Lee Abrahmsen is an Australian Swedish operatic soprano based in Australia. [1]
Abrahmsen started her opera career singing a range of roles in the lyric soprano repertoire for Opera Australia, Melbourne Opera and Victorian Opera including; Mozart's La Contessa (Le Nozze di Figaro), Verdi's Violetta (La Traviata), Puccini's Cio-Cio San (Madama Butterfly), Mimi (La Bohéme), Strauss' Adele (Die Fledermaus), Mozart's Constanze (Die Entfürhrung der Serail), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni). [2] [3]
Abrahmsen has established herself as Australia's leading Wagner singer having sung the major Wagner repertoire in recent years. Her Wagner roles have included Elisabeth (Tannhäuser), Senta (Der Fliegender Holländer), Isolde (Tristan und Isolde), Eva (Die Meistersinger), Freia (Das Rheingold), Sieglinde (Die Walküre) and Brünnhilde (Siegfried). [4] [5] [6] She has been nominated for Greenroom Awards for best performer in a lead role for Isolde (Tristan und Isolde), Marschallin (Der rosenkavalier), Brὓnnhilde (Siegfried), Senta (Der Fliegende Hollӓnder) and Valencienne (The Merry Widow).
Abrahmsen has performed as soloist and principal artist with Opera Australia, Opera Queensland, Melbourne Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Queensland Symphony, Omega Ensemble, Melbourne Opera, Victorian Opera, Geelong Symphony, Edinburgh Festival and Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
Abrahmsen is married to Australian oboist and instrumental teacher Stephen Moschner and is a mother to a son. [7]
Bridget Davies writes of Abrahmsen's Isolde, "Abrahmsen's strong soprano soaring and brimming with colour." [4]
Leopoldine Rysanek was an Austrian dramatic soprano.
Cheryl Studer is an American dramatic soprano who has sung at many of the world's foremost opera houses. Studer has performed more than eighty roles ranging from the dramatic repertoire to roles more commonly associated with lyric sopranos and coloratura sopranos, and, in her late stage, mezzo-sopranos. She is particularly known for her interpretations of the works of Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner.
Dame Gwyneth Jones is a Welsh dramatic soprano, widely regarded as one of the greatest Wagnerian sopranos in the second half of the 20th century.
Lisa Kinkead Gasteen AO, is an Australian operatic soprano, known for her performances of the works of Wagner. She won the Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 1991. She did not perform between 2008 and 2011, due to neuro-muscular spasms in her neck.
Helga Dernesch is an Austrian soprano and mezzo-soprano. Her career has taken her through four successive phases: from mezzo-soprano to lyric soprano to dramatic soprano, and after about 1980 back to mezzo again. "Her voice had great richness and power, and her strikingly handsome stage appearance and intense acting made her a compelling performer."
Martha Mödl was a German soprano, and later a mezzo-soprano. She specialized in large dramatic roles such as Isolde, Brünnhilde, and particularly Kundry, and is considered, along with Astrid Varnay and Birgit Nilsson, one of the three major postwar Wagner sopranos. She was among the preeminent Wagner sopranos—and most compelling singing actresses—of the twentieth century. She was celebrated for her highly individualized interpretations, exceptional acting ability, intense stage presence, and "rich, sexy voice."
Roberta Knie was an American dramatic soprano who had a prominent opera career in the United States and Europe that spanned from the mid-1960s through the early 1980s. Possessing a strong and clear timbre, Knie became particularly known for her interpretations of the works of Richard Wagner.
Deborah Polaski is an American opera and concert singer (soprano). She has specialized in dramatic soprano roles and also sings mezzo-soprano roles occasionally.
Nina Maria Stemme is a Swedish dramatic soprano opera singer.
Jennifer Wilson is an American soprano known especially for her Wagnerian opera roles. She is the daughter of Newton Wilson and Katherine Still. The daughter, granddaughter and niece of professional singers, instrumentalists and music educators, Wilson grew up steeped in music from opera and oratorio to rock 'n' roll and bluegrass. She began tap dance lessons at age 3, ballet at 8, piano at 10, and solo classical singing at 12. Wilson attended Cornell University for several years, eventually departing on a leave of absence which she filled with advanced training in acting, languages, and vocal studies with former Metropolitan Opera coloratura soprano Marilyn Cotlow. During this time, Wilson supported herself as a news bureau assistant and wire editor for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The consolidation of US international broadcast services in 1995 caused Wilson to lose her position with RFE/RL, forcing her to find other employment. At this point she took up singing full-time, though her breakthrough to the elusive ranks of international soloist was still several years away.
