Klara Ek’s recording of Handel's Berenice excites the critics

Klara Ek's recent performance in Berenice for Virgin Classics, released internationally earlier this month, has already received high praise in the press. Writing in The Times, Geoff Brown singled out Ek’s “ringingly expressive” Berenice, whilst Rupert Christiansen remarked on her “vivid, elegant performance” in The Daily Telegraph. The Financial Times’ Andrew Clark concluded that “no one with an interest in Handel operas will be disappointed by… the bright-voiced Klara Ek in the title role". Berenice was written for Covent Garden and received only four performances before being shelved until the first modern performance in 1985. Only the second recording of the work, the disc entered the Official Specialist Classical Album Chart at No. 4. Klara sings more Handel later this year when she joins the Minnesota Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä and Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra under Rinaldo Alessandrini for performances of Messiah. She will also appear in Haydn’s Creation with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Bernard Haitink.