Juliane Banse

With her diverse and extensive repertoire, few artists of her generation are as successful as soprano Juliane Banse. Her operatic repertoire ranges from the Marschallin, Contessa (Le Nozze di Figaro), Fiordiligi, Donna Elvira, Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito), Genoveva (title role), Leonore, to Tatyana (Eugene Onegin), Arabella and Grete (Schreker's Der ferne Klang). Her artistic breakthrough came at the age of 20 as Pamina in Harry Kupfer’s production of Die Zauberflöte at the Komische Oper Berlin. Her performance as Snow White in the world premiere of the opera of the same name by Heinz Holliger, with whom she has a close working relationship, at the Zurich Opera House was described as unforgettable.

Juliane Banse sang the title role in the revival of Jeanne d’Arc by Walter Braunfels in Cologne, and appeared in Zurich in the world premiere of Heinz Holliger’s opera Lunea. She gave her long awaited debut as Marschallin in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier, and sang the role of Elsa von Brabant in Wagner's Lohengrin in Nantes and Anger. She has performed three notable monodramas: THE TELL-TALE HEART by Dutch composer Willem Jeths at the Concertgebouw, Grigori Frid's Diary of Anne Frank at the Theater an der Wien, Poulenc's La Voix humaine at the Berlin State Opera and Cologne Opera, and sang the premiere of Manfred Trojahn's cycle Four Women from Shakespeare, composed especially for her voice. Inthe USA, Juliane Banse most recently appeared as Rosalinde (Fledermaus) in Chicago and in Strauss's Arabella (Zdenka) at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

In demand on the concert platform, the artist has performed a vast repertoire with renowned conductors including Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Chailly, Bernard Haitink, Franz Welser-Möst, Marin Alsop, Zubin Mehta and Manfred Honeck. The 2020/2021 season will again be rich in variety, including performances of Heinz Holliger's Puneigae with the Contrechamps Ensemble under the composer's baton, and Haydn’s cantata Arianna a Naxos in Cologne.

Song recitals and chamber music have always featured prominently in Juliane Banse's calendar. Forthcoming recitals will take her to London's Wigmore Hall, the Schubertiade in Vilabertran, and the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid. Concerts of Wagner's Wesendonck Songs, accompanied by the Czech Nonett, will take place in Bayreuth, Fribourg/CH, Emden and Passau. The 2020/2021 season will see Juliane Banse continue to perform Schubert's Winterreise together with pianist Alexander Krichel and dancer István Simon in the choreography of Andreas Heise in a danced/sung form in Stuttgart and Duisburg, among other places. Also scheduled are guest performances in China and Australia, as well an appearance at Elena Bashkirova’s 'Intonation' chamber music festival in Berlin.

Many of Juliane Banse’s recordings have won awards, with two receiving an Echo Klassik: Braunfels’s Jeanne d’Arc with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Manfred Honeck (nominated: world's first recording of the year) and Mahler’s Eighth Symphony with the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich and David Zinman. In 2017 her CD Unanswered Love, together with Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern under Christoph Poppen, was released to great media acclaim, featuring works by Reimann, Rihm and Henze, some of which were recorded for the first time and dedicated to her. Her CD Im Arm der Liebe with the Munich Radio Orchestra includes works by Braunfels, Korngold, Marx and Pfitzner. She also received high praise for her recording of Hindemith's Marienleben together with pianist Martin Helmchen, a work the artist particularly enjoys singing. Furthermore, several of her last season's performances with orchestra, Heinz Holliger’s Puneigae and G. Kurtág’s Messages of the late R.V. Troussova from Frankfurt as well as Henze’s Nachtstücke und Arien from Vienna, are scheduled for CD release.

Born in southern Germany and raised in Zurich, the soprano first took lessons with Paul Steiner and later with Ruth Rohner at the Zurich Opera House, completing her studies with Brigitte Fassbaender and Daphne Evangelatos in Munich. A dedicated teacher herself, she has held a singing professorship at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf since the winter semester 2016/2017. She has accepted a position at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, effective from the winter semester 2020/2021. She also gives masterclasses at home and abroad.

Updated: 21/05/2023