Hanna-Elisabeth Müller (born 3 May 1985 [1] in
Mannheim) is a German
soprano in opera, concert and recitals.
Life
Musical education
As a child, Müller took violin lessons with Dinu Hartwich and later joined a choir. Since the age of 11, she took vocal lessons with Judith Janzen[2] to sing solo parts. In 1998, she performed the
boy soprano in
Leonard Bernstein's MASS during the Kultursommer
Ludwigshafen.[3] She continued singing as a hobby during her high school education and earned several prizes in the junior musician's competition
Jugend musiziert.
In the song duo competition 2009 at
Enschede, Netherlands, she gained, together with her accompanist Mihaela Tomi, the highest award, the audience award and the award for the best interpretation of a contemporary opus.[5] In 2010 she gained the 1st prize in the competition Ton und Erklärung – Werkvermittlung in Musik und Wort of the Kulturkreis der Deutschen Wirtschaft.[6] This award was given by a jury of nine experts chaired by
Francisco Araiza[7] and attests that she is not only able to perform music on the highest level but also to explain it convincingly.[8] In 2011, she obtained awards in the Ada Sari International Vocal Art Competition at
Nowy Sącz.[9]
Her first stage debuts in important roles were Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice (April 2010) at Kammeroper Rheinsberg[10] and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte (November 2011) at Theater & Philharmonie Thüringen, Gera.[11] She also represented this role at the
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in March 2012.[12] On 22 December 2013 she was featured by
Rolando Villazón in the series Stars de Demain by
Arte.[13]
Bavarian State Opera
At the
Bavarian State Opera, Munich, Müller was member of the opera studio in the season 2010/11 and member of the company from the season 2012/2013 to 2015/2016.[14] This resulted in a number of successful role debuts, e.g. as Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel (March 2013), Zerlina in Don Giovanni (May 2013), Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro (September 2013), Sophie in Werther[15] (October 2015) und Marzelline in Fidelio[16] (February 2016). Furthermore, she presented roles which she already had performed at other opera houses, i.e. Zdenka in
Andreas Dresen's new production of Arabella during
Munich Opera Festival in July 2015[17] and Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier in July 2016.[18] In 2013 she obtained the "Festspielpreis der Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Münchner Opernfestspiele".[19]
In 2017 Müller passed important milestones of her international career, namely her debut at the
Metropolitan Opera, New York, as Marzelline in
Jürgen Flimm's production of Fidelio (March 2017),[25] and at
La Scala, Milan, where she had her role debut as Donna Anna in
Don Giovanni.[26] Her first performance at
Zürich Opera House was in February 2018 in the new role of Ilia in
Idomeneo,[27]
Oratorios and recitals
Beside her engagements at opera houses, Müller frequently sings in recitals and oratorios. Sponsoring by
Südwestrundfunk in the SWR2 New Talent Program from 2013 to 2015[28] gave her the opportunity to reach a broad audience with the audio transmissions of two song recitals. One of them was her debut at
Schwetzinger Festspiele, together with the pianist Juliane Ruf, on 26 May 2013.[29]
"Reine de coeur", Hanna-Elisabeth Müller soprano, Juliane Ruf piano (Francis Poulenc, Robert Schumann, Alexander von Zemlinsky), February 2020,
Pentatone
"
Sinnbild Strauss Songs", Hanna-Elisabeth Müller soprano, WDR Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach, June 2022,
Pentatone
DVD
Richard Strauss: Arabella. Live recording of Salzburg Easter Festival 2014 with Hanna-Elisabeth Müller as Zdenka,
Renée Fleming as Arabella,
Thomas Hampson as Mandryka,
Daniel Behle as Matteo. Stage director: Florentine Klepper. Sächsischer Staatsopernchor and Staatskapelle Dresden under the direction of
Christian Thielemann. Unitel Classica, September 2014.