Ricarda Merbeth, soprano

After studying at the Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Hochschule für Musik in Leipzig, Ricarda Merbeth was engaged as a lyric soprano by the Magdeburg Opera and afterwards by the Weimar Opera.

From 1999 to 2005 Ricarda Merbeth was a member of the ensemble of the Vienna Staatsoper. She made her debut there as Marzelline in FIDELIO and has since sung parts like Contessa, Donna Anna, Pamina, Fiordiligi, Chrysotemis, Elisabeth, Eva and Irene (RIENZI).
In 2004 Ricarda Merbeth was especially successful in the title role of DAPHNE in the new production under the musical direction of Semyon Bychkov.

The artist still regularly performs at the Vienna Staatsoper. In the spring of 2006 she made her successful debuts there as Marschallin in DER ROSENKAVALIER and in the title role of JENUFA.

She also gives regular guest performances at the Dresden Semperoper, notably singing the soprano part in the MISSA SOLEMNIS, and as Pamina and Donna Anna. Berlin audiences likewise frequently have the opportunity to experience Ricarda Merbeth at the Deutsche Oper, where she has sung Daphne and Elisabeth.

In 2000/2001 Ricarda Merbeth sang the parts of Freia and Gutrune in the new production of THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG at the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth. From 2002 to 2005 and in 2007 she was also to be heard there as Elisabeth conducted by Christian Thielemann.

Her numerous performances at the Vienna Staatsoper and guest performances at other leading opera houses and concert halls have given Ricarda Merbeth the opportunity to work with such celebrated conductors as Giuseppe Sinopoli, Zubin Metha, Marcello Viotti, Seiji Ozawa, Myung-Whun Chung, Pinchas Steinberg, Peter Schneider, Donald Runnicles, Fabio Luisi, Bertrand de Billy, Adam Fischer, Valery Gergiev, Franz Welser-Möst, Walter Weller, Semyon Bychkov, Christian Thielemann, Gianluigi Gelmetti and Esa-Pekka Salonen in centres of music like Vienna, Milan, Paris, Toulouse, Dresden, Berlin, Leipzig, Munich, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Cologne, Helsinki, Stockholm, Sydney an Tokyo.

One of the highlights of the 2006/2007 season was Ricarda Merbeth´s appearance in the internationally acclaimed new produktion of THE WOMAN WITHOUT A SHADOW in Toulouse, conducted by Pinchas Steinberg and directed by Nicolas Joel. She also sang the soprano part in Mozart´s Requiem under the baton of Fabio Luisi at the Vienna Musikvereinssaal. Futher appearances at the Vienna Staatsoper followed in the roles of Fiordiligi, Donna Anna, Contessa and Daphne, as well as the soprano part in Gustav Mahler´s Second Symphony conducted by Seiji Ozawa.

Singing the part of SALOME for the first time, in a concert guest performance given by the Vienna Staatsoper in Zaragoza in April 2007, was a special personal triumph for Ricarda Merbeth. In June 2007 she made her debut as Elsa in LOHENGRIN at the Vienna Staatsoper, and also sang the soprano part in Britten´s WAR REQUIEM with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Ingo Metzmacher at the Vienna Musikvereinssaal.

The 2007/8 season began for her with a new production of TANNHÄUSER at the New National Theatre in Tokyo, followed by concerts in Genoa (Strauss - FOUR LAST SONGS, with Gábor Ötvös), Geneva (Sibelius - LUONNOTAR, with Marek Janowski), Bratislava (FOUR LAST SONGS, with Fabio Luisi), Madrid (Brahms - A GERMAN REQUIEM, with Pinchas Steinberg) and Brussels (Wagner - WESENDONK LIEDER, with Walter Weller). She then returned to the Vienna Staatsoper to sing the roles of Eva and Marschallin, and also appeared as Donna Anna in Dresden. The end of the season was marked by her debut in the role Senta in the new production of THE FLYING DUTCHMAN at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin.

In 2008/09 Ricarda Merbeth will return to the Deutsche Oper in Berlin for another new production - of THE EGYPTIAN HELEN, in which she will sing the title role. Further new productions during the season will be TANNHÄUSER in Graz, THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO in Toulouse and TANNHÄUSER in Gran Canaria. Regular appearances at the Vienna Staatsoper will follow, as Donna Anna, Freia and Gutrune. Concerts under Christian Thielemann (Beethoven´s Ninth Symphony in Munich), Pierre Boulez (Vienna - Mahler´s Eight Symphonie), Mariss Jansons (Beethoven´s Ninth Symphony in New York), Pinchas Steinberg (FOUR LAST SONGS in Prague and Dvorák´s Requiem at the Liceu in Barcelona) are also on the artist´s busy schedule.

Other future projects:
Ricarda Merbeth will make her Paris debut in two new productions at the Bastille in 2009 and 2010: as Marietta in DIE TOTE STADT and as Sieglinde in THE VALKYRIE. A major tour of Europa featuring Mahler´s Second Symphony is plannes with Mariss Jansons. She will sing the part of Elsa at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and in Gran Canaria. She is due to return to the Bastille in Paris to sing Ariadne, and will take the part of Rezia in a new production of OBERON in Toulouse. Ricarda Merbeth is also due to sing the part of Sieglinde at the Vienna Staatsoper.

The release of Ricarda Merbeth´s CD featuring the FOUR LAST SONGS and the Brentano lieder of Richard Strauss (Naxos, Staatskapelle of Weimar, Michael Halász) has been enthusiastically welcomed internationally.

August 2008

Tranlation: J & M Berridge