Christina Gansch (born 1990) is an Austrian operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

. She won first prize in the 2014 Kathleen Ferrier Competition.

Life and career

Born in St. Pölten, during her school time Gansch studied at the Konservatorium für Kirchenmusik of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Sankt Pölten The Diocese of Sankt Pölten () is a Latin Church diocese located in the city of Sankt Pölten in the ecclesiastical province of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wien, Wien in Austria. History * 28 January 1785: Established as Diocese of Sankt Pöl ...

, went to the

Mozarteum University Salzburg Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the "Mozarteum" name in Salzburg municipality; the International Mozarteum ...

in 2008, graduated there in 2012 with distinction and won some prizes. She attended

master class ''Master Class'' is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giac ...

es with

Michèle Crider Michèle Crider (born 1959, Quincy, Illinois) is an American Spinto soprano, lirico spinto operatic soprano. She has appeared in many of the great opera house in the world including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera in N ...

Edita Gruberová Edita Gruberová (; 23 December 1946 – 18 October 2021) was a Slovak coloratura soprano. She made her stage debut in Bratislava in 1968 as Rosina in Rossini's '' Il barbiere di Siviglia'', and successfully auditioned at the Vienna State Oper ...

Angelika Kirchschlager Angelika Kirchschlager (born 24 November 1965, Salzburg) is an Austrian mezzo-soprano opera and lieder singer. Career Kirchschlager began her musical training at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, where she studied percussion and piano. In 1984, she w ...

, and

Thomas Moser Thomas Moser (born 27 May 1945) is an American-Austrian operatic tenor. Life Born in Richmond (Virginia), Richmond, Virginia, Moser first studied singing at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and with Martial Singher at the Music Academy ...

and continued her studies at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

in London. Her international opera debut took place in September 2013 as Amor in Gluck's ''

Orfeo ed Euridice (; French: '; English: ''Orpheus and Eurydice'') is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the '' azione teatrale'', meaning an ...

'' at the

Opéra national de Montpellier The Opéra national de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon () is an opera company located in the Place de la Comédie in Montpellier, France. The company was established in 1755 and was granted the status of "National Opera" in 2002 by the Minister ...

. This was followed by appearances at the

Verbier Festival The Verbier Festival is a two week annual international music festival which is held in late July and early August in the mountain resort of Verbier southeast of Lausanne, Switzerland. Begun by Swedish expatriate in 1994, it has attracted int ...

in Switzerland, at the "Resonanzen-Festival" in Vienna and at the

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

in London. In March 2013 she played Barbarina in ''

Le nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna ...

'' at the

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prim ...

– in the context of the

concert performance A concert performance or concert version is a performance of a musical theater or opera in concert form, typically without set design or costumes, and mostly without theatrical interaction between singers. Concert performances are commonly pres ...

Da-Ponte-cycle with the

Concentus Musicus Wien Concentus Musicus Wien (CMW) is an Austrian baroque music ensemble based in Vienna. The CMW is recognized as a pioneer of the period-instrument performance movement. History Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Alice Harnoncourt co-founded the CMW in 19 ...

directed by

Nikolaus Harnoncourt Johann Nikolaus Harnoncourt (6 December 1929 – 5 March 2016) was an Austrian conductor, known for his historically informed performances. He specialized in music of the Baroque period, but later extended his repertoire to include Classical ...

, receiving favourable reviews. From 2014 to 2016 she was a member of the international opera studio at the

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: ) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''Generalmusikdirektor'' ...

and in the 2016/2017 season a member of the ensemble at this house, where she performed Pamina in ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

'', Constance in ''

Dialogues des Carmélites ' (, ''Dialogues of the Carmelites''), FP 159, is an opera in three acts, divided into twelve scenes with linking orchestral interludes, with music and libretto by Francis Poulenc, completed in 1956. Poulenc wrote the libretto for his second o ...

'', the title role in Handel's ''

Almira ''Almira, Königin von Castilien'' ("Almira, Queen of Castile", HWV 1; full title: ''Der in Krohnen erlangte Glücks-Wechsel, oder: Almira, Königin von Castilien'') is Handel's first opera, composed when he was 19 years old. It was first perfo ...

'' and Gemmy in Rossini's ''

William Tell William Tell (, ; ; ; ) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland. He is known for shooting an apple off his son's head. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, ...

'' among other roles.

Awards

* 2011: Internationaler Gesangswettbewerb Passau: ''Besondere Sängerbegabung'' prize * 2013: Gesangswettbewerb Ferruccio Tagliavini,

Deutschlandsberg Deutschlandsberg (; ) is a town in Deutschlandsberg district of Styria, Austria. It is located in southern Austria, near the border with Slovenia. It is approximately 35 km from Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Au ...

: 1st Prize in the 2nd section and soprano Award * 2013: , Innsbruck: 2nd prize, Alte Vestersjø, Newcomer prize and special prize.4. Internationaler Gesangswettbewerb für Barockoper Pietro Antonio Cesti
, Website * 2014:

Kathleen Ferrier Award The Kathleen Ferrier Award is a prestigious contest for opera singers held each April in London, England. The first competition was held in 1956. According to the ''Telegraph'', the competition has a record of "spotting winners". Originally con ...

, first prize

References

External links

*
Recordings on Operabase
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gansch, Christina 1990 births Living people People from Sankt Pölten Musicians from Lower Austria Austrian operatic sopranos 21st-century Austrian women opera singers Mozarteum University Salzburg alumni Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music