Elsa Dreisig
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Elsa Dreisig (born 1991) is a French-Danish 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 ...
. Based at the
Berlin State Opera The Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( State Opera under the Lime Trees), also known as the Berlin State Opera (), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of P ...
, she made a European career in both opera and concert. Her opera roles include, besides the standard
lyric soprano A lyric soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that has a warm quality with a bright, full timbre that can be heard over an orchestra. The lyric soprano voice generally has a higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingenues and ot ...
repertoire such as Mozart's Fiordiligi and Bizet's Micaëla, Baroque opera such as Rameau's ''
Hippolyte et Aricie ('' Hippolytus and Aricia'') was the first opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was premiered to great controversy by the Académie Royale de Musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris on October 1, 1733. The French libretto, by Abbé ...
'', and the world premiere of
Beat Furrer Beat Furrer (born 6 December 1954) is a Swiss-born Austrian composer and conductor. He has served as professor of composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz since 1991. He was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 2018 ...
's ''Violetter Schnee''.


Life


Training

Dreisig was born in Paris, the daughter of the Danish opera singer and the French singer, conductor and director Gilles Ramade. She sang in the children's choirs of the
Opéra Royal de Wallonie The Opéra royal de Wallonie (, ) is an opera house located on the Place de l'Opéra, in Liège, Belgium. Together with La Monnaie and the Vlaamse Opera, the ''Opéra royal'', as it is colloquially known, is one of the three major opera houses ...
and the
Opéra National de Lyon The Opéra National de Lyon (), marketed as Opéra de Lyon during the last decade, is an opera company in Lyon, based and performing mostly at the Opéra Nouvel, an 1831 theater that was modernized and architecturally transformed in 1993. Histo ...
. She studied singing with Valérie Guillorit at the
Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...
, and at the
University of Music and Theatre Leipzig The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig () is a public university in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest univ ...
with Regina Werner-Dietrich.


