Michaela Schuster Mezzo-soprano

Michaela Schuster is considered one of today’s most important mezzo-sopranos and performs regularly on all major international stages. She starts the current season with a new production of Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor at Staatsoper Berlin under the baton of Daniel Barenboim and will appear in Nikolaus Habjan’s new production of Salome at the Theater an der Wien. She will sing Amme in Die Frau ohne Schatten in a new production, directed by Katie Mitchell and conducted by Marc Albrecht, at the Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam. Aside from her operatic engagements she will sing Mahler’s Das klagende Lied in Sydney under the baton of Simone Young and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Wiener Symphoniker and Philippe Jordan. In Helsinki she will perform in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem conducted by Bertrand de Billy. Further concerts will lead her to Paris, Rotterdam and Dortmund. Her extensive repertoire includes roles such as Ortrud (Lohengrin), Fricka (Rheingold and Walküre), Waltraute (Götterdämmerung), Knusperhexe and Mutter (Hänsel und Gretel), Herodias (Salome), Clairon (Capriccio), Marie (Wozzeck), Zia Principessa and Zita (Il Trittico) and Amneris (Aida). Ms. Schuster regularly performs at the Berlin State Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London and the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. In the 2017/18 season she gave her highly successful debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York as Klytämnestra (Elektra). Her Amme (Die Frau ohne Schatten) at the Salzburg Festival and Kundry (Parsifal) at the Salzburg Easter Festival, both conducted by Christian Thielemann, are further highlights of her career. Ms. Schuster maintains an extensive concert repertoire including all important works ranging from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, to Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, Brahms, Mahler, Schönberg’s Gurrelieder and Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder and Altenberg-Lieder. She has given recitals, notably at Wigmore Hall in London and at the Schubertiade in Hohenems. Her Art Song CD “Morgen” (Oehms Classic) has received numerous awards. She works regularly with renowned conductors and directors such as Kirill Petrenko, Daniel Barenboim, Simone Young, Sebastian Weigle, Franz Welser-Möst, Marc Albrecht, Philippe Jordan, Semyon Bychkov and David McVicar, Robert Wilson, Richard Jones, Stefan Herheim, Peter Konwitschny, David Alden, Andreas Kriegenburg, Claus Guth and Christof Loy. Ms. Schuster has performed in concerts with the Wiener Symphoniker, Hamburger Symphoniker, Bamberger Symphoniker, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Alte Oper Frankfurt.