Ria Bollen

Ria Bollen (born 11 February 1942) is a Flemish contralto, who had an international career as a concert singer between 1965 and 1992. Her broad repertoire included Bach's Passions, Mozart's Requiem, Beethoven's ''Missa solemnis'', especially works by Gustav Mahler and works of the 20th century. She was the soloist in the world premiere of Frank Martin's Requiem. She sang many art songs, including by Belgian composers.

Life

Born in Sint-Truiden, Bollen a school of classical humanities, and then studied psychology. After two years, she studied voice at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp with Lucie Frateur, who accompanied her throughout her career. She graduated in 1968 with the major distinction. She also studied with Pierre Bernac, Felix de Nobel, Erik Werba and Christa Ludwig.

She made her debut as a soloist in 1965, in ''Godelieve'' by Edgar Tinel conducted by Léonce Gras. Also before she graduated, she obtained the first prize of the Maria Canalswedstrijd in Barcelona, in 1967. She was laureate of four more prestigious competitions: the International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch (1968), the ARD International Music Competition (1969), the Geneva International Music Competition, in which she won first prize (1970), and the "Internationaler Wettbewerb für Gesang" of the "Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien", better known as the Wiener Musikverein (1972).

Her repertoire was extensive. She sang works with orchestra or chamber orchestra from
*the Baroque music: Marc-Antoine Charpentier, ''Motet pour une longue offrande''; Vivaldi's Gloria and Bach's ''St Matthew Passion'' and ''St John Passion'', Mass in B minor, and a number of cantatas;
*The Classical music: masses by Joseph Haydn, Mozart's Requiem, Beethoven's ''Missa solemnis'' and Ninth Symphony No. 9;
*The Romantic music: ''Les Nuits d'été'' by Berlioz, '' Altrhapsodie'' by Brahms, and especially works by Gustav Mahler, whose entire repertoire for alto and orchestra she performed: ''Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen'', ''Des Knaben Wunderhorn'', ''Rückert-Lieder'', ''Kindertotenlieder'', ''Das Lied von der Erde'', Symphonies No. 2, 3 and 8;
*the 20th century: Hindemith, ''Die junge Magd''; Honegger's ''Le Roi David'' and ''Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher''; Janáček, ''Glagolitic mass''; Igor Markevich's ''Le paradis perdu''; Prokofiev's, ''Alexander Nevsky''; Respighi's ''Il Tramonto''; Satie's ''Socrate''; Stravinsky's, '' Requiem Canticles''; Tippett, ''A Child of Our Time''; Wladimir Vogel's ''Wagadus Downfall durch die Eitelkeit''.

Bollen has a special predilection for the work of Frank Martin, who asked her to sing the alto solo in the world premiere of his Requiem,Martin's Requiem was created on 4 May 1973 in Lausanne Cathedral. The composer himself conducted the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the choirs Ars Laeta (Lausanne), Union chorale & Chœur de dames de Lausanne, the organist André Luy, and the soloists Elisabeth Speiser (soprano), Ria Bollen (alto), Eric Tappy (tenor), and Peter Lagger (bass). She performed almost everything that Martin composed for her voice type.

Her song repertoire, which she often performed with pianist Jozef De Beenhouwer, was also very extensive, ranging from Purcell to contemporary composers. She performed '' Zigeunerlieder'' and ''Vier ernste Gesänge'' by Brahms, Dvořák's '' Gypsy Melodies'', Schumann's ''Frauenliebe und -leben'', Vogel's ''5 Lieder nach Texten von Nelly Sachs'' and Wagner's ''Wesendonck Lieder'', among others. She also sang many works by Belgian composers, such as Peter Benoit, René Defossez, Jef Van Hoof, Marinus de Jong, Willem Kersters, Lodewijk Mortelmans, Lodewijk Mortelmans, Flor Peeters and David Van de Woestijne.

She performed in Israel, Japan, Canada and the Soviet Union, but of course mainly in Western Europe, and particularly in the German-speaking part, alongside Belgium and the Netherlands. She sang in many festivals, such as the Festival of Flanders, the Berliner Festwochen, the Wiener Festwochen, the Carinthischer Sommer

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