Renowned for her interpretation of twentieth century
repertoire, English National Opera mounted Berg’s
Lulu for Lisa Saffer this past season. The
Richard Jones production, conducted by Paul Daniel,
was received as an enormous success with Lisa Saffer’s
performance acknowledged as outstanding. The Sunday
Times wrote "The American soprano Lisa Saffer…is
a beguilingly sexy Lulu, transforming herself with
ease of a consummate quick-change artiste into the
female fantasy of her lovers, and singing the hair-raisingly
high vocal lines with insouciant ease". The preeminent
interpreter of the role of Marie in Zimmermann’s
Die Soldaten, the soprano received international
acclaim for the role in the New York premiere of the
opera at the New York City Opera, which was followed
by equally heralded performances at the Opéra
National de Paris at the Bastille (under conductor
Berhard Kontarsky) and at the English National Opera
(under conductor Elgar Howarth) in the London stage
premiere. The review of her performance in The Nation
read "Among many superb performers, Lisa Saffer’s
Marie was in a class by herself: unfailingly effective
she sang the fearsomely difficult part without a hesitant
note or accent - true, direct, lyrical...Were it not
for the skill and beauty of Lisa Saffer’s presence
you would not be able to hear much except heaps upon
piles on densely aggressive sonorities; these are
immediately, expressive, directly, even blatantly,
programmatic." Future contemporary opera productions
include the New York premiere of Charles Wuorinen’s
Haroun and the Sea of Stories at the New York
City Opera in which she will perform the title role
of Haroun.
Ms. Saffer is sought after worldwide for leading roles
in contemporary operas. Her numerous accomplishments
in this repertoire include the world premiere of Klaas
de Vries’ A King Riding at the Holland
Festival, Hilda Mack in Hans Werner Henze’s Elegy
for Young Lovers with the Schoenberg Ensemble
(conducted by Oliver Knussen) at the Concertgebouw
for VARA and at Tanglewood (conducted by Gustav Meier),
Polly/Witch in Birtwistle’s Punch and Judy
in the Pierre Audi production and Morton Feldman’s
Neither in performances conducted by Oliver
Knussen (both at the Netherlands Opera), Zerbinetta
in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Scottish Oprea
in a production by Nottingham Playhouse director Martin
Duncan and conducted by Richard Armstrong, Tytania
in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
at the Florentine Opera which was directed by David
Gately and conducted by Steuart Bedford, the title
role in Moore’s The Ballad of Baby Doe
and Anne Trulove in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s
Progress at the Indianapolis Opera, The Fire and
Nightingale in Ravel’s L’enfant et les
Sortileges and Cunegonde in the Hal Prince production
of Candide both at the New York City Opera,
and Mary Warren in Robert Ward’s The Crucible
in her Washington Opera debut. Her performance in
Amsterdam of The Rape of Lucretia, conducted
by Oliver Knussen, was broadcast by VARA Radio. She
also made a rare foray in the operas of Wagner performing
the roles of Woglinde and the Woodbird in the Stephen
Wadsworth production of the Ring Cycle at the
Seattle Opera. Ms. Saffer’s first leading contemporary
role after her apprenticeship at the Santa Fe Opera
was at the Lyric Opera of Chicago when she covered
Catherine Malfitano as Lulu.
