Simon Wallfisch (born 22 May 1982) is a British-German classical singer and cellist.

Life and career

Simon Joseph Lasker Wallfisch was born in London in 1982[1] to a family of professional musicians: his father is British cellist Raphael Wallfisch, his mother the Australian born baroque violinist Elizabeth Wallfisch. His grandparents are cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch and pianist Peter Wallfisch. His older brother is composer Benjamin Wallfisch, his younger sister is singer-songwriter Joanna Wallfisch.

Education

Between 2000 and 2006, Simon Wallfisch studied at the London Royal College of Music singing, violoncello and conducting. He continued his studies at Berlin's Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin 2006/07 and until 2009 at University of Music and Theatre Leipzig. During that period he sang as guest soloist at the Leipzig opera house, Theater Magdeburg, Anhaltisches Theater Dessau, Stadttheater Fürth and at the Theater Altenburg-Gera[2]

Career

In 2013 he sang Escamillo in La tragédie de Carmen based on Bizet's Carmen with the Nederlandse Reisopera,[3] in 2015 Albert in Jules Massenet’s Werther with the English Touring Opera,[4][5] 2016 Marcello in Puccini's La Bohème with Orfeo InScena at the Teatro Verdi (Casciana Terme) in Pisa,[6] and 2016/17 Fieramosca in Hector Berlioz’ Benvenuto Cellini as guest at Staatstheater Nürnberg.[7] In concerts he sang Johann Sebastian Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium at the Brighton Early Music Festival in 2017[8] and Alexander Goehr's "after 'The Waking'" with the Nash Ensemble at London's Wigmore Hall[9]

Wallfisch performed as cellist in the Holocaust Memorial Day programme on BBC Two in 2015.[10]

Discography

  • 2014 – Geoffrey Bush Songs, with pianist Edward Rushton. Lyrita (SRCD343)[11]
  • 2015 – French Songs: from la belle époque to les années folles, with works by Caplet, Honegger, Milhaud and Ravel), with pianist Edward Rushton. Nimbus Records (NI5938)[12]
  • 2018 – Gesänge des Orients, with pianist Edward Rushton. Nimbus Records (NI5971)[13]
  • 2019 – Robert Schumann: Songs of Love and Death, with pianist Edward Rushton. Resonus Classics (RES10247)[14]
  • 2020 – Johannes Brahms: Songs of Loss and Betrayal, with pianist Edward Rushton. Resonus Classics (RES10258)[15]

Activism

Wallfisch is an activist against antisemitism. He gives talks and tells his family's history in schools, and accompanies his grandmother Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who is a frequent guest in talkshows and interviews.[16][17] He is a trustee of the International Centre for Suppressed Music (ICSM),[18] and performed works by "classical composers who were stopped from working, forced into exile or killed by the Nazis."[19][20]

References

  1. ↑ Marquardt, Jens-Peter (9 November 2018). "Simon Wallfisch wird Deutscher". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  2. ↑ "Simon Wallfisch". Oxfordlieder.co.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  3. ↑ Kooiman, Jordi (24 October 2013). "Reisopera speelt La tragédie de Carmen". operamagazine.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  4. ↑ "Werther – English Touring Opera". Englishtouringopera.org.uk. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  5. ↑ Hall, George (5 October 2015). "Werther review – emotional power despite the reductions". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  6. ↑ "Orfeo InScena presenta LA BOHEME". guasconeteatro.it (in Italian). 21 May 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  7. ↑ "Simon Wallfisch | Staatstheater Nürnberg". staatstheater-nuernberg.de (in German). Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  8. ↑ Connal, Andrew (13 November 2017). "J S BACH – CHRISTMAS ORATORIO – BREMF Singers and Players". thelatest.co.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  9. ↑ Hewett, Ivan (6 September 2017). "A whistling violinist and grunting violin at the Festival Hall, plus September's best classical concerts|Nash Ensemble, Wigmore Hall". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  10. ↑ "BBC Two - Holocaust Memorial Day". Archived from the original on 29 January 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  11. ↑ "Geoffrey Bush Songs". Wyastone.co.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  12. ↑ "French Songs: from la belle époque to les années folles". Wyastone.co.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  13. ↑ "Gesänge des Orients". Wyastone.co.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  14. ↑ "Robert Schumann: Songs of Love and Death". resonusclassics.com. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  15. ↑ "Johannes Brahms: Songs of Loss and Betrayal". resonusclassics.com. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  16. ↑ Herwig, Malte (21 December 2015). ""Der Holocaust war in der Familie nie Thema"". Süddeutsche Zeitung. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  17. ↑ Kwoczalla, Angelina (12 January 2018). "AKG Traunstein: Zeitzeugen ziehen Publikum in Bann". Bayernwelle.de.
  18. ↑ "Trustees, INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR SUPPRESSED MUSIC - 1169958, Register of Charities - The Charity Commission". charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  19. ↑ "Suppressed". Jewish Music Institute. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  20. ↑ "ICSM: Exile Estates, Archives and Music Restitution". jmi.org.uk. 31 May 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
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