Opera career

From 2015 to 2017, Dreisig was a member of the opera studio of the
Staatsoper Unter den Linden The Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( State Opera under the Lime Trees), also known as the Berlin State Opera (), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Pr ...
, leading to a permanent engagement by
Daniel Barenboim Daniel Moses Barenboim (; born 15 November 1942) is an Argentines, Argentine-Israeli classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin, who also has Spain, Spanish and State of Palestine, Palestinian citizenship. From 1992 until January 2023, Bare ...
. She appeared there as Gretel in Humperdinck's ''
Hänsel und Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a forest and fall into the hands of a witch ...
'', as Pamina in Mozart's ''
Die Zauberflöte ''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 ...
'', in the title role of Verdi's '' La traviata'', as Euridice 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 ...
'' and as Dircé in Cherubini's ''
Médée ''Médée'' is a dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; ; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great 17th-century Fr ...
''. In the 2018/19 season, she performed as Diane in Rameau's ''
Hippolyte et Aricie ('' Hippolytus and Aricia'') was the first opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau. It was premiered to great controversy by the Académie Royale de Musique at its theatre in the Palais-Royal in Paris on October 1, 1733. The French libretto, by Abbé ...
'', conducted by
Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British conductor with German citizenship. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rat ...
, and took part as Natascha in the world premiere of
Beat Furrer Beat Furrer (born 6 December 1954) is a Swiss-born Austrian composer and conductor. He has served as professor of composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz since 1991. He was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 2018 ...
's ''Violetter Schnee'', directed by
Claus Guth Claus Guth (born 1964) is a German theatre director, focused on opera. He has directed operas at major houses and festivals, including world premieres such as works of the Munich Biennale, and Berio's '' Cronaca del luogo'' at the Salzburg Festiv ...
and conducted by
Matthias Pintscher Matthias Pintscher (born 29 January 1971) is a German composer, conductor and academic teacher. Biography Pintscher was born in Marl, North Rhine-Westphalia. As a youth, he studied the violin and conducting. He began his music studies with Gise ...
. In 2015, she achieved first prize at the
Neue Stimmen Neue Stimmen (''New Voices'') is an international singing competition. It was established in 1987 on the initiative of Liz Mohn with the support of August Everding to promote opera's young talent. It is considered an important forum for new t ...
competition and placed second, behind
Lise Davidsen Lise Davidsen (born 8 February 1987) is a Norwegian soprano opera singer. She came to prominence after winning the Operalia competition in London in 2015. Career Lise Davidsen was born in 1987 in Stokke, Norway, and began playing guitar and si ...
, at the
Queen Sonja International Music Competition The Queen Sonja Singing Competition (formerly Queen Sonja International Music Competition) is a music competition for young singers taking place every two years in Oslo, Norway. The competition was arranged for the first time in 1988. Participant ...
. In 2016, she won first prize at the
Operalia Plácido Domingo's Operalia, The World Opera Competition is an annual international competition for opera singers, founded by Plácido Domingo in 1993. Overview The competition's parent organization, Operalia Foundation, is a nonprofit organizat ...
singing competition in
Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...
, created by
Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...
. and was voted "Newcomer of the Year" in the critics' choice of the ''
Opernwelt ''Opernwelt'' (''Opera World'') is a monthly German magazine for opera, operetta and ballet. It includes news about current performances, portraits of composers and performers, articles about opera houses, performance spaces, and contemporary and ...
'' magazine. She was also awarded the Victoires de la Musique Classique award in the category "vocal discovery". Dreisig first appeared at the
Aix-en-Provence Festival The Festival d'Aix-en-Provence is an annual international music festival which takes place each summer in Aix-en-Provence, principally in July. Devoted mainly to opera, it also includes concerts of orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo instrumenta ...
in 2017 as Micaëla in Bizet's ''
Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
'', and first at the
Paris Opera The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...
. In 2018, she performed as Musetta in Puccini's ''
La Bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
'' at the
Opernhaus Zürich The Zurich Opera House () is an opera house in the Swiss city of Zurich. Located at the Sechseläutenplatz, it has been the home of the Zurich Opera since 1891, and also houses the Bernhard-Theater Zürich. It is also home to Ballett Zürich. I ...
, and as Lauretta in ''
Gianni Schicchi () is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. The work is the third and final part of Puccin ...
'' at the Paris Opera. In 2019, she was Zerlina in Mozart's ''
Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...
'' and Elvira in Bellini's ''
I puritani ' (''The Puritans'') is an 1835 opera by Vincenzo Bellini. It was originally written in two acts and changed to three acts before the premiere on the advice of Gioachino Rossini, with whom the young composer had become friends. The music was set ...
'', again at the Paris Opera. In late 2019, she first appeared at the
Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...
in London as Pamina. In August 2020, she first performed on stage at the
Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...
in as Fiordiligi in Mozart's ''
Così fan tutte (''Women are like that, or The School for Lovers''), Köchel catalogue, K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written ...
'', staged by
Christof Loy Christof Loy (born 5 December 1962) is a German stage director especially for opera, whose work received several awards. A freelance director, he has staged operas from Baroque to premieres of new works at major European opera houses and festivals ...
. In January 2021, she performed the title role in Massenet's ''
Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was f ...
'' produced by at the
Staatsoper Hamburg 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'' of ...
. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, the performance took place without audience but was broadcast via
livestreaming Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other non- liv ...
by
Norddeutscher Rundfunk (; "North German Broadcasting"), commonly shortened to NDR (), is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, ...
.


