soprano
Marguerite Krull has garnered praise worldwide for roles in both the soprano and high lyric mezzo-soprano repertoire owing to her wide vocal range and excellent dramatic skills. She has eight different Rossini heroines to her credit as well as many baroque and classical roles, and has in addition a special affinity for contemporary music. Marguerite’s recent seasons included a last minute engagement with La Monnaie in Brussels, Belgium as the title role of Rossini’s Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra, returns to the New York City Opera for Emilia in Handel’s Flavio and to the Teatro Colón in Bogotá, Colombia as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni; debuts with both New Orleans Opera and Opera Grand Rapids as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro; a solo soprano debut with the Sonoma County Choral Society in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater; and a return to Philadelphia with the Tempesta di Mare Orchestra in Handel’s “Tra le Fiamme” for which the Philadelphia Inquirer singled out her singing as “especially superb.” Other recent performances include her Teatro Colón debut in Argentina in the title role of Rossini’s Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with Voices of Ascension at Alice Tully Hall in New York City, Tirsi in Handel’s Clori, Tirsi e Fileno with Philadelphia’s Tempesta di Mare, Belle in Philip Glass’ La belle et la bête with the Oakland Opera, and Cherubino for her critically acclaimed Lyric Opera of Chicago debut. Calling her “a remarkably stylish musician,” John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune dubbed her performance “the big news” of the evening. Also of note is her recent debut with the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Slatkin, in the title role of semi-staged performances of Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, of which the Baltimore Sun said “Her warm, flexible voice and superbly detailed phrasing had a disarming impact.” European credits included debuts in Lausanne, Bordeaux and Madrid in the title role of Martin y Soler’s La capricciosa corretta, a role she then recorded for the Naïve/Naxos label, and a Leipzig debut in the title role of Melani’s L’empio punito, the first operatic treatment of the Don Juan legend.
Other engagements include Despina in Così fan tutte with the Washington Opera; Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and a soprano version of the title role of La cenerentola with the Baltimore Opera; Cherubino and the title role of L’enfant et les sortilèges with the New York City Opera; Oscar in Un ballo in maschera at the Teatro Coløn in Bogotá, Colombia; Micaela in Carmen with the Austin Lyric Opera; Sesto in Giulio Cesare with the Washington Opera and Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society; Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi with the Berkshire Opera; Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia with the Broomhill Opera in England; Don Ramiro in La finta giardiniera at the Washington Opera and the Glimmerglass Opera; and Nero in L’incoronazione di Poppea with the Orlando Opera. Marguerite has also had a special relationship with the Caramoor International Music Festival where she has performed four Rossini heroines: Rosina, Ninetta in La gazza ladra, the title role of La donna del lago, and Desdemona in Rossini’s Otello, with her “Willow Song” being hailed by Opera News as “the most finely shaded and shaped singing of the evening, for which the audience rewarded her with the highest compliment: awed silence.”
On the concert stage she has sung a varied repertoire, including Harbison’s Mirabei Songs with the New York Philharmonic, the Mozart Requiem at Carnegie Hall and with the Orlando Philharmonic, Barber’s Knoxville, Summer of 1915 with the Richmond Symphony (IN), Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (staged by Jonathan Miller), Bach’s Magnificat and Mass in B Minor with the Bethlehem Bach Choir, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Mozart’s Exultate, jubilate and Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with the Peoria Symphony, Pergolesi’s La morte di San Giuseppe with the New York Collegium, and Carissimi’s Jepthe with the American Bach Soloists. In addition, Ms. Krull is an accomplished recitalist and has appeared in concerts with pianists Garrick Ohlsson, Bradford Gowen and Brian Suits, and with the harpsichordist Bradley Brookshire.
Marguerite is a recipient of the prestigious Marian Anderson Foundation Award, an honor given every other year to “an American singer of great promise who has already achieved some success in opera, in recital, and in the orchestra/oratorio repertory.” Marguerite shares this honor with singers such as Patricia Racette, Nathan Gunn, and Denyce Graves to name a few. She is also a recipient of the Sullivan Foundation Awards and the Richard R. Gold Career Grant and has been spotlighted twice in Opera News’ “Keep your eye on” column. A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Marguerite received her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from the Peabody Conservatory and her Masters degree in Voice Performance from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She and her husband, Mark are also avid swing dancers.
photo: Kingmond Young