"A smouldering mix of fairy godmother and femme fatale."
Fiona Kimm’s beautiful mezzo soprano voice and commanding stage presence have made her one of the most distinguished singers of her generation, with an extensive and eclectic operatic, oratorio and concert repertoire from Monteverdi to the present day.
With impressive versatility, she has encompassed a broad spectrum of musical styles and dramatic characterizations. Her operatic roles include Sextus (“La Clemenza di Tito”), Hansel, Orlofsky, Dido (Purcell), Hermia, Julie (“Showboat”), Olga, Fyodor, Nicklaus, Baba the Turk, Wife/Sphinx/Doreen (“Greek”), Rosalind (“The Mines of Sulphur”), Clairon, Fricka, Mistress Quickly, Azucena, Ulrica, Kabanicha, Jezibaba, Marcellina and Orfeo.
She has created roles in many World, European and British premieres, as well as performing in notable new productions, including the acclaimed Tarkovsky production of Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov“, Ian Judge’s production of “Faust“, The ENO “Rusalka” (Dvorak) and Peter Sellers’ Glyndebourne production of “Die Zauberflöte“.
She has performed the major oratorio roles internationally and has worked with distinguished conductors including Abbado, Downes, Haitink, Handley, Pritchard, Rozhdestvensky, and orchestras which include London Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, London Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Modern, English Chamber Orchestra, Musique Oblique, Lontano and The Nash Ensemble
As a recitalist, she performs with leading accompanists, among them, Andrew Ball, Iain Burnside, Wyn Davies. She has a wide-ranging recital repertoire of music in Russian, Italian, German, Spanish and French. With the latter she has a particular affinity, as she is half French. Her acclaimed recital at the Wigmore Hall entitled “In Flanders Fields”, explored music and conflict in the 20th Century.
Fiona has performed works by many contemporary composers including Boulez, Berio, Henze, Berkeley, Donatoni, Maw, Turnage, Carpenter, Goehr, Schnittke, Gubaidulina, Cowie, Harbison and Holt, and has had many pieces written specifically for her.
She is a regular broadcaster, and has made several television films, including the Thames Television production of “L’Enfance du Christ” (Marie), the award-winning B.B.C. production of “Greek“, several operas from Glyndebourne, and S.T.V.’s film of Elgar’s “Sea Pictures“. Her recordings include “L’Enfance du Christ“, Weill’s “Street Scene“, Simon Holt’s “Canciones“, Decca’s recording of “Greek“, Sony’s recording of Goldschmidt’s “Beatrice Cenci“, Turnage’s “Lament for a Hanging Man” with Oliver Knussen and the Nash Ensemble and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ “Taverner” for NMC.
She has appeared as soloist at many prestigious state events, including Command Performances, official memorial services and at conferences for visiting Heads of State.
Performances of note include “The Return of Ulysses” in Lisbon, Mistress Quickly for Garsington, the British premiere of “L’Arlesiana” at Holland Park, the world premiere of Simon Holt’s first opera for Opera North, Fricka in both “Das Rheingold” and “Die Walküre“, Azucena, Ulrica for COC in Toronto, Madame Larina for GTO and the world premiere of “Snow White” for the Nationale Reisopera. The CD recording of her recital programme, “In Flanders Fields” is available on the Quartz label.
During the 2009 – 2010 season, performances have included Jezibaba and Kabanicha for ETO, concert performances of Mussorgsky “Songs and Dances of Death” and Elgar “Sea Pictures”, Katerina Schratt in the Royal Ballet’s production of “Mayerling” in Tokyo and Annina in “Der Rosenkavalier” for Opera Zuid in the Netherlands. In 2011, she appeared as Agnes the Digger in “Fantastic Mr Fox” for ETO and in the world premiere of Stewart Copeland’s “Tell Tale Heart” for Opera Shots at the Royal Opera House.
She is currently working on “Queen of Spades” for Opera North.
You can read about Fiona on her Wikipedia entry. If you would like to get in touch with Fiona or her manager, James Black, please use the “Contact” link on the left of this website.
