Biography


The path of Cologne-born mezzo-soprano Ursula Hesse von den Steinen led her to the Semperoper Dresden, where she built up her repertoire under conductors such as Antonio Pappano, Semyon Bychkov, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Riccardo Chailly, Pinchas Steinberg and Michael Boder, and sang the specialist roles of the German and Italian repertoire at all the major European stages in Amsterdam, Munich, Berlin, Vienna, Brussels, Barcelona, Toulouse, Glyndebourne and Paris.

Ursula Hesse von den Steinen began her development in Wagner with a sensational debut as Fricka/Rheingold in Karlsruhe. Since then, she has sung Fricka in Die Walküre in various productions, including at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, in Riga (Stefan Herheim), in Essen (Dietrich Hilsdorf) and in Nuremberg. In Mannheim, she interpreted Venus/Tannhäuser, followed by Adriano/Rienzi in Riga and Ortrud/Lohengrin in Bern.

On the concert stage, the artist has worked with ensembles such as Concerto Köln, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Sächsische Staatskapelle, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre National de France under the baton of Michael Gielen, Vladimir Jurowski, Markus Stenz, Eliahu Inbal, Riccardo Chailly and Pierre Boulez.

In the concert field, she sang Glanert's Requiem for Hieronymus Bosch with the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam and with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra in the Elbphilharmonie, both conducted by Markus Stenz, Messa da Requiem in Düsseldorf, Waltraute in a concert performance of Die Walküre with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Jurowski at the Royal Festival Hall (London).

CD recordings with songs by Reimann, Rihm, Webern and Widmann, as well as the Echo-award-winning recording of Hindemith's Das lange Weihnachtsmahl under Marek Janowski and Glanert's Requiem for Hieronymus Bosch under Markus Stenz document her career.

Highlights of recent seasons include Herodias/Salome in Klagenfurt, Hanover and at the Staatstheater Braunschweig, Klytämnestra/Elektra at the Theater Basel, Fremde Fürstin/Rusalka, Mother Goose/The Rake's Progress, Pelagea Grigorjewna Podtochina/ Die Nase and the Queen in the world premiere of Jaromír Weinberger's Schwanda the Bagpiper at the Komische Oper Berlin,  Irene/Theodora at the Potsdam Winter Opera, Fricka/Das Rheingold in Dortmund, Annina in Der Rosenkavalier, La suora zelatrice/Suor Angelica and Ursuline Sister Claire in the premiere of Pendecki's The Devils of Loudun at the Bavarian State Opera, as well as Klytämnestra in a new production of Elektra at the Theater Erfurt, Margret/Wozzeck at De Nationale Opera Amsterdam and Matilde/Lotario in Bern and at the International Handel Festival in Göttingen. In Bari, she made her debut as Begbick in The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny.

In the 2025/26 season, Ursula Hesse von den Steinen will appear as Nell in Fin de Partie at Theater Basel.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Management

General Management

Artist Manager
 
 
 
 
Boris Orlob
Managing Director
boris@orlob.net 
Mobil: +49-172-8 51 55 14

Repertoire

Repertoire Concert

Bach, J.S. B minor mass
  BWV 1083 (nach Pergolesi)
  Christmas Oratorio
  St. John Passion
  St. Matthew Passion
Beethoven Symphony no. 9
Brahms Alt-Rhapsodie
Bruckner Te Deum
de Falla El amor brujo
  Siete Canciones Populares
Hindemith Des Todes Tod
  Die junge Magd
Händel Judas Maccabäus
  Messiah
Janacek Das Tagebuch eines Verschollenen
Mahler Symphony no. 2
  Symphony no. 3
  Kindertotenlieder
  Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
  Wunderhornlieder
  Das Lied von der Erde
Mendelssohn Elias
Mozart Concert arias (e.g. KV 272, 383, 505)
  Requiem
Pergolesi Stabat Mater
Purcell Dido and Aeneas
Ravel Trois Poemes de St. Mallarmé
Reimann Eingedunkelt (Altsolo nach P.Celan)
Rihm Lieder nach Paul Celan
Rossini Petite Messe solennelle
  Stabat Mater
Shostakovich From Jewish Folk Poetry, Vocal cycle Op. 79
Stravinsky Pribautki
Wagner Wesendonck-Lieder
Weber Nachgelassene Stücke (nach George)
Wolf Der Corregidor
 

Repertoire Opera

Berg Lulu Gräfin Geschwitz
  Wozzeck Marie
Bizet Carmen Carmen
    Mercedes
Britten A Midsummer Night's Dream Hermina
Dvorak Rusalka Foreign Princess
    Jezibaba
Gluck Orpheus und Eurydike Orpheus
Händel Alcina Ruggiero
  Xerxes Amastris
    Xerxes
Monteverdi L'Orfeo Messagiera
  L’incoronazione di Poppea Nerone
Mozart Betulia liberata Judita
  Così fan tutte Dorabella
  Die Zauberflöte 2. Dame, 3. Dame
  Le nozze di Figaro Cherubino
  Titus Sextus
Nicolai Die lustigen Weiber Frau Reich
Offenbach Les contes d'Hoffmann Giulietta
    La Muse / Nicklausse
Pintscher Thomas Chatterton Mutter
Puccini Gianni Schicchi Ciesca
    Zita
  Il tabarro Frugola
  Manon Lescaut Musiker
Rossini Il barbiere di Siviglia Rosina
  Il turco in Italia Donna Fiorilla
    Zaida
  L' Italiana in Algeri Isabella
  La Cenerentola Angelina
Shostakovich The Nose Podtotschina
Strauss, J. Die Fledermaus Prinz Orlofsky
Strauss, R. Elektra Klytämnestra
    1. Magd
  Salome Herodias
Ullmann Der Kaiser von Atlantis Trommler
Verdi Don Carlo Eboli
  Falstaff Meg Page
  Rigoletto Maddalena
Wagner Das Rheingold Fricka
    Wellgunde
  Der fliegende Holländer Mary
  Die Meistersinger v. Nürnberg Magdalene
  Die Walküre Fricka
    Roßweiße
  Götterdämmerung 2. Norn
    Waltraute
    Wellgunde
  Lohengrin Ortrud
  Tannhäuser Venus
Weill Die 7 Todsünden Anna

News

Walhall in Dortmund
Dortmund is not only in football fever because of the Champions League semi-finals, but is also eagerly awaiting the premiere of Peter Konwitschny's interpretation of Wagner's Rheingold with Ursula Hesse von den Steinen as Fricka this week. Alongside Tommi Hakala as Wotan, Matthias Wohlbrecht as Loge and Joachim Goltz as Alberich, she can be seen on stage in Dortmund from 9 May 2024 under the musical direction of Gabriel Feltz.

Further performance dates:
19./24.05., 01./08.06.24, 09.03.25

Further information can be found here:
www.theaterdortmund.de
Highly romantic
Ursula Hesse von den Steinen starts her season with the role of the messenger in Korngold’s masterpiece „Das Wunder der Heliane” directed by Jakob Peters-Messer under the musical direction of Jac van Steen at the Reisoper in the Nederlands.

Performances are in Enschede on September 30th, in Eindhoven on October 6th, in Maastricht on October 14th, in Leeuwarden on October 20th, in Utrecht on October 28th, in Breda on October 31st, in Zwolle on November 3rd, in The Hague on November 6th, in Amsterdam on November 9th and in Apeldoorn on November 11th, 2023.

Following this performance tour, she will sing one of her signature roles, Herodias in a new production of “Salome” directed by Isabel Ostermann at the Staatstheater Braunschweig and under the baton of Srba Dinić.

Performances are: December 9th, 15th, 22nd and 30th, 2023, as well as 5th, 10th, 19th, 21st and 26th January and 1st and 11th February, 2024.

Press

Das Rheingold / Theater Dortmund / 13.05.2024 / opera-online.com

"[...] Wotan [...] wird von seiner Frau Fricka - Ursula Hesse von den Steinen - virtuos kontrolliert" 

Das Rheingold / Theater Dortmund / 10.05.2024 / klassikfavori.de

"[...] Fricka (Ursula Hesse von den Steinen) mit rund vollem Volumen [...]" 

Theodora / Winteroper Potsdam / 23.11.18 / onlinemerker.com


"aus voller Kehle gesungen, aber dennoch höchst präzise in den Koloraturen und kleinen Noten" 

Elektra / Theater Basel / 17.01.18 / peterhagmann.com


"einen phantastisch disponierten, weiten und herrlich ausgeglichenen Mezzosopran" 

Elektra / Theater Basel / 15.01.18 / bzbasel.ch


"weiss ihre kraftvolle und dramatische Stimme gekonnt einzusetzen" 

Elektra / Theater Basel / 15.01.18 / nzz.ch


"mit ihrer enormen Präsenz und ihrem farbenreichen, deunklen Mezzo" 

Elektra / Theater Basel / 15.01.18 / bazonline.ch


"Ihr Mienenspiel und ihre intensive musikalische Gestaltung" 

Elektra / Theater Basel / 15.01.18 / der-neue-merker.eu


"volle Mezzosopranstimme und [...] ausgezeichnete Diktion" 

Requiem for Hieronymus / Concertgebouw Amsterdam / 07.11.16 / bachtrack.com


"glittered with sinister elegance" 

Rusalka / Komische Oper Berlin / 23.10.16 / bachtrack.com


"powerful high notes delivered with fierce intensity and sensuality"

Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald / Komische Oper Berlin / 23.05.16 / morgenpost.de


"mit ihrem betörend warmen Mezzo" 
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