All press
"L'Assamblea Generale ICMA in Lussemburgo"
Concert review
"Nei giorni del meeting, La Philharmonie ha ospitato ... una serata organizzata da Music:LX ... che ha visto la partecipazione di artisti davvero interessanti ... e il Duo Rosa, formato dal soprano Stephany Ortega e dalla pianista Lena Kollmeier, impegnate in un programma dedicato al '900 americano."
DUO ROSA's review about the showcase for the ICMA jury
Concert review
About the DUO ROSA's showcase for the jury of the International Classical Music Awards: "...In a very different repertoire, Duo Rosa presented art songs, Broadway and Cabaret Songs by Gershwin, Bernstein, Hageman, Bolsom and Kurt Weill. Genuinely supported by pianist Léna Kollmeier, soprano Stephany Ortega provided bright entertainment in this showcase concert. With a terrific stage presence and a highly communicative singing she presented a glittering assemblage including I Got Rhythm, I Hate Music and I Feel Pretty as well as the emotionally enriched Do not go my love. With amazing characterizations, the ability to adapt the vocal delivery to each song and to add appropriate theatrical acting, Duo Rosa’s show was a smashing success."
"De l'Amérique plein les valises" | American Soul
Concert review
«... An efficient, straightforward musical journey that leaves no time for boredom... »
"DUO ROSA in Review" : performance at Carnegie Hall!
Concert review
"There were several factors that made this recital so stunning. First of all, obviously, there are the talents of the performers. Ms. Ortega is an extremely gifted coloratura soprano with a warm, powerful, and flexible sound, very true intonation with seemingly little effort, and an immediacy of expressiveness that engaged the listener every moment. Ms. Kollmeier provided unfailing support with a sensitive ear and excellent timing...Secondly, there were the repertoire choices, simply delicious, carefully alternating the meditative, fiery, lush, quiet and dance-like qualities of music. "
"One must not omit the opening of the program, a work entitled “Aller-Retour” commissioned by the duo from composer Camille Kerger (b. 1957, Luxembourg). It was ethereal and otherworldly, in a way a fitting point of departure for this journey of the musical imagination... A large, appreciative audience gave a standing ovation, earning an encore of Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm.” It was a joy, and a nice doff of the hat to New York. In the words of the Gershwin song, itself, “who could ask for anything more?”
"Return" selected as an "Album for History"
Album Review
"Ortega can already look back on an ample career, and on this CD she displays several of her qualities – not only exquisite taste, but also true synergy with the pianist. Each of these works is imbued with such musicianship and subtlety that the listener is effortlessly led from 21st-century Europe to current-day Latin America, with stopovers in Impressionism and Late Romantic Nationalism. Coaxing the audience to follow the flow of lyric singing as if it was popular music is no easy task, but in this case the combination of folklore with avant-garde repertoire amply rises to the challenge".
DUO ROSA's review about "Return World Tour" in Madrid
Concert review
"Some years ago, a soprano and a pianist from the same generation, sharing a common background, combined their talents and produced optimal results. The communication between them flowed so well, and they shared the same way of approaching a score: one could tell that they felt happy and comfortable in their artistic collaboration. The two artists were Victoria de los Angeles and Alicia de Larrocha.
In the recital offered by Duo Rosa – formed by soprano Stephany Ortega and pianist Lйna Kollmeier – the same miracle of communication among two musicians occurred once more. Ortega’s voice seemed to emerge spontaneously from within the piano; the keyboard found its natural extension in the singer’s timbre, as if there could be no other – a perfect, unique model of musical collaboration".
"Return" by DUO ROSA
Album Review
"Sincerity and freshness radiate from this portrait of a journey in a sound, resulting in a 21-track CD that combines French mélodies (artsongs) with songs in Spanish.One of the main strengths in this musical array is undoubtedly the CD's intriguing first piece, "Aller-retour", a new 10min. composition by Luxembourg composer Camille Kerger [...] Playing on the rich variety of emotions evoked in the text, the composer has created a beguiling series of poetic miniatures, each more expressive than the last [...] As a perfectly matched team, Duo Rosa, convincingly render this new work with commendable precision and a great deal of imagination. The two female musicians transfer the music and the text to an imaginary space where each element finds its appropriate function. Even the most striking contrasts cannot obstruct their discourse, which flows with natural ease."
"DUO ROSA: Emotional sehr suggestiv"
Album Review
"[...] Ortega does not need to set herself any limits in terms of interpretation; thus, her keenly perceptive, strongly emotional performance does full justice to the song's context. A class act! [...] The Duo Rosa impressively highlights the dramatic and concrete narrative energy contained in these songs, leading us to discover hidden melodic beauty in several cases. Stephany Ortega truly possesses all the qualities required to effective artsong interpretation: a silvery timbre invariably charged with heartfelt emotion; a lyrically poignant voice that is likewise capable of inflaming itself with sudden dramatic urgency[...]"
