Henk Neven studied at the Amsterdam Conservatory and is a BBC New Generation Artist. In 2010 he received the coveted Dutch Music Prize. Ensembles with whom he has worked include Orchestra of the Beethovenhalle Bonn, Het Brabants Orkest, Rotterdams Philharmonic Orkest, Vlaams Radio Orkest, L’Orchestre National de France, L’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Staatskapelle Berlin, Le Concert Spirituel and Les Talens Lyriques. Conductors include Edo de Waart, Jaap van Zweden, John Nelson, Hervé Niquet, Kenneth Montgommery, Armin Jordan and Christophe Rousset. Henk has performed at the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, the Gergiev Festival Rotterdam and in the Zaterdag Matinee series in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. He has given recitals as part of the concert series Het Debuut and recently performed in the Concertgebouw’s concert series Jonge Nederlanders. Henk Neven made his opera debut in Strauss’ Capriccio at Opéra National de Paris and has performed with Daniel Barenboim at the Berlin Staatsoper. He has sung major roles in Dijon, Bordeaux and Nancy. Recent engagements include Pollux Castor et Pollux and Leporello Don Giovanni at the Opéra de Montpellier, Don Giovanni in Rouen, Marschner’s Der Vampyr at the Amsterdam Festival, Patrocle Iphigénie en Tauride at Théâtre de la Monnaie and Ottokar Der Freischütz at Theater an der Wien. He made his BBC Proms debut in 2010 singing Kurwenal in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde under Sir Simon Rattle. Summer 2010 also saw Henk’s debuts at the Cheltenham and City of London Festivals. Engagements in 2010/11 include Mercutio Roméo et Juliette and Donald Billy Budd for De Nederlandse Opera, Oedipe at the Théâtre de la Monnaie and Die Zauberflöte in Marseille. He gives recitals at the Concertgebouw, La Monnaie and Musée d’Orsay, and makes his recital debuts at London’s Wigmore Hall and the Sage. In November 2010, Henk Neven recorded his first album of Lieder by Schumann and Loewe for Onyx Classics, to be released in April 2011.
Henk Neven is a BBC New Generation Artist 2009-2011. Further details at www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/
Photograph taken by Marco Borggreve
BBT Project: Auf einer Burg CD on Onyx Classics
"Neven has an exceptional voice - perfectly controlled, ideal for German Lieder. It is hardly an exaggeration to think of him on the evidence of this fine disc as successor to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau... It is a long time since I enjoyed a disc of Lieder from a young singer quite as much as this, and I long to hear more from him."
Edward Greenfield, Gramophone July 2011
"...An intelligent reading, a sense of dignity in the timbre, exceptional diction... Not only in [Henk Neven’s] voice but also in the interpretation there is a great sense of breadth with his flexible approach to the music. The musical conversation between Neven and his excellent accompanist gives extra sparkle. This is a CD that you will want to hear over and over again."
Thiemo Wind, De Telegraaf April 2011
"Here's a name to watch…Neven's highly individual timbre is unlike any other lieder interpreter's: he sings with astonishing technical finesse, verbal acuity and a sense of wonder in these pieces from Schumann's annus miserabilis of song, 1840... Eijsacker's virtuoso piano-playing only enhances this remarkable young singer's outstanding debut."
Hugh Canning, The Sunday Times 17 April 11 (4 stars)
"Here emerges a young baritone for the Lieder repertoire to take up the torch on the eventual retirement of Thomas Allen, Thomas Hampson, Wolfgang Holzmair, Simon Keenlyside and Thomas Quasthoff, all now in their fifties or beyond. Henk Neven possesses a lyric baritone with both resonance and sap in the tone, the ability to articulate text with clarity but without fussy over-emphasis... I am confident that he is on the threshold of a fine career."
Colin Anderson, Classical Source 23 April 2011
"He has a beautiful voice, flexible, rounded and warm, and sings, always in the middle of the note, with much intelligence and no affectation."
Lucy Beckett, International Record Review June 2011
In the first place it was a big surprise to have been awarded the BBT Fellowship. In the second place a big honour and excitement. I knew about the trust, but not what it could and would mean for me. After having been awarded I spoke to a 'BBtrust-awarded' friend, who told me the most beautiful things about the BBtrust and the people working for it. This is an absolute truth. It's a generous, warm, music-loving and caring group of people - who care for music, careers and human beings! With the help of the BBTrust I found my very good UK management, Intermusica. And indirectly it led to being invited to join the New Generation Artists Scheme of BBC Radio 3. With these exciting happenings one should almost forget that there is this great amount of money to be spent on one's career. This will make it possible to make my first solo CD, with repertoire I really love to sing.