Sarah Wegener
Soprano
Soprano
Biography
“Wegener’s ability is undisputed. Her vocal placement is flawless: she has a full range of ambitious tonal shading, a superb timbre that remains smooth even at a high volume, and perfect legato.” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung)
Sarah Wegener approaches every role with captivating intensity. She has enthralled listeners with the warmth and richness of her voice in performances such as Strauss’ Orchestral songs under Mariss Jansons and Vladimir Jurowski in Munich, London, and Hamburg, Mahler’s 8th Symphony under Kirill Petrenko in Bregenz, Eliahu Inbal in Hamburg, and Kent Nagano in Montreal, as well as in her War and Peace programme shaped around works by Handel and Purcell, which she also presented at the Schwetzingen SWR Festival. Her “marvellously radiant voice, as powerful as it is rich in colour” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) distinguishes her as a lieder singer of the highest order, as illustrated on her highly praised CDs “Into the Deepest Sea” and “Zueignung”.
Her remarkable versatility has ensured long-standing collaborations with her musical partners, including the conductors Kent Nagano, Emilio Pomàrico, Peter Rundel, Tõnu Kaljuste, Heinz Holliger, Sylvain Cambreling, and Frieder Bernius. Concerts and recitals have taken her to the Salzburg Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Rheingau Music Festival, Festival de Lanaudière, Chigiana International Festival, and Handel Festival Halle, as well as the Suntory Hall Tokyo, Konzerthaus Berlin, Tonhalle Zürich, Vienna Konzerthaus, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie de Paris, and Royal Festival Hall London. She has sung leading roles at the Royal Opera House in London, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Wiener Festwochen, Theater Bonn, Staatstheater Saarbrücken, and Tongyeong Festival in South Korea.
Highly regarded as a performer of both classical and Romantic repertoire as well as contemporary compositions, Sarah Wegener recently sang Schumann’s “Das Paradies und die Peri” (Jérémie Rhorer, Le Cercle de l’Harmonie), Dvořak’s “Stabat Mater” (Philippe Herreweghe, Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, Collegium Vocale Gent), Henze’s “Floß der Medusa” (Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Cornelius Meister), Penderecki’s St. Luke Passion (Orchestre symphonique de Montéal, Kent Nagano), Beethoven’s “Missa solemnis” (Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Manze), as well as Schönberg’s Six Orchestral Songs in Saarbrücken. She has given the premiere of numerous works by Georg Friedrich Haas, including the opera “Bluthaus”, for which she was chosen as Singer of the Year in 2011 by Opernwelt magazine. In 2021 she gave her debut as Freia in Wagner’s “Rheingold” in Cologne and Amsterdam.
In 2023/24 Sarah Wegener sings Sibelius with the Gewandhausorchester under Andris Nelsons, Heinz Holligers Dämmerlicht in Japan, as well as Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis in Madrid and Granada. Among her highlights of the season are a recital in Siena with a programme dedicated to Wagner and his Italian contemporaries, and Strauss’ Four Last Songs in Taipei. She will also give her role debut as Sieglinde in Wagner’s Walküre in concert performances in Prague, Cologne, Dresden, Amsterdam and Lucerne.
Sarah Wegener’s discography includes recordings of Boesmans’ Trakl-Lieder, Korngold’s “Die stumme Serenade”, Mozart’s C minor Mass, Rossini’s “Petite Messe solennelle”, as well as works by György Kurtág, Elliott Carter, and by and with Heinz Holliger. A recording of songs arranged by B.A. Zimmermann with the WDR Symphony Orchestra has recently been released at WERGO and awarded the Choc de Classica, Diapason d’OR as well as the German Record Critics’ Prize. In September 2023 Hans Werner Henze’s Oratory The Raft of the Medusa with the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra under Cornelius Meister will be released.
Following her double bass studies, the British-German soprano studied singing with Prof. Jaeger-Böhm in Stuttgart and took part in masterclasses with Dame Gwyneth Jones and Renée Morloc.
Sarah Wegener will be teaching singing at the Zurich University of the Arts from the autumn semester 2024.
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