"Return" by DUO ROSA
Album Review
"It’s a real pleasure to follow Dominican-Luxemburgish soprano Stephany Ortega and Belgian pianist Léna Kollmeier –both members of the Duo Rosa–, on an hour-long musical journey across Luxemburg France, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, sailing along 21 French mйlodies and Spanish "canciones". Outside snow is falling: the joy that I feel while sitting here and listening to this incredibly warm-blooded, now passionate, then melancholic music, is even more intense (...) In a short period of time, they offer a very nice and high-level sample of classical songs from the Central and South American repertoire. This recital is as valuable as it is unique!"
"Un tour du monde, derrière son piano"
Interview
Wonderful interview to Léna Kollmeier about Duo Rosa's first album "Return", the "Return Wolrd Tour" and much more!
Performance in "MOOD(s)" a dancing/live music piece
Concert review
"[...] The soprano Stephany Ortega, dressed in black, intervenes sporadically in the more intimate moments that she sublimes with her warm and crystalline voice [...]".
Return" by DUO ROSA
Album Review
"[...] With Stephany Ortega's well-timbred, powerful voice and Léna Kollmeier's confident, precise piano playing, these Latin American songs sound like hymns to an entire continent [...] But then, when the Dominican soprano tackles French art song, what a beautiful, nice surprise! we hear that she is entirely capableof delicately whispering and murmuring our language with all the velvety timbre oneshould expect in such elegant repertoire [...] Meanwhile, in the beauty of her phrasing, Léna Kollmeier proves that she is likewise capable of "singing", even in the piano parts."
FR:
"Avec la voix très colorée et puissante de Stephany Ortega, et le jeu très sûr de Léna Kollmeier au piano, les mélodies latino-américaines sonnent comme des hymnes à un continent tout entier.
Et puis, belle et douce surprise, lorsque la soprano dominicaine aborde les mélodies françaises, on prend conscience du fait qu'elle peut chuchoter et murmurer notre langue, avec tout le velouté que l'on attend dans ce répertoire tellement élégant.
Léna Kollmeier montre aussi par la beauté de son phrasé, qu'elle aussi peut "chanter", fut-ce des parties de piano."
"El XXV Concierto de Navidad fue evidencia del talento lÃrico y sinfónico dominicanos"
Concert review
"[...] The classical singer Stephany Ortega, born in Puerto Plata, but with the Luxembourgish nationality as well, was the special guest from Europe. She showed a rich palette of colors with a fine artistic and singing technique of high level, especially in her high register."
TV: Concert for the Refugees with the presence of the Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg (LU)
"Dominicanos en el BENELUX: la fórmula para el éxito de Stephany Ortega"
Interview
Interview with Pablo Gómez Borbón for the online magazine "Acento" (Dominican Republic): " Dominicans in BENELUX: the formula for success of Stephany Ortega".
Radio program "ARTI-Chock"
Interview
In case you missed it, here you have the link for the interview with Manuel Ribeiro for the radio program "ARTI-Chock" the Radio 100,7.
"Gruppenerfahrung": Sopranistin Stephany Ortega leitet zur Zeit eine Masterclass in Saarburg
Interview
Performance in "INANNA" a dancing/live music piece by Annick Pütz
Concert review
"...and singing (Stephany Ortega, the mother, exudes a charming and protective babble)".
"A Day to Remember"
Concert review
"A Day to Remember", a concert of a special kind, has inspired the audience at Kloster Karthaus. Multipercussionist Sven Kiefer and soprano Stephany Ortega invited to a fantastic journey ... Alongside Sven Kiefer, the soprano Stephany Ortega, with her soft voice, bewitched the audience with imaginative sounds. "
Performance in “Das Lied von der Glocke†by Andreas Romberg
Concert review
“…Vinzenz Haab with his dominant bass as “Meister”, as well as Stephany Ortega (soprano), Sandra Stahlheber (alto) and Dominik Heil (tenor) impressed us”.
Performance in “Lieben Sie Strinberg†with Oscar-winner Maximilian Schell
Concert review
“…behind Stephany Ortega sang beautifully heartbreaking "Solveig's Song" from Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suite".
Performance in the “Missa Katharina†by Jacob de Haan
Concert review
“Almost perfect was the impression of the Kyrie Eleison from the throats of the four-part choir, when Stephany Ortega, with her charming soprano voice and accurate intonation, contrast it with a Christe Eleison”.
Performance with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Luxembourg | Waltzing, conductor
Concert review
“…and an angel passes ... then the theme of "Titanic", with the vocal performance of Stephany Ortega as a soloist, a cherub draped in a pastel, supported with majesty by the singers of INECC."