Ms. Saffer’s concert appearances encompass a
broad repertoire. In the United States, she has appeared
with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Knussen’s
Symphony No. 2, conducted by the composer),
the Baltimore Symphony (with Christopher Seaman),
the Chicago Symphony (two world premieres: John Harbison’s
Four Psalms with Christoph Eschenbach and James
Primosch’s From A Book Of Hours written
to texts by Rilke with Anthony Pappano) the Cleveland
Orchestra (Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s
Dream with Christoph von Dohnányi and Ravel’s
L’enfant et les Sortileges with Pierre
Boulez at Carnegie Hall), the Colorado Symphony (Mozart’s
Exsultate jubilate K158a with Marin Alsop), the
Dallas Symphony (Mozart’s Exsultate jubilate
K158a with Pinchas Zukerman), the Detroit Symphony
(Handel’s Messiah), the Handel & Haydn
Society (Handel’s L’Allegro with
Christopher Hogwood) the Indianapolis Symphony (Handel
arias with Nicholas McGegan), the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Contemporary Music Group (Esa-Pekka Salonen’s
Floof, Knussen’s Rilke Songs and
Carter’s A Mirror on Which to Dwell),
the National Symphony (Messiah with Claudio Scimone),
the New York Philharmonic (Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer
Night’s Dream with Kurt Masur), the Philadelphia
Orchestra (Handel’s Messiah), Philharmonia Baroque
Orchestra (Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus and
Resurrezione with Nicholas McGegan), the San
Francisco Symphony (concert version Candide
with David Zinman), the Brooklyn Philharmonic (the
Britten Spring Serenade with Robert Spano), and the
Albany, Richmond, Lafayette and Utah Symphonies, and
Rochester and Florida Philharmonics. Her Carnegie
Hall debut was with the New York Choral Society as
soprano soloist in Carmina Burana, which she
also repeated with the Detroit Symphony and at the
Hollywood Bowl (both conducted by Neeme Järvi).
The soprano premiered Bright Sheng’s Three
Chinese Love Songs at Tanglewood in the Bernstein
70th Birthday Celebration and has since performed
the cycle at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Society, the
Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, and under
the auspices of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. At the
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the soprano
premiered Lohn for soprano and percussion by
Kaija Saariaho. She also gave the world premiere of
Rorem’s Evidence of Things Not Seen with
New York Festival of Song at Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie
Hall and has returned to The New York Festival of
Song on many occasions since. She made her Lincoln
Center recital debut, with pianist Judith Gordon,
on the "Art of the Song" series.
This season in Boston, she will perform Handel arias
with Boston Cecilia at Jordan Hall, Schoenberg String
Quartet No. 2 with Dinosaur Annex at Jordan Hall,
, and will premiere the piano version of James Primrosch’s
From A Book Of Hours written to texts by Rilke
with pianist Judith Gordon at the Gardner Museum.
In Virginia, she will perform Handel’s Messiah
with the Richmond Symphony and also appear with Judith
Gordon at the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival.
The soprano will make her Atlanta Symphony debut performing
DelTredici’s Ecstatic Alice with Robert
Spano and her St. Paul Chamber Orchestra debut performing
Alexander’s Feast with Nichols McGegan
this season, as well.
Ms. Saffer’s discography includes the Grammophone
Award winning recording of Handel’s Ariodante
(HMU 907146.48), Agrippina (HMU 907063/65),
Ottone (HMU 907073.75), and Radimisto
(HMU 907111/13), Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas
(HMU 907110), and her solo aria recording Arias
for Cuzzoni (HMU 907036). She has also recorded
Knussen’s Hums and Songs for Winnie-the-Pooh
with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for
Virgin Classics (07777-59308 2), Imbrie’s Requiem
with the Riverside Symphony and Sheng’s Three
Chinese Love Songs for New World Records (80407-2).
Most recently she has recorded Knussen’s Higglety
Pigglety Pop & Where the Wild Things Are with
the London Sinfonietta for DGG and Xanthe in Richard
Strauss’ Die Liebe der Danae with the
American Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Leon Botstein)
for Telarc. Her appearance in the New York City Opera
production of A Little Night Music was televised
"Live From Lincoln Center" and she has appeared
as a guest artist on the Garrison Keillor radio program
on NPR.
Lisa Saffer was awarded the Diva Award by the New
York City Opera, in addition to winning the Anna Case
Mackay Award as an apprentice at the Santa Fe Opera.
Ms. Saffer was a national finalist in the Metropolitan
Opera auditions, a Central City Opera Studio Artist,
and a recipient of a 1988 National Music Theater Institute
encouragement grant. She holds a Bachelor's degree
in Music from Oberlin College Conservatory, and a
Master's in Music and an Artist Diploma from New England
Conservatory. 
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