Biography
The mezzosoprano Michaela Schuster was born in Fürth (Bavaria). After completing her oboe studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, she studied singing there with Helena Lazarska as well as at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin with Jarmila Rudolfowa Kratzer. In 1996 she completed her education with honors. She also undertook master classes with Christa Ludwig, Aribert Reimann, and Julia Hamari.
She won the first prize in the Bayreuth and “Debut in Meran“ international competitions for Wagner voices, and she was awarded the special Wagner Prize in the “Francisco Viñas“ competition (Barcelona).
Michaela Schuster can be considered one of today’s most important exponents of her vocal category. She can be heard on all the important stages internationally.
She has undertaken numerous important guest engagements, among them Sieglinde (Die Walküre), Kundry (Parsifal), Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde) and Venus (Tannhäuser) at the Berlin Staatsoper; Sieglinde (Walküre), Fricka (Walküre, Rheingold), Waltraute (Götterdämmerung), Venus (Tannhäuser), Ortrud (Lohengrin) and Knusperhexe (Hänsel und Gretel) at the Wiener Staatsoper, Sieglinde at the Semperoper in Dresden and the Teatro Real in Madrid; Ortrud (Lohengrin) at the Norske Opera in Oslo; Ortrud (Lohengrin), Marie (Wozzeck) and Waltraute (Götterdämmerung) at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich; Kundry (Parsifal) and Amneris (Verdi/Aida) at the Hamburgische Staatsoper; Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde) and Waltraute (Götterdämmerung) at the Gran Teatro del Liceu Barcelona; Amme (Strauss/Die Frau ohne Schatten) at the Theatre de la Monnaie Brussels and at the Salzburg Festival; Laura (Ponchielli/La Gioconda) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Waltraute (Götterdämmerung), Klytämnestra (Strauss/Elektra) and Ortrud (Lohengrin) at the Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam; Herodias (Strauss/Salome), Klytämnestra (Elektra), Venus (Tannhäuser), Principessa di Boullion (Cilea/Adriana Lecouvreur) and Amme (Die Frau Ohne Schatten) at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden; Florinda (Schubert/ Fierrabras), Preziosilla (Verdi/La Forza del Destino), Eboli (Verdi/Don Carlo) and Caesonia in the world premiere of Detlef Glanert’s Caligula at the Oper Frankfurt; Ortrud (Lohengrin) and Venus (Tannhäuser) at the Lyric Opera Chicago; Amme (Die Frau ohne Schatten) at the Teatro alla Scala Milano; La Clairon (Capriccio) at the Opéra National de Paris.
The artist works regularly with conductors like Daniel Barenboim, Simone Young, Christoph von Dohnányi, Sebastian Weigle, Franz Welser-Möst, Marc Albrecht, Ingo Metzmacher, Philippe Jordan, Semyon Bychkov, Christian Thielemann and Kent Nagano. Among the important directors with whom she has collaborated are David McVicar, Robert Wilson, Richard Jones, Stefan Herheim, Peter Konwitschny, David Alden, Andreas Kriegenburg, Claus Guth and Christof Loy.
The versatile singing actress’ lieder and concert repertoire includes works from the Baroque to the modern. Among her important appearances in concert have been Bach’s Passions and Christmas Oratorio (Berlin Philharmonic); Handel’s Messiah and Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder (Radio France in Paris); Rossini’s Messe Solennelle, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Verdi’s Requiem and Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder (Alte Oper Frankfurt); Mendelssohn‘s Elijah (Stuttgart Liederhalle); Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody, Schönberg’s Gurrelieder, Berg’s Altenberg Lieder and Seven Early Songs (Bamberger Sinfoniker), Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (Staatsoper Stuttgart), Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Amsterdam Concertgebouw); Vivaldi’s Gloria, Eisler‘s Deutsche Symphonie, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (La Scala, Chicago Symphony Orchestra), Berg’s Altenberg Lieder and Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder (Hamburger Symphoniker) and Mahler’s 3rd Symphony (City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Wiener Symphoniker under the baton of Philippe Jordan). She sang the alto part in Gustav Mahler’s 2nd and 3rd Symphony with the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne under the baton of Markus Stenz (published on CD).
Her latest lied-CD was honoured with several awards.