Biography
Charlotte de Rothschild studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria and at the Royal College of Music in London. With her wide knowledge of the song repertoire, from different eras, countries and genres, she has created some wonderful themed programmes; the best known being the "Family Connections" programme which Charlotte has performed all over the world. Some of the concerts took place in original family houses such as the Villa Ephrussi-Rothschild in the south of France, the Château de Ferrières outside Paris and in the Rothschild-Palais in Frankfurt where she presented this programme for Chancellor Kohl on the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mayer Amschel, the founder of the dynasty. Her CD "Family Connections" has had world-wide success.
Other themes presented in major concert halls or Festivals include "Flower Songs" (arranged by the season), "Women of the Old Testament" (with harpsichord and piano accompaniments) that she devised for the B'nai Brith Music Festival and "A Woman's Lot" (a humorous look at the passage of life) which she created for the National Federation of Women's Institute's 75th anniversary. Her first CD "Flowers, Dreams and Romance", based on the "Flower Songs" theme and containing 12 songs by Charlotte's ancestor, Mathilde de Rothschild, was released in Japan in 1991 by Toshiba-EMI and went to no. 1 in their charts.
Charlotte's oratorio career has been extensive; she was a soloist for the Bach Choir with Sir David Willcocks in Exeter, Wells and Truro Cathedrals, in King's College, Cambridge and at the Royal Festival Hall. She performed in Mozart's Requiem twice in the Place de la Madeleine in Paris and was a soloist in Rossini's Petite Messe Solonelle for a recording made in Japan. Charlotte also specialises in the voice and harp repertoire and has had many such recitals and tours in Germany, France, Denmark, Hong Kong, South Korea, America and Japan. Charlotte released a CD of voice and harp music recorded at Charlecote Park for the National Trust label, to coincide with the Trust's centenary.
After performing in Japan for over ten years, Ongaku no tomo invited her to record a CD of classical Japanese songs called A Japanese Journey. She was the first gai-jin (foreigner) to have recorded a complete CD of these beautiful songs in their native tongue and as such was hailed as a pioneer. As a result of her involvement in promoting the beauty of these songs, she took part in many concerts in the Japan 2001 Festival being held in the U.K., including concerts in the South Bank, St. John's Smith Square, and two solo recitals. A 20-minute arrangement of Kohsaku Yamada songs adapted by Yui Kakinuma was commissioned especially for Charlotte and the English Chamber Orchestra in a concert held at the Barbican. She also premièred this work in Prague Castle with a chamber orchestra. She devised and performed in a 90-minute television documentary for NHK TV called "Rothschild Passions".
In 2010 Charlotte collaborated with Professors Philip Gossett and Francesco Izzo, both well-known musicologists, in a performance of music taken from the Rothschild Livre d'Or. Professor Gossett's research on the material has yielded a wealth of new knowledge and material and they presented their findings at the 2011 American Musicological Society conference in San Francisco in November. In September 2011 Charlotte had a 9 concert tour in Japan, she went back in November for further concerts. She performed the Family Connections programme in Mumbai, India, in Athens, Greece, and in Geneva, Switzerland with Danielle Perrett accompanying on the harp. Her 2011 plans also included various European concerts and a tour to the U.S. in November when, as well as performing the Livre d'Or programme, she presented a new programme with harp for the McMullen Museum of Art in Boston. This concert was held in conjunction with the art exhibition "Making History", from the Royal Society of Antiquaries, and included songs that reflect Antiquarian interest in England in the 18th, 19th and early 20th Centuries.
In 2012 Charlotte will repeat this programme in Yale and London. She will be traveling again to India, to Japan and to the U.S. where she and Danielle have created another new programme to complement the Joan Mirò exhibition being held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
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