Trained by René Jacobs at the Schola Cantorum in Basel with René Jacobs, María Cristina Kiehr was soon invited by some of the greatest conductors (Philippe Herreweghe, Franz Bruggen, Jordi Savall, Gustav Leonhardt, Leonhardt, Nikolaus Harnoncourt…) and the most prestigious ensembles (Hesperion XXI, Concerto Köln, Ensemble 415, Seminario Musicale, Concerto Vocale, Elyma, etc.). In addition to his participation in opera productions (Cesti’s Orontea in Basel, Monteverdi’s Incoronazione di Monteverdi’s Incoronazione di Poppea in Montpellier, Vivaldi’s Dorilla in Nice, etc.), she travels the world (in Europe, Japan, Australia, Central and South America, etc.) and has taken part in more than a hundred recordings. But her twofold passion for 17th-century Italian polyphony and monody comes to full fruition with Concerto Soave which she co-founded.
María Cristina Kiehr reveals her talents as a storyteller, endeavouring to render the slightest intentions of the ‘new music’ of the 17th century intentions of monodic ‘new music’ (la nuova musica). It bears witness to a period when the greatest poets (Tasso, Marino, Petrarch…) were set to music by the greatest composers composers (Monteverdi, d’India, Mazzochi…) and where sacred music
addressed the senses and the heart with the same rhetoric as secular music. This allows us to discover not only a unique singer, but also an accomplished artist.