Mirrors

A celebration of powerful femininity: Jeanine De Bique is releasing her debut album *Mirrors* on Berlin Classics on 22 October 2021! The album centres on Baroque arias – three of which are world premiere recordings – about heroines such as Rodelinda, Agrippina and Cleopatra, composed by Handel, Graun, Broschi and other composers. The soprano is accompanied by the renowned Baroque orchestra Concerto Köln conducted by Luca Quintavalle.

The female protagonists are the central element of this concept album. It presents the arias as mirroring one another: a Handel aria about a heroine is complemented by a lesser-known aria about the same character – hence the album’s title, *Mirrors*. “Listeners can thus experience different reflections of the same character, as if viewing her through a broken mirror,” explains Yannis François, who is responsible for the conceptualisation of the recording. The arias recount key moments in the psychological development of the protagonists, shedding light on the diversity of the female emotional experience and the relatable perspectives on their lives.

The repertoire, tailored to the extraordinary temperament of Jeanine De Bique’s voice, has been crafted to be rich in contrast and variety, allowing her versatile vocal colours to sound powerful, emotional and captivating. Yannis François reports: “Not many sopranos can effortlessly switchfrom Mozart’s Donna Anna and Handel’s Rodelinda to Maria von Trapp in *The Sound of Music*! The possibilities for developing a programme for her debut album were endless!”

*Mirrors* is a personal album, the aim of which was to juxtapose Handel’s unique and mature arias with other, lesser-known ones, whose composers – and this is often not widely known – were in some cases the actual creators of these aria characters.

Despite the blows of fate, these courageous female characters are ultimately rewarded for their resilience, strength, forgiveness and love. With reverence and compassion, Jeanine De Bique seizes this unique opportunity to celebrate the diversity of the female experience – drawing on her cultural background from Trinidad and Tobago. She identifies as a new voice, not only for these familiar characters, but also for women who are still trying to find spaces in which they can liberate and reclaim their voices. From her versatile expressions to the characters she embodies, she is indeed a mirror within this album. “It seems as though everything that has shaped me so far, both as a person and as a musician, has given me the means to meet the musical and emotional demands of the programme,” says De Bique. She found the collaboration with the orchestra and the conductor particularly inspiring: “I couldn’t have wished for better companions than Concerto Köln and Luca Quintavalle.”

Mirrors explores human relationships in a musically captivating way, allowing listeners to experience exuberance, surprise and delight, to discover new music and to enjoy familiar pieces. For the soprano, this album fulfils a long-cherished wish: she wants to reflect on her wealth of cultural experience in relation to Baroque music.