò Bruna, produced by RAI, Agnese Fontana, Rosario Di Girolamo, Duan Peng, Fan Weidong) was presented at the Biografilm Festival of Bologna and at Rome Festival Cinema d’iDea after the successful presentations in China and at the Venice Film Festival.
In 2017 the journalist Melanie Ho published a book about the life of the Chinese soprano, Journey to the West – He Hui: A chinese soprano in the world of Italian Opera, translated this year in Italian with the title Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle! He Hui. Un soprano cinese nel mondo dell’opera lirica.
She is deeply fond of painting and in 2021, and represented by AVA Gallery in Italy, 13 paintings of Hui were selected and exhibited in the World Art Dubai 2021. In the same year, her painting “Recondita Armonia” was awarded with the Special Prize “Vita Nova” in Dante Alighieri Premio D’arte Internazionale. Her paintings were selected and exhibited again at the World Art Dubai 2022.