Concert singer

In 2017, Dreisig undertook a European tour with the
Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922â ...
conducted by
Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British conductor with German citizenship. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rat ...
, singing in Haydn's ''
Die Schöpfung ''The Creation'' () is an oratorio written in 1797 and 1798 by Joseph Haydn ( Hob. XXI:2), and considered by many to be one of his masterpieces. The oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the world as narrated in the Book of Genesis. T ...
'', including her first time at the
Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...
. She appeared with the
London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
in Beethoven's '' Christus am Ölberg'', as well as with the
Staatskapelle Berlin The Staatskapelle Berlin () is a German orchestra and the resident orchestra of the Berlin State Opera, Unter den Linden. The orchestra is one of the oldest in the world. Until the fall of the German Empire in 1918 the orchestra's name was , i.e ...
, the
Vienna Philharmonic Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...
, the
Munich Philharmonic The Munich Philharmonic () is a German symphony orchestra located in the city of Munich. It is one of Munich's four principal orchestras, along with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Radio Orchestra and the Bavarian State Orche ...
and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. She has worked with conductors such as
Daniel Barenboim Daniel Moses Barenboim (; born 15 November 1942) is an Argentines, Argentine-Israeli classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin, who also has Spain, Spanish and State of Palestine, Palestinian citizenship. From 1992 until January 2023, Bare ...
,
Fabio Luisi Fabio Luisi (born 17 January 1959) is an Italian conductor. He is currently principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Biog ...
,
Franz Welser-Möst Franz Leopold Maria Möst (born 16 August 1960), known professionally as Franz Welser-Möst, is an Austrian conductor. He is currently music director of the Cleveland Orchestra. Biography Franz Leopold Maria Möst was born in Linz, Austria, ...
,
Massimo Zanetti Massimo Zanetti (born 12 February 1948 in Treviso) is an Italian entrepreneur and former politician, owner of Segafredo, a global coffee company. Since 2016, Zanetti has also owned the Italian basketball team Virtus Bologna, one of the most su ...
and
David Zinman David Zinman (born July 9, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York) is a retired American conductor and violinist. Education After violin studies at Oberlin Conservatory, Zinman studied theory and composition at the University of Minnesota, earning his M.A. ...
. In 2018, she released her first solo album ''Miroir(s)'' on
Warner Classics Warner Classics is the classical music arm of Warner Music Group. The label began issuing new recordings under the Warner Classics banner in 1991. The company also includes the Erato Records and Teldec Records labels. Based in France, Warner Cla ...
/
Erato Records Erato Records is a record label founded in 1953 as Erato Disques S.A. by Philippe Loury to promote French classical music. Loury was head of éditions musicales Costallat. His first releases in France were licensed from the Haydn Society of Bo ...
, for which she was nominated in the category ''Recital'' at the . In 2020, the second album was released, ''Morgen'', with pianist
Jonathan Ware Jonathan Ware (born 1984) is an American pianist, Lied accompanist and academic teacher. Life Born in Texas, Ware studied at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, at the Juilliard School in New York City and at the Hochschule für Musik "H ...
.


Awards and nominations

* 2015:
Neue Stimmen Neue Stimmen (''New Voices'') is an international singing competition. It was established in 1987 on the initiative of Liz Mohn with the support of August Everding to promote opera's young talent. It is considered an important forum for new t ...
– first prize. * 2015:
Queen Sonja International Music Competition The Queen Sonja Singing Competition (formerly Queen Sonja International Music Competition) is a music competition for young singers taking place every two years in Oslo, Norway. The competition was arranged for the first time in 1988. Participant ...
– second prize. * 2016:
Operalia Plácido Domingo's Operalia, The World Opera Competition is an annual international competition for opera singers, founded by Plácido Domingo in 1993. Overview The competition's parent organization, Operalia Foundation, is a nonprofit organizat ...
– first prize. * 2016: ''
Opernwelt ''Opernwelt'' (''Opera World'') is a monthly German magazine for opera, operetta and ballet. It includes news about current performances, portraits of composers and performers, articles about opera houses, performance spaces, and contemporary and ...
'' – Distinction as "Nachwuchskünstlerin des Jahres" (female newcomer of the year) * 2016: Victoires de la Musique Classique – Distinction as "sängerische Entdeckung" (singer discovered). * 2019: International Opera Awards 2019 – Nomination for ''Miroir(s)'' in the recital category. * 2020:
Echo Klassik The Echo Klassik, often stylized as ECHO Klassik, was Germany's major classical music award in 22 categories. The award, presented by the , was held annually, usually in October or September, separate from its parent award, the Echo Music Prize ...
– Nomination in the ''Nachwuchskünstlerin Gesang'' (female vocal newcomer) category..


Recordings

* 2018: ''Miroir(s) : opera arias'', Warner Music Group * 2020: ''Morgen'' with
Jonathan Ware Jonathan Ware (born 1984) is an American pianist, Lied accompanist and academic teacher. Life Born in Texas, Ware studied at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, at the Juilliard School in New York City and at the Hochschule für Musik "H ...
, piano,
Parlophone Records Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...


References


External links

*
Elsa Dreissig
operabase.com
Elsa Dreisig
warnerclassics.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dreisig, Elsa French operatic sopranos 1991 births Living people Singers from Paris