María Cristina Kiehr (born in

Tandil Tandil is the main city of the homonymous partido (department), located in Argentina, in the southeast of Buenos Aires Province, just north-northwest of Tandilia hills. The city was founded in 1823 and its name originates from the ''Piedra Moved ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

) is a soprano vocalist associated with Baroque music. After receiving her early musical training in

, she moved in 1983 to Europe and studied under

René Jacobs René Jacobs (born 30 October 1946) is a Belgian musician. He came to fame as a countertenor, but later in his career he became known as a conductor of baroque and classical opera. Biography Countertenor Born in Ghent, Jacobs began his music ...

at the

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, that focuses on early music and historically informed performance. Faculty at the school have organized performing ensembles that have ...

, specializing in the Baroque repertoire. She performs and records for the

Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi is an independent record label which specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group. Its Latin name ''harm ...

label.Harmonia Mundi, op. cit.

Overview

María Cristina Kiehr was born in

, Argentina.Oron, op. cit She made her opera debut at Innsbruck in 1988 in '' Il Giasone'', a work composed by Francesco Cavalli in 1649. In collaboration with the harpsichordist Jean-Marc Aymes, Kiehr founded the Concerto Soave ensemble, a concerto in the original meaning of the word, which specializes in

Italian music The term ''Italian music'' is ambiguous and may refer to several topics: *The music of Italy *The folk, popular, classical (especially opera) musics of Italy and the Italian people , flag = , flag_caption = The national ...

of the early baroque period. With them she has toured many of the world's most prestigious early music festivals, including the

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

Early Music Festival,

Ambronay Ambronay () is a commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. Geography The commune of Ambronay is at the centre of a semicircle of mountains at the foot of the westernmost foothills of the Jura Mountain ...

Pontoise Pontoise () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise. Administration Pontoise is the official ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-d'Oise ''dép ...

Simiane-la-Rotonde Simiane-la-Rotonde (; oc, Sumiana) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Population Geography The commune is traversed by the river Calavon. See also *Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence depart ...

, Semaine Sainte en Arles, and in Montreux, Lausanne, Marseille, and Paris (

Cité de la Musique The Cité de la Musique ("City of Music"), also known as Philharmonie 2, is a group of institutions dedicated to music and situated in the Parc de la Villette, 19th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was designed with the nearby Conservatoire d ...

). Her recording of '' Maddalena ai Piedi di Cristo'' with René Jacobs won a

Grammy award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

in 1997.CLB Management (March 2007). "Biography".
Her voice is especially suited to performing the work of neglected Italian female composers of the Early Baroque such as Barbara Strozzi and Francesca Caccini. Though she is known as a champion of little known works and composers, she is also sought after for her interpretations of Henry Purcell and Claudio Monteverdi.

Critical reactions

Critical reactions to Kiehr's voice are often ecstatic: * Richard Buell,

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

, "Think of a glowing filament, only in sound; the beautiful thinness of Hesperion XX's lead singer Monserrat Figueras's voice, only larger and sweeter. Some singer." * Craig Zeichner, CDNow.com, "To call Kiehr's voice angelic would not be indulging in hyperbole. She floats through a vocal line, caressing each phrase with marvelous agility."

References

; Sources consulted * * ; Endnotes {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiehr, Maria Cristina Living people 20th-century Argentine women opera singers Argentine performers of early music People from Tandil Argentine people of Danish descent Women performers of early music 21st-century Argentine women opera singers Year of birth missing (living people)