Biography
Praised for her luminous voice, musical sensitivity and versatility, Belgian soprano Ilse Eerens enjoys an international opera and concert career in repertoire that spans from Bach to works of the 21st century.
Most recent engagements include returns to La Monnaie as Sophie/Der Rosenkavalier, to the Salzburger Festspiele as 1.Dame/Die Zauberflöte, to the Opéra National de Lyon as Hero in Berlioz' Beatrice et Benedict and in arias by Donizetti and Rossini as part of New Year's concerts, Mozart’s Davide Penitente with the Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Hans Abrahamsen’s Let Me Tell You with Basel Sinfonietta, Bach’s Messe in h-moll with Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Pamina in concert performances of Die Zauberflöte with the Orchestra of the 18th Century, Fauré’s Requiem with the Brussels Philharmonic, Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and Dvorák’s Requiem with the Antwerp Symphony and Philippe Herreweghe, Bach’s Matthäus Passion with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, with Ton Koopman at the Bachfest Leipzig, Capella Mediterranea and Het Residentie Orkest, Beethoven’s Christus am Ölberge with the Beethovenorchester Bonn, Celia in Lucio Silla with Choeur Accentus in Beaune and Paris as well as Schubert's Mass in A flat in Rouen.
Engagements in 2022-23 include Dvorak’s Stabat Mater and Mozart’s Requiem with the Brussels Phiharmonic, Bach’s Cantata Auf, schmetternde Töne (BWV 207a) with the Orquesta y Coro Nacional d’España and Ton Koopman, Bach’s Matthäus-Passion with the Noord Nederlands Orkest, Mozart’s Requiem with the Gulbenkian Orchestra and Beethoven’s Symphony no 9 with the Orchestra of the 18Century.
“Ilse Eerens war mit ihrem unvoreingenommenen, hell leuchtenden Sopran eine Idealbesetzung der Sophie"
Der Rosenkavalier La Monnaie
- Opernglas December 2022
Previous opera highlights include a celebrated role debut as Tschang-haitang in Zemlinsky’s Der Kreidekreis for Opéra de Lyon, Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte at the Salzburger Festspiele, Pamina at Opera de Lille, her role debut as Melisande in Pelléas et Mélisande at Stadttheater Klagenfurt, the title role in Sasha Waltz’ production of Toshio Hosokawa’s Matsukaze in Warsaw and Tokyo, Marianne in HK Gruber’s Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald at the Bregenzer Festspiele and Theater an der Wien, La Vierge in Honegger’s Jeanne au Bûcher and the title-role in Janáček’s Cunning Little Vixen, both for the Opéra National de Lyon, Kitchenboy in Rusalka for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Matilda in Rossini’s Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra at Theater an der Wien, Despina in Cosi fan tutte and Susanna Le Nozze di Figaro, both with the Orchestra of the 18th Century and the soprano part in Lady Sarashina by Péter Eötvös at Opera Narodowa in Warsaw and at the Opéra National de Lyon.
Ilse Eerens is a regular guest at La Monnaie in Brussels in roles such as Pamina, La Vierge, Celia in Lucio Silla, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, Jemmy in a concert version of Guillaume Tell (also at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam), Noémie in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Antigone in Enescu’s Oedipe, Amanda in Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre, a part she has also performed at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and at the Adelaide Music Festival in Australia.
“Ilse Eerens, die in der Rolle der Marianne in Wien unter großem Jubel ihr Debüt gab, ist nicht nur optisch jenes zerbrechliche junge Wesen, das sich abseits von Konventionen ihr eigenes Lebensglück suchen möchte. Ihr klarer, heller und zugleich warmer Sopran überzeugt vor allem auch in den hohen Partien. Eine absolute Neuentdeckung, die hoffentlich noch oft in Österreich zu hören sein wird.”
- Online Kultur Magazin
Equally sought-after in concert repertoire, she has performed Schubert’s Mass in E flat Major with the Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Riccardo Muti, Bach’s Johannes-Passion with the Orchestra National de Radio France, Gottfried von Einem’s Der Prozess with the Radiosinfonieorchester Wien under HK Gruber at the Salzburg Festival and Wiener Konzerthaus, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées under Philippe Herreweghe, Mahler’s 4th Symphony with the Nederlands Radio Philharmonic, Handel’s Israel in Egypt with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Mozart’s Requiem with the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España in Madrid and the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon, Debussy’s La Demoiselle élue with the City of Birmingham Symphony, Haydn’s Seasons with the Orchestra of the 18th Century, Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang and Paulus and Bach’s Matthäus Passion with the MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig and the world premiere of Toshio Hosokawa’s Nach dem Sturm with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.
Available on CD and DVD are Haydn's Jahreszeiten with Concerto Köln and Marcus Creed (Carus), Nach dem Sturm with the Orquesta Sinfonia de Euskadi under Jun Maerkl, Dvořák’s Requiem and Stabat Mater (Record of the Month/Gramophone Magazine) with Philippe Herreweghe, Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem with with Collegium Vocale and Philippe Herreweghe, Bach’s Osteroratorium with the Orchestra of the 18th Century and Frans Brüggen, Willy Decker’s production of Schoenberg’s Moses und Aaron with Michael Boder and the Bochumer Symphoniker, songs by Antonio Salieri (SWR/Hänssler Classic) as well as the solo CD Lenzzauber together with Inge Spinette and songs by Webern, Berg, Mahler, Schreker, von Franckenstein and Zemlinsky.
Ms Eerens has also worked with conductors such as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Hartmut Haenchen, Lorenzo Viotti, Kazushi Ono, Peter Dijkstra, Richard Egarr, Laurence Equilbey, Dirk Kaftan, Jean-Christoph Spinosi, Michael Schønwandt, Kenneth Montgomery, Mark Wigglesworth, Jaap van Zweden, Constantinos Carydis, Claus Peter Flor, Antonello Manacorda and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla.
Awards include the Arleen Auger prize in the International Vocal Competition in 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, where she was the only the finalist who excelled in all the three categories of Opera, Oratorio and Lieder, and the 3rd prize at the ARD Musikwettbewerb 2006.
Ms Eerens has been teaching singing as a main subject and chamber music at the LUCA-School of Arts Lemmensinstituut, Leuven for several years and will also be affiliated with the Royal Conservatory of The Hague from September '23.