Fleur Barron’s glowing mezzo-soprano voice brought to her portions of the cycle a quality that explains well her growing reputation within Mahler’s oeuvre, including her capacity to handle the nuanced emotional and technical demands of his music.
Earrelevant, Mark Gresham
Bates and the musicians [play with] striking scope and dramatic gesture…But the tone is set by Fleur Barron in the title role. The Singaporean-British mezzo leans into the role’s tragic scope; when she speaks of ‘torment’ it doesn’t just throb but shakes Purcell’s ground bass until it seems like the melodic circle can never close again. There’s no fear of colouring outside the lines, and her Dido—generously shaded and gestural—refuses to be confined, packing five acts of tragedy into the opera’s short scope.
Gramophone, Alexandra Coughlan
Wo bist du Licht! was written in 1981 and is scored for mezzo-soprano – the superb Fleur Barron, who is mentored by Hannigan – percussion, strings and tape. Nothing could prepare us though for this stunning performance of Vivier’s settings of Friedrich Hölderlin and the composer himself. The long instrumental opening took on a markedly ritualistic slant under Hannigan’s direction; initially, the voice joins in before morphing into a more Schoenbergian Sprechgesang. Barron’s voice verged towards the contralto at times, which suited the music perfectly – there is no lessening of strength in her lowest reaches….It is frankly impossible to imagine a more convincing performance of this piece. Everything came together: Barron magnificent, faultless; the LSO under Hannigan offering their fullest concentration and virtuosity. In the vocal line, extended vocal techniques were effortlessly integrated into the musical argument – certainly, they were no mere effects, a marker of deep understanding of the music’s vocabulary.
Seen and Heard International, Colin Clarke
Adriana was sung by mezzo soprano Fleur Barron. Of rich voice, she is a formidable technician of deep musicality and has a powerful stage presence, transforming herself from the sexually ripe young woman into the mature woman who must explain herself to her grown son.
Opera Today, Michael Milenski
Barron has a rich-toned, highly expressive mezzo timbre with an extraordinary range….the songs were put over with such zest, style and enthusiasm that I felt I was carried immediately into the emotional heart of at least a dozen different societies or civilizations.
The Times, Richard Morrison
Barron’s mezzo-soprano is mul
ti-layered and vibrant: imagine a voice that seems to have the blood in one’s veins and the life forces of nature running through it. Wonderfully even, both all encompassing and crystal clear, Barron’s mezzo draws one into the emotional journeys it charts.
Opera Today, Claire Seymour
Hailed as “a knockout performer” by The Times, Singaporean-British mezzo Fleur Barron is a passionate interpreter of opera, symphonic works, and chamber music ranging from the Baroque to the contemporary. She is currently Artistic Partner of the Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias in Oviedo, for which she will curate and perform multiple projects across several seasons. The artist is mentored by Barbara Hannigan.
The 2024-25 season sees Fleur Barron emerge as an exciting, leading voice in Mahlerian repertoire across a series of important symphonic debuts: Das Lied von der Erde with Daniel Harding and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra on tour across Germany, with Harding and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm and on tour to Spain, with Kent Nagano and the Hamburg Staatsorchester at the Elbphilharmonie, and at the Oregon Bach Festival; Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Nathalie Stutzmann and the Atlanta Symphony; Mahler Second Symphony with the Orquesta de Valencia; Rückert Lieder with PhilZuid; and the Kindertotenlieder at Het Concertgebouw’s Mahler Festival with Julius Drake. Other orchestral engagements include Peter Lieberson’s Neruda Songs with the Hawai’i Symphony Orchestra, Saariaho’s Adriana Songs with the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, and orchestrated Schubert songs with the Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias. She takes on three new opera roles: Concepción in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra under Ludovic Morlot, as well as a studio recording; Comrade Chin/Shu Fang in Huang Ruo’s M. Butterfly at the Barbican Centre directed by James Robinson; and Galatea in Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo with La Nuova Musica at Wigmore Hall.
The season heralds the commercial release of Fleur Barron’s debut orchestral disc with the Barcelona Symphony and Ludvoic Morlot, featuring Ravel’s Shéhérazade and Trois Poèmes de Mallarmé. A celebrated recitalist, this season she undertakes a six-city North American recital tour with pianist Kunal Lahiry, including a Carnegie Hall debut, as well as further American tour dates with the Parker Quartet in a program of Brahms, Mahler, and Anthony Cheung. She also joins her frequent collaborator Julius Drake for concerts in London, Amsterdam, Stuttgart, Madrid, Manchester, and Oviedo. Beyond the performance stage, Fleur Barron conducts masterclasses at academic institutions such as Harvard, Sibelius Academy Helsinki, Royal Northern College of Music, Boston University, and the Manhattan School of Music.
Fleur Barron began the 2023-24 season with a return to the London Symphony Orchestra, where she received critical acclaim in season-opening concerts at the Barbican Centre in works by Vivier and Stravinsky under the baton of Barbara Hannigan. The autumn of 2023 saw the release on Pentatone Records of her performance in the title role in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with La Nuova Musica, and she joined the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and conductor Ludovic Morlot for performances of Shéhérazade and Montsalvatge’s Cinco Canciones Negras at L’Auditori Barcelona and on tour to Hamburg and Stockholm. Further orchestral engagements included Mahler’s Third Symphony with the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov, Mahler’s Second Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde with Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, and Freya Waley-Cohen’s Spell Book with the Manchester Collective at the Barbican. She brought two operatic titles into her repertoire during the season: Penelope in Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria on tour with baroque ensemble I Gemelli; and multiple roles in Sir George Benjamin’s two-person opera Into the Little Hill with the Staatsoper Berlin at the Boulez Saal. On the recital platform, Fleur Barron teamed up with regular partner Julius Drake for a series of concerts in the United States and throughout Europe, returned to the 92 Street Y with Myra Huang, and made multiple appearances at the Wigmore Hall with string ensembles O/Modernt and 12 Ensemble. She also curated OSPA’s East-West Fest in April 2024, featuring symphonic programs, chamber music, late-night concerts, and a broad community engagement over two weekends in Oviedo and Gijón.
Highlights of recent seasons include the title role of Kaija Saariaho’s opera Adriana Mater with the San Francisco Symphony, Ottavia in L’Incoronazione di Poppea at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, la Zelatrice in Suor Angelica with the Berlin Philharmonic under Kirill Petrenko, Tchaikovsky’s Olga and Paulina at Garsington Opera and Opera de Toulon, the title role of Carmen for Arizona Opera, and other appearances with Opéra de Monte-Carlo, La Monnaie, Opéra National de Montpellier, Opéra National du Rhin, and Cape Town Opera. A vibrant concert schedule brought her together with the Munich Philharmonic under Barbara Hannigan, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Göteborgs Symfoniker, Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, Slovenian Philharmonic, and the Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias.
Fleur Barron is committed to the various ways Music facilitates cross-cultural dialogue and healing. She is passionate about curating inclusive chamber music programming that amplifies the voices of diverse communities. Born in Northern Ireland to a Singaporean mother and British father, Fleur grew up in Hong Kong and later New York. She holds degrees from Columbia University (B.A. Comparative Literature) and Manhattan School of Music (M.M. Vocal Performance).
Purcell, When I am laid in earth
VideoMassenet, Va! Laisse couler mes larmes
VideoMahler, Urlicht
VideoDebussy, La Damoiselle Élue, excerpt
VideoVivier, Wo bist du Licht?, excerpt
VideoStrauss, Wie du warst
VideoBizet, En vain pour éviter
VideoHandel, Iris Hence Away
VideoChinese Folksong, Fengyang Flower Drum
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