Nuria Rial - Händel: Süße Stille, Sanfte Quelle (2009)

Catalan soprano Núria Rial is a specialist in Renaissance and Baroque music, particularly in the works of Monteverdi and Handel, and she is well-versed in European art songs. She attended the Municipal Conservatory of Barcelona, where she earned diplomas in voice and piano, and advanced to the City of Basel Music Academy, where she studied with Kurt Widmer and received the solo vocalist diploma. In 2003, she received the Helvetia Patria Jeunesse Foundation Prize from the European Foundation for Culture. Rial has performed with many period ensembles and chamber orchestras in repertoire that encompasses Baroque and Classical opera, and the vocal music of France, Germany, Spain, and her native Catalonia. She has appeared as a guest artist at many festivals in Europe and South America, and sung in operatic productions at the Innsbruck Theatre, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, and the Grand Théâtre in Geneva. Rial has recorded with Sony Classical, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Mirare, and Glossa. -- Blair Sanderson