The young soprano Isabel Rey, who was born in Valencia, Spain, began singing at the age of eight as a member of Los Pequeños Cantores choir in that city. At the same time, she started her music studies in the Valencia Conservatory. At fourteen, she began voice training under the tutelage of the present professor, Ana Luisa Chova. She achieved the highest marks, and won the Special Graduation Award.

She began her professional career at the early age of sixteen, with recitals of Spanish and French songs and German lieder throughout the Valencia region..

After completing her studies in Valencia, she moved to Barcelona to train with two great singers and teachers. Tatiana Menotti and Juan Olcina, with whom she prepared most of the roles in her repertoire. She also attended master classes with renowned teachers like AlfredoKraus, Monserrat Caballe, Renata Scotto and Ileana Cotrubas.

She entered national and international voice competitions during this study period (Juventudes Musicales, Verviers (Bélgica), Sabadell, Toulouse, Valencia, Barcelona (F.Viñas) and Bilbao), and won prizes in all of them. As a result of the last of these, she made her debut in the title role of Bellini’s opera La Sonambula in 1987, in which she won the prize Urretxindor for the best actress of the season.

She made her international debut (after winning the Veviers International Voice Competition) as Olympia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann in Liêge, and toured the Soviet Union with the same company in 1988.

She sang together with the leading Spanish lyric performers in the gala concert which took place in Madrid to honour the Spanish presidency of the E.E:C., and a small tour in Spain accompanied by the New York Metropolitan Orchestra of soloists.

She made her debut as Gilda in Rigoletto with great success in 1989 in Oviedo and Liêge, and subsequently in Vienna Konzerthaus in Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate, where she sang the following year in his opera Ascanio in Alba under Adam Fisher’s direction. She then performed for the first time in the Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid, as Ilia in Mozart’s Idomeneo, and later sang again in Vienna in Händel’s Saul.

Since 1991, she has been a soloist in the Zurich Operahaus where she has made her debut in most of the roles in her repertoire: Susanna (Nozze di Fígaro), Gilda (Rigoletto), Olga (Fedora), Servilia (Clemenza di Tito), Rosina (Barbiere di Siviglia), Oscar (Ballo in Maschera), Nannetta (Falstaff), Morgana (Alcina), Adina (Elisir d’Amore), Zerlina, & Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Juliette (Romeo et Juliette), Marie (La Fille du Régiment), Carolina (Il Matrimonio Segreto), Norina (Don Pasquale), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor)… among others. She has performed there under the the direction of maestros such as Nello Santi, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Ralf Weikert, Rafael Frübeck de Burgos, Adam Fisher, Franz Welser-Möst, Victor Pablo, Jesús López Cobos etc., alternating with numerous recitals, concerts and oratorios throughout the world.

Her interpretation of Susanna in 1993 in the new Amsterdam Opera production, under the direction of Harnoncourt, won her great acclaim in the European communications media as one of the youngest stars on the opera scene, opening the door of Europe’s leading theatres.

That year, she sang in the Year-end and New Year concerts at the Vienna Konzerthaus, performing in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with F. De Burgos and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and made her debut in the role of Adina in L’Elixir d’amore .
In summer, 1993 she began to work with the tenor José Carreras, making concert tours all over the world. This collaboration led to making a record of arias and duets from Spanish zarzuela in 1994 for ERATO, and is still continuing. In 1994, she repeated the production of Nozze di Fígaro in Amsterdam, returned to Las Palmas as Olympia, and made a concert tour in Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom.

She recorded the role of Barbarina in Nozze di Figaro under N. Harnoncourt’s baton for the Teldec company.

The role of Susanna in a new production of Nozze di Figaro at the Lausanne Opera, Exultate Jubilate under the direction of R. Weikert, and another debut, as Marie in La Fille du Regiment were among her engagements in 1995. That year ended with two more performances of the 9th Symphony at the National Auditorium in Madrid conducted by F. de Burgos, a Christmas concert in Vienna and Year-end concert with José Carreras in Germany.

