Aria's Artists Management

Christine Buffle - Soprano

Born in Exeter (GB) and raised in Geneva, Christine Buffle's career reflects her Anglo/Swiss ancestry: she received her musical training at the Geneva Conservatory, the Guildhall School of Music&Drama in London and the International Opera Studio in Zurich.
At the Zurich Opera she gained early professional experience in numerous small roles before making her debut there as Queen of the Night; she soon repeated this role for Scottish Opera in Glasgow and on tour, and thereafter becam a regular guest of the Komische Oper in Berlin, performing Musetta (La Bohème), Valencienne (The Merry Widow), 1st Lady (The Magic Flute) and Najade (Ariadne auf Naxos).
Further guest appearances have taken the young singer to Paris, London, Leeds, Basel and Geneva in roles such as Norina (Don Pasquale), Marie (la Fille du Régiment), Olympia (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Le Feu (L’Enfant et les Sortilèges), Elvira (Italiana in Algeri), Frasquita (Carmen), Poussette (Manon), as well as invitations to festivals such as Edinburgh, Lucerne and Salzburg, where she sang a Blumenmädchen under Claudio Abbado.
Among the many other prominent conductors with whom she has worked (Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Franz Welser-Möst, Marek Janowski, Marc Minkowski, Armin Jordan, Vladimir Jurowski, Michel Plasson, Emmanuel Villaume, Michael Boder, Thierry Fischer ...) the late Marcello Viotti is worthy of special mention: under his baton she appeared frequently in concerts with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester and sang in a new production of Massenet's Thaïs at La Fenice in Venice, directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi, which was recorded on CD and DVD.

An accomplished oratorio singer, Christine Buffle has performed a wide variety of works ranging from the Bach Passions and Mozart's C minor mass to Frank Martin's Golgotha and Honegger's King David. In October 2008, she appeared in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, singing the role of Miranda in Frank Martin's Der Sturm after Shakespeare's The Tempest; the performance of this rare piece was recorded live, both for CD (Hyperion) and Netherlands Radio broadcast and was enthusiastically received by both public and critics. She recorded the title role in Janacek's Cunning Little Vixen with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester under Kent Nagano for the soundtrack of a BBC Arte Viva Cartoon which was first broadcast in 2003 and appeared on DVD shortly thereafter.

Contemporary music has played an important part in her career to date; she performed the title role in Pascal Dusapin's Niobé for the Lausanne Opera to great acclaim in 2003, and the following year sang in the world Première of Le Luthier de Venise by Gualtiero Dazzi at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. In January 2008 she sang the role of Rose in a concert performance of Elliott Carter's opera What Next? with the RAI orchestra in Turin.

Accepting an invitation from Brigitte Fassbaender, Christine Buffle took up an ensemble contract at the Landestheater Innsbruck, where she has sung many principal roles in her fach: Marzelline (Fidelio), Saffi (The Gypsy Baron), Konstanze (Abduction from the Seraglio), Sylva Varescu (Czardasfürstin), Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro), Ensoleillad (Chérubin by Massenet), Euridice (Orfeo et Euridice), Nedda (I Pagliacci); in 2006 she made her highly acclaimed debut as Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and was awarded the prestigious "Eberhardt Waechter" prize for her numerous roles at the Landestheater. This role has become, along with Violetta (La Traviata), which she performed to unanimous critical acclaim, her calling card; besides her great musicality and beauty of tone, she has become renowned over the years for her intense dramatical involvement in all her portrayals; Mélisande (Pelléas & Mélisande), The Governess (The Turn of the Screw), Antonia (Tales of Hoffmann) being her latest superb witnesses to the fact.

Future plans include Marenka (The Bartered Bride) and Blanche (Dialogues des Carmélites) in Innsbruck, and Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus) in Munich.

Artists Management
phone / fax +39 0473 200 200

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