Soloists
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Sanford Sylvan |
From Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin and the Passions of J. S. Bach to the operas of John Adams, American baritone Sanford Sylvan displays a remarkable range of vocal expression and communicative power. He makes his Music of the Baroque début in these performances.
Deeply committed to the art of the vocal recital, Mr. Sylvan and his long-time collaborator, pianist David Breitman, have performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe, in major venues in London, New York, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia and San Francisco. Their recitals and recordings have earned exceptional praise from critics and audiences, including three Grammy nominations for Best Classical Vocal Performance.
An acclaimed Mozartean, Mr. Sylvan'ss portrayals of Figaro and Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte have been seen internationally, including onPBS’s Great Performances. He sang the role of Leporello in Don Giovanni for his Glyndebourne Festival début and with New York City Opera, where he has since become a regular performer in such operas as The Magic Flute, Ariodante, The Rape of Lucretia and most recently Handel’s Semele.
Sanford Sylvan created the role of Chou En Lai in John Adams’ Nixon in China and the title role in The Death of Klinghoffer. He appeared in the US premiere of The Lighthouse by Peter Maxwell Davies, the world premiere of Philip Glass’ The Juniper Tree, and sang Sir Michael Tippett’s The Ice Break at the BBC Proms, recorded for Virgin Classics.
Sanford Sylvan has performed with many of the world's leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony. Detroit Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, London Symphony, BBC Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestras, the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, Academy of Ancient Music, Melbourne Symphony, Australian Chamber Orchestra and the NHK (Japanese Broadcasting Corporation) Symphony.
He has collaborated with such conductors as Simon Rattle, James Levine, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Herbert Blomstedt, Christopher Hogwood, Kent Nagano, Helmuth Rilling, Bruno Weil , Roger Norrington, and Edo De Waart, among many others. The Los Angeles Philharmonic commissioned Steven Stucky’s American Muse for him; recent performances include Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron with the Boston Symphony under James Levine and Handel’s Messiah with the Pittsburgh Symphony. In spring 2007 he sang the world premiere of Christopher Rouse’s Requiem with the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
Sanford Sylvan recordings appear on the Nonesuch, Decca, Harmonia Mundi, Musicmasters, Bridge, Koch, Virgin Classics, New World and CRI labels. A Grammy and Emmy Award winner for his role in John Adams’ Nixon in China, he has received Grammy nominations for his recording L’Horizon Chimérique with David Breitman, Beloved That Pilgrimage, a program of American songs with music by Barber, Copland and Chanler, and for John Adams’ The Wound Dresser. A recording of Bach with the Sarasa Ensemble was released in spring 2006.