Catherine Foster is an English operatic soprano, who has appeared internationally, mostly in European opera houses. Her repertoire has focused on dramatic soprano roles in stage works by Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner, such as the title role of Elektra, and Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen, a role which she performed at the Bayreuth Festival in 2013 for Wagner's bicentenary.
Gladys Kuchta was an American operatic soprano who sang leading roles in opera houses worldwide including the Vienna State Opera, Royal Opera House, Bayreuth Festival, San Francisco Opera, and the Teatro Colón.
Astrid Schirmer is a German operatic soprano and an academic teacher. She sang mostly dramatic roles at major German opera houses and appeared at the Bayreuth Festival.
Dara Kristin Hobbs is an American operatic soprano, who has appeared internationally, mostly in European opera houses. Her repertoire has focused on dramatic soprano roles, such as Wagner's Isolde and Strauss' Ariadne. She appeared as Wagner's Brünnhilde in Der Ring in Minden.
Liane Synek was an Austrian operatic soprano. She made a career based in Germany, at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, the Staatsoper Berlin and the Cologne Opera, and appeared at international major opera houses and festivals, such as the Bayreuth Festival. She appeared mostly in dramatic roles such as Beethoven's Fidelio, and Wagner's Sieglinde, Brünnhilde and Isolde. She also performed in contemporary operas, creating the role of Countess de la Roche in Zimmermann's Die Soldaten in Cologne in 1965, conducted by Michael Gielen.
Marianne Schech was a German operatic soprano and academic who appeared internationally. She was a member of the Bavarian State Opera from 1946 to 1970. She is known for leading roles in works by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, playing, for example, the Dyer's Wife in the U.S. premiere of Die Frau ohne Schatten by Richard Strauss at the San Francisco Opera in 1959. She made several recordings, including in 1951 the role of Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhäuser, conducted by Robert Heger, in 1960 the role of Chrysothemis in Elektra by Richard Strauss, conducted by Karl Böhm, Senta in Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer, conducted by Franz Konwitschny, and Venus in Tannhäuser, also conducted by Konwitschny.
Ingrid Haubold is a German operatic soprano. After beginning her career in Munich and continuing with German companies, she moved on to major international opera houses, appearing as Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde at the Teatro Real in Madrid in 1986, as Senta in Der fliegende Holländer at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, and in the title role of Beethoven's Fidelio at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
Erna Schlüter was a German operatic dramatic soprano and voice teacher. Beginning as a contralto at the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater in 1922, she moved to the Mannheim National Theatre in 1925 where her voice developed to dramatic soprano, to the Stadttheater Düsseldorf in 1930 where she appeared in 1933 in the world premiere of Winfried Zillig's Der Rossknecht and was awarded the title Kammersängerin. Her last station, from 1940, was the Hamburg State Opera.
Linda Watson is an American dramatic soprano and academic voice teacher. She made her career based in Germany where she studied and began as a mezzo-soprano at the Theater Aachen. She has performed worldwide, including at the Vienna State Opera, La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera and the Bayreuth Festival. She focused on dramatic roles by Wagner, including Brünnhilde and Isolde, and Strauss, including Ariadne and the Dyer's Wife. She was awarded the title Kammersängerin in Germany in 2004 and in Austria in 2020.
Wilma Schmidt, also known as Wilma Schmidt-Liebethal, was a German operatic soprano. She performed for five decades in leading roles at the Staatsoper Hannover, and appeared as a guest at other opera houses and the Bayreuth Festival. Her broad repertoire included the Countess in Mozart's Figaro, Agathe in Weber's Der Freischütz, Elisabetta in Verdi's Don Carlo alongside Hans-Dieter Bader, Elisabeth in Wagner's Tannhäuser, and her favourite role, the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss.