Biography

Ursula Hesse von den Steinen received her vocal training at Hochschule der Künste Berlin. She refined her skills in master classes with Brigitte Fassbaender and Aribert Reimann. During her studies, she received numerous prizes at national and international competitions.

From 1999 until 2002, she was a member of the ensemble at the Semperoper in Dresden, building her repertoire under conductors such as Antonio Pappano, Pinchas Steinberg, Semyon Bychkov, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Riccardo Chailly, and Michael Boder. From there her path rapidly led her to all the important European stages in Amsterdam, Munich, Berlin, Vienna, Brussels, Barcelona, Toulouse, Glyndebourne, and Paris, singing the fach-roles of the German and Italian repertoire.

With a sensational debut as Fricka/Rheingold in Karlsruhe, Ursula Hesse von den Steinen began her development in the Wagner-fach. Since then she sang Fricka in various Walküre productions, including in Riga (Stefan Herheim), Essen (Dietrich Hilsdorf) and Nuremberg. In Mannheim she could be seen as Venus in Tannhäuser, followed by Adriano/Rienzi in Riga. Most recently she debuted as Ortrud in Lohengrin in Bern.

Highlights of the past seasons were Herodias/Salome in Klagenfurt, Klytämnestra/Elektra at Theater Basel, Foreign Princess/Rusalka and Mother Goose/The Rake’s Progress at the Komische Oper Berlin Margret/Wozzeck at De Nationale Opera in Amsterdam, and Matilde/Lotario at the International Handel Festival Göttingen, and in the concert field Glanert’s Requiem for Hieronymus Bosch with the orchestra of Concertgebouw Amsterdam as well as with the Hamburger Symphoniker at the Elbphilharmonie, both under the baton of Markus Stenz.

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

CD recordings with lieder by Reimann, Rihm, Webern, and Widmann as well as the „Echo“ awarded recording Das lange Weihnachtsmahl by Hindemith under Marek Janowski and Glanert’s Requiem for Hieronymus Bosch under Markus Stenz document her career.

Engagements in recent seasons include at the Komische Oper Berlin: Pelagea Grigoryevna Podtochina in the Nose, the Queen in the premiere of Jaromír Weinberger's Schwanda the Bagpiper. In addition, she was in Munich as Annina in Der Rosenkavalier and as Ursuline's Sister Claire in the premiere of Pendecki's The Devils of Loudun. Last season 2022/23 she sang Clytemnestra in a new production of Elektra in Erfurt, as well as Claire in Die Teufel von Loudun at the Bavarian State Opera and the mezzo-soprano in Messa da Requiem in Düsseldorf.

In the upcoming 2023/24 season she will appear in a new production of the Trittico at the Bavarian State Opera.

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

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

 

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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