Désirée Halac: A Profile

Argentine-American mezzo-soprano Déirée Halac, is frequently invited to perform in a variety of venues and festivals in the U.S. and Europe. Her extensive repertoire enables her to move freely from one stage to another in opera, oratorio, symphonic concerts, chamber music and art song.

Ms. Halac performances in opera masterworks are one of her fortes and receive critical acclaim. They include the works of Monteverdi, Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Bellini, Bizet, Offenbach, Janacek and Strauss. Some of the roles she has sung are Rosina in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Papagena and the Second Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflàte at the Virginia Opera; Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly with DiCapo Opera in New York City, under the baton of Anton Coppola. At the Mozart Festival, Oper-im-Kloster, Germany she performed the roles of Farnace in Mitridate, RÀ di Ponto, Idamante in Idomeneo, and Annio in La Clemenza di Tito. John DeMain of the Denver Post, praising her performance of the Muse and Nicklausse in Les Contes d’Hoffman at the Aspen Festival said, “Désirée Halac gave the role the stature it deserves but seldom gets.”

One of her greatest successes have been performances of the title role in Bizet’s Carmen, on tour in 2008 with the St. Petersburg Orchestra, Florida; at the Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge), with the Mannes Ensemble in New York City and at the Teatro Piccolo in Philadelphia,

Next season’s engagements will include the role of Angelina in Rossini’s La Cenerentola with the New Jersey State Opera (U.S.) and the role of Emma Jones in Street Scene by Kurt Weil at the Toulon Opera in Southern France.

Désirée Halac’s most recent recording is “Flores Argentinas” a selection of songs by Carlos Guastavino, one of the foremost Argentine composers of the 20th century. Her collaborator is the internationally renowned pianist Dalton Baldwin. The recording is significant because some of the songs in the collection had never been recorded and others not even been published, but given to Mr. Baldwin, by his friend the composer. The CD was released by Albany Records (Troy No. 1023).

Ms. Halac can also be heard in the role of the Sorceress on the Vox recording of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with I Musici di San Cassiano, conducted by Bradley Brookshire.

Contemporary opera is an important aspect of Ms. Halac’s career. Performances in the following three world premieres are noteworthy: the role of Marina Rojas Harper in Bernard Rand’s Belladonna at the Aspen Festival, conducted by David Zinman; Prometheus by Jonathan Dawe at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City and Steven Dickman’s Gilgamesh at La Mama ETC in New York City.

In reviewing Gilgamesh, Anne Midgette of The New York Times said, Ms. Halac “gave a performance in the best sense of the word, singing with a simple intensity that let you hear the true sound of her voice and understand every word, and turns each gesture into a moment of significance.” Other credits in contemporary opera are the Queen in John Harbison’s A Full Moon in March for the Encompass New Opera Theater conducted by Kenneth Hamerick and the title role of Maria de Buenos Aires by Astor Piazzolla with the Pan-American Orchestra for the Argentinean Embassy in Washington.

Ms. Halac’s concert appearances include performances with the American Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leon Botstein at Avery Fisher Hall, and the American Composer’s Orchestra led by conductors Paul Dunkel and Tanya Leon. Among many appearances with the Jupiter Symphony Orchestra, she sang Xavier Montsalvatge's Cinco Canciones Negras, Mozart Concert Arias and Dvorak’s Biblical Songs under the direction of Jens Nygaard. Other collaborations include Bach’s Mass in B-Minor and the role of Dryade in a concert version of Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos with the New York Metamorphoses Orchestra.

Ms. Halac performs regularly with chamber music festivals, including the Montreal Chamber Music Festival and the Aspen Festival. She takes pride in being an active voice for the Latin America Song Book, resulting in invitations to sing at the Grand Canyon and Crested Butte Chamber Music Festivals, Songs Across the Americas Festival at the University of Central Arkansas, Mexico Now a city-wide festival of Mexican arts and culture, North and South Consonants Recital Series, and Tango at Town Hall with The Pablo Zinger Trio.

A native New Yorker, Ms. Halac grew up in La Cumbre, Argentina where she studied piano at the National Conservatory. Following her vocal studies at London’s Mayer Lissman Opera Center, she studied at the Mannes School of Music in New York City. She made her New York recital debut at Merkin Hall, 2001 as winner of the esteemed Joy in Singing award and the following year debuted at Teatro Col€n in Buenos Aires as Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. Other career awards include the Jennie Tourel Prize at the Poulence Plus! Competition, the Shoshana Foundation Award, the Alta Classical Competition and Aspen Voice Competition. .