Welcome, Alma Deutscher!
We are delighted to welcome Alma Deutscher to UE as a composer.
Alma Deutscher (born 2005) is a successful British composer, violinist, pianist and conductor. She began playing the piano at the age of two and the violin at the age of three. She composed her first piano sonata at the age of six and a violin and piano concerto between the ages of 9 and 12. Zubin Mehta called her ‘one of the greatest musical talents of her time’.
Alma Deutscher's opera ‘Cinderella’ was performed in an orchestral version in Vienna in 2016 and has since been performed several times in various opera houses in America and Europe. In 2019, she released her first solo piano CD ‘From My Book of Melodies’ on Sony Classical. Saarländischer Rundfunk described the album as follows: ‘The poetry of Franz Schubert, the melancholy of Chopin, the grace, lightness and brilliance of Mozart - all of this can be found in Deutscher's piano gems.’ In 2019, Alma Deutscher made her debut at Carnegie Hall and was honoured with the European Taurus Cultural Award at the Vienna State Opera. In 2021, an album of her piano pieces was published by G. Schirmer. Alma Deutscher's second full-length opera, ‘Des Kaisers neue Walzer’, a work commissioned by the Salzburg State Theatre, was premiered there in 2023.
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Alma Deutscher's opera Cinderella
In Alma Deutscher's interpretation of the traditional fairy tale, Cinderella is not just a pretty girl who wins the prince because of her dainty foot. Cinderella is a talented composer, envied and oppressed by her stepmother, who runs an opera house, and by her stepsisters, both budding opera divas. Nevertheless, Cinderella triumphs because of her talent: Cinderella and the Prince, a poet, will find each other, just as a poem finds its melody.
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‘an opera of astonishing spirituality, craftsmanship and musical beauty... A smart producer would stage Cinderella on Broadway. In addition to its comedic power, its score puts recent musicals from the Disney franchise or Andrew Lloyd Webber to shame.’ (The New Criterion, 2018).
‘When the orchestral version of Cinderella premiered in Vienna, Alma Deutscher immediately became a shooting star. Cinderella is captivating, enchantingly moving and spiced with finely ground humour, and it was deservedly honoured with a standing ovation.’ (Orpheus Magazine, 2021)
‘The sensational rise to prominence of a young talent... The unique opera experience that made the audience stand and cheer.’ (Opera Today, 2017)
‘In a time of doubt and suspicion, hatred and warmongering, it is more than a gift to find a voice as original and uplifting as Alma Deutscher - it is hope. And will the little child lead them? Indeed she will. Alma's original interpretation of the classic fairy tale in music and song is a chord that will echo in our lives day after day.’ (Lois Silverstein, Opera Wire, 2017)
‘The opera is indeed amazing - so amazing that Zubin Mehta took over the honorary patronage of the performance in December at the Casino Baumgarten in Vienna.’ (Opernwelt, Gerhard Persché, 02/2017)
‘The opera by eleven-year-old British composer Alma Deutscher is bursting with original ideas.’ (Der Standard, Ljubisa Tosic, 12/2016)
‘In concentrated form, Deutscher organises a firework display of her best catchy tunes, and the twelve-year-old is a melodist of the highest calibre.’ (Wiener Zeitung, Christoph Irrgeher, 01/2018)
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