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Thalie Knights
Primary Skill:
Mezzo-Soprano
Nationality:
British, French
Country:
United Kingdom
Links:
Languages (fluent):
English, German, French
Opera
Chorus
Oratorio/Concerts
Covered Covered & Performed Scenes Premiere of New Work Concert COVID-cancelled
'Asie' (Shéhérazade, Ravel) 2019
I bought this suitcase in New York (Minskwoman) - Flight, Dove - Thalie Knights
'Ogni Vento' - Agrippina, Handel
1st Prize Oratorio Class, Croydon Music Festival (2010)
"...her warm mezzo was stylish and well matched to Ellie Neate's bright, controlled Cleopatra - both persuasive stage presences in this intense two-hander" Flora Wilson, The Guardian (Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra, 2022) (2022)
"In the role of Andronico, Tamerlano’s war ally and love rival, she brought a welcome inward quality to her most deeply-felt arias, gradually increasing in power as the evening progressed." William Hale, Lark Reviews (Tamerlano, 2022) (2022)
"Thalie Knights cultivates a richly mellow musical character for Antonio, expressing calm and composure as he contemplates the consequences of his defeat at Actium, however flustered any of the music written for the part becomes." Curtis Rogers, The Classical Source (Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra, 2022) (2022)
"Thalie Knights sang Antonio with warm mellow tones capturing the character's essential melancholy and suggesting vacillation. There was little attempt to make Knights look overtly masculine, but she successfully conveyed this persona." Robert Hugill, Planet Hugill (Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra, 2022 (2022)
"Thalie Knights's plush mezzo pricked up the ears in Turio's music" Hugh Canning, Opera (Caio Fabbricio, 2022) (2022)
"Among many other notable items, Thalie Knights' balm-like aria 'O Rest in the Lord' stood out" Basil Abbott, Diss Express (Elijah, 2019) (2019)
"...Knights' impressive control and poise, which brought all the passion and drama of any Italian opera" Elinor Bishop, Early Music Today (Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, 2018) (2018)
"Mezzo Thalie Knights brought a dramatic edge to the Gloria, and beautifully led off an exquisite Agnus Dei." Eastbourne Herald (2017)
‘’Thalie Knights made a strong, passionate Armide. Tall and distinguished, she had a commanding stage presence making Armide's sense of power quite believable. Knights gripped us from beginning to end.’’ - Robert Hughill, Planet Hugill (Armide) (2016)
''...Thalie Knights in the travesty role of the alternative male love interest Frédéric, made good impression.'' Hugh Canning, Opera (Mignon) (2015)
Praised for her “impressive control and poise” (Early Music Today) and her “commanding stage presence” (Planet Hugill), French bi-lingual Thalie trained with English National Opera on their distinguished Opera Works programme (2014/15) and was a 2016 Britten-Pears Young Artist performing Bach Cantatas under the guidance of tenor Mark Padmore. A finalist of the 2017 London Song Festival Lieder competition, in January 2018 Thalie was selected by Malcolm Martineau to take part in his residential song masterclass series with her duo partner Nico de Villiers, in Crear, Scotland. She is an alumna of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Recent engagements include her festival debut at Buxton International Festival as Marc'Antonio Marc'Antonio e Cleopatra, Andronico Tamerlano (Cambridge Handel Opera Company), Turio Caio Fabbricio (London Early Opera) and her Tête à Tête Opera Festival debut as soloist in The Golden Thread - a contemporary cantata composed by Alice Beckwith for mezzo soprano and large chamber ensemble. With themes of renewal, hope, and feminine strength, the piece depicts a young woman’s encounter with the Green Man and his more sinister counterpart, the Erlking.
Piacere Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disginganno (Le Festival de musique du Périgord Noir), Prue The Dancing Master (The Malcolm Arnold Festival), Hänsel Hänsel und Gretel (Trinity Orchestra and Lambeth Orchestra respectively) and a role debut as Rose Across The Sky - a new commission for Cheltenham Music Festival which was subsequently nominated for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award under 'Community Opera'. Thalie also sang the title role in Handel's Agrippina and Zefka in The Diary of One Who Disappeared alongside tenor Tom Randle (Dartington Arts Festival).
In 2024, Thalie will cover Dame Sarah Connolly in the title role of Zarka a new commission by Australian Composer Lee Bradshaw, conducted by Pablo Gonzalez, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In concert, Ravel's Shéhérezade (City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra), Mahler's Kindertotenlieder (The Whitehall Orchestra) and Rückert-Lieder (Lewes Symphony Orchestra). Thalie will join Julian Perkins in performing a series of Handel Cantatas as part of the 2021 Cambridge Summer Music Festival, and a recital series - L'étranger - with Nico de Villiers; repertoire including Ravel Shéhérezade, Debussy Chansons de Bilitis and Delage Quatre poèmes hindous.
(Unfortunately due to Covid, Thalie's return as a 2020 Britten-Pears Young Artist - exploring the works of Mahler and the Late Romantics, under the tutelage of Malcolm Martineau and Anne Schwanewilm, was cancelled.)
At ENO, Thalie studied Bradamante Alcina, Cornelia Giulio Cesare and subsequently sang Medoro Orlando in the final performance - Landscape - at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London. Operatic roles include Mallika Lakmé (Guildford Opera), the title role in Lully's Armide (Woodhouse Opera), Phèdre Hippolyte et Aricie (Linden Baroque), Second Lady The Magic Flute (Hampstead Garden Opera), Frédéric Mignon (New Sussex Opera), Mrs Kneebone A Dinner Engagement (Bute Park Opera), Maman L’enfant et les Sortilèges (Bute Park Opera), Dog Cunning Little Vixen, Sorceress Dido and Aeneas, Andreloun Mireille, and chorus in The Poisoned Kiss, Hugh the Drover and Die Rheinnixen (New Sussex Opera). For Longborough Festival Opera, Thalie has sung Chorus for their productions of Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer, Beethoven's Fidelio and Gluck's Orfeo ed Eurydice.
RWCMD roles in scenes have included Annio La Clemenza di Tito, Ursule Béatrice et Bénédict, Madame de la Haltière Cendrillon and Meg The Merry Wives of Windsor.
A frequent performer of Oratorio, roles consist of Micah Samson, Alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Saint-Saens’ Christmas Oratorio, Bach's Magnificat, Haydn's Nelson Mass, Bruckner Te Deum, Vivaldi's Gloria and Mozart's Requiem. She has performed as a concert artist at The Royal Albert Hall, St John Smith Square, The Royal Courts of Justice, Cadogan Hall and the beautiful 12th Century Cathedral of Saint Amand-de-Coly in France.
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