Simone Kermes gave a galvanizing performance as the title character in the Vivaldi-attributed pasticcio Andromeda Liberata at New York's Zankel Hall in November 2004. Walking onstage in a strikingly vibrant frock, featuring mounds of purple, orange and ecru fabric — and sporting orange hair — she sang the title role with an uncommon ferocity and vocal agility, tapping her foot and swaying in time like Baroque's version of a Sex Pistol.

Those who witnessed that performance can't be surprised at the reviews that have described Kermes as the “queen of baroque,” with the energy of a “keg of gun powder about to explode” and top notes that could “shatter glass.” She has won prizes over the past several years for her recordings of Haydn’s Creation, Handel’s Deidamia and Kozeluh’s Moisè in Egitto. What inspires all the superlatives and makes her a very special performer indeed is a perceptible sense of dramatic commitment — palpable even in a concert staging.

How did this artist, born in Leipzig, in the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany), and currently residing in Koblenz, end up spending much of her career championing the Baroque? Kermes honestly doesn’t know. “I certainly never planned to devote myself exclusively to one era, and I don’t intend to be typecast forever as one-dimensional in that sense. I certainly wasn’t trained that way, although Handel has always had a habit of turning up at crucial points in my development. You know, I even won a Richard Wagner Scholarship in 1994, and during a master class some years ago, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf suggested I seriously turn my attention to Wagner — which I assuredly will not. I have always adored Mozart, and I would love to extend my Mozart repertoire beyond the roles of Constanze and Fiordiligi.”

After studying in her native city and taking home several competition prizes, her “first real engagement was in Koblenz [1996–98], and in those early years I sang, among others, Lucia, Gilda, Ann Trulove (Rake’s Progress), even roles in operettas, such as Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus) or the title role in Dostal’s Clivia. So you see, my repertoire, both concert and operatic, is neither small nor restricted. As I am no longer bound to one theater, I now can pick and choose my engagements. The chance to work with musicians of the highest standards — to, in a sense, help bring fantastic Baroque works back to life, has somehow shaped my present course.”

Kermes is particularly looking forward to an autumn trip to Japan, where she'll revisit the title role in Andromeda Liberata with the Venice Baroque Orchestra under one of her favorite conductors, Andrea Marcon. Autumn 2006 brings the release of a CD with Vivaldi solo motets, including a subsequent promotional concert tour of the U.S., planned for 2007. Currently, she can be heard as the title character in Universal Classics new release of Rodelinda with Il Complesso Barocco under the baton of Alan Curtis.

Kermes describes her ideal working atmosphere as one in which “each participant has the chance during rehearsals to help mold the final product — an artistic give and take where constructive input is welcomed.”

Believers in music as theater will also find a soul mate in Kermes, who declares, “My vocal technique is secure enough to allow me to sacrifice beauty of tone in favor of dramatic truth when it is germane to the innermost feelings of the role I am interpreting.”

It is no surprise to learn that the “courage to take risks” stands at the top of her priority list. Risk-taking is hardly a given in twenty-first-century baroque performance practice, with emphasis more often placed on fidelity to the original, but Kermes asserts, “I need to delve into the very essence of each role I attempt. That goes for concert, oratorio and opera. Every aspect of my interpretation has to be attuned to the dramatic situation in which my character finds herself. I want my costume as well as my makeup to perfectly complement each role. I want each movement onstage to be at one with the composer’s intentions, as well as with my emotional involvement. Even in my concert activities, I invest a great deal of time and effort in choosing the proper attire. Everything has to be right in every sense.”

JEFFREY A. LEIPSIC

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