In 1996 she took leading roles in Nozze di Figaro (with Harnoncourt, recorded for ZDF German TV) and Il Matrimonio segreto (Carolina). She made her debut at the Salzburg Festival in the inaugural concert, performing in Händel’s oratorio Jephtra, and sang Adele in Die Fledermaus at the end of the year .

That year she made her debut in the Amsterdam Concertgebow with Ton Koopman. She sang her first Don Pasquale (with Ruggero Raimondi, who was also singing his first performance in the role), and her first Cosi fan tutte, Il Mondo della luna and Der Schauspieldirektor (on a tour with Harnoncourt), Alcina (Morgana) in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna during the Wiener Festwochen, a recital of Spanish songs in the Lausanne Opera and an opera gala in Hamburg with Agnes Baltsa and José Carreras.

She started 1998 with her debut in the Teatro Real de Madrid singing Susanna (with such success that she was given contracts for the next five years) A few weeks later she made her debut in the same opera in the Vienna Staatsoper, with identical success.

After two performances of Mozart’s Requiem in Lausanne (with López Cobos), the month of May became very special for Isabel Rey when she made her debut in Lucia di Lammermoor with the great Alfredo Kraus. A month later she made her debut in the role of Pamina (Die Zauberflöte).

In summer 1998, the following engagements stood out among others: a concert in Hampton Court (London), La Clemenza de Tito in the Coruña Mozart Festival, Le Roi David (Honegger) under Michel Corboz, Armida (Zelmira) in the Graz Festival (with Harnoncourt) and Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with the Galicia Symphony Orchestra and Victor Pablo Pérez.

She appeared twice that year in the Salzburg Festival, in the Easter Festival in Il Martirio di San Lorenzo, and in the Summer Festival in the Exultate Jubilate in the famous Mozarteum. She completed 1998 with La Boheme (Musetta) in El Teatro Real, Madrid.

Her first performance in Vienna as Adele in Die Fledermaus under the direction of N. Harnoncourt during the Wiener Festwochen was recorded live for ORF Austrian TV. She also appeared as Ilia in Idomeneo in the Coruña Mozart Festival under the direction of Jesus López Cobos; she made her debut as Sophie in Rosenkavalier in the Teatro Real, Madrid: she interpreted Leila in Les Pecheurs de Perles in Las Palmas, to great public and critical acclaim; and she repeated Idomeneo in Bilbao and Nozze di Figaro in the Wiener Staatsoper.

In 2001, her debut in the role of Donna Anna in Zurich with Harnoncourt was recorded in DVD; she sung for the first time at the Nice Opera Haus performing La Finta Giardiniera.
In his first appearance as opera conductor, Isabel Rey had the pleasure to perform Despina in Cosí fan Tutte in Vicenza and in the Edimburgh Festival under the direction of the celebrated pianist Andras Schiff.

In the recent months, The Teatro Real and the Zurich Opera haus invited her to perform Gilda in two different new productions of Rigoletto. A new DVD was recorded during the performances of the new production of Il ritorno di Ulisse in patria again under N. Harnoncourt’s baton last February. Her debuts as Micaela in Carmen with A. Lombard in the Teatro Real, Il trionfo del tempo e il disinganno (Bellezza) with M.Minkovsky in Zürich, Les Indes Galantes with W. Christie.

Among her future projects: a concert tournee in Japan, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro under A. Schiff’s baton, Don Pasquale in Montecarlo with N.Santi,Radamisto with W. Christie, Melissande in Pelleas et Melissande with F. Welser-Möst, and The King Arthur in Salzbourg Festival with N. Harnoncourt.

Added to her successful operistic career with more than fourty roles in her repertoire in the seven languages that she has mastered, is that of the lieder and concert singer, to which she has applied herself since her youth, and which has taken her to important cities such as Vienna, Madrid, Amsterdam, London, Rome, Los Angeles, Hamburg, Berlin ,Lausanne, Zürich, Stokholm, Barcelona, München, Dresden, Valencia, Bern, Tokyo, Kobe, etc,

DVD recordings of Nozze di Figaro (Susanna), Don Giovanni (Donna Anna) and Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (Minerva) under the direction of Nikolaus Harnoncourt have been released.