Biography

Doris Soffel studied singing at the Munich Academy of Music with Marianne Schech. She made her debut at the Bayreuth Youth Festival, singing Isabella in Wagner´s Liebesverbot. Wolfgang Windgassen then engaged her at the Stuttgart opera where she could build up a broad repertoire, including roles like Carmen, Cenerentola, Dorabella (Cosi) and Octavian (Rosenkavalier).
 
With her success in 1983 at Covent Garden as Sesto in Mozart´s Titus her global career was launched.  Since then she has appeared in all important opera houses and concert halls of the world. Doris Soffel became the only German mezzo-soprano with a world career in bel canto-coloratura roles. Via Italian and French mezzo-roles by Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, Berlioz and Massenet she developed into the world of Wagner and Strauss.
 
Her greatest Wagner successes as Fricka (Rheingold and Walküre) she had not only in Amsterdam, Cologne and Dresden but also with Solti in Bayreuth, at La Scala with Barenboim and at Deutsche Oper Berlin with Rattle. Her Kundry (Parsifal) with Thielemann and her Ortrud (Lohengrin) with Luisi are legendary.
 
Other highlights in her opera and concert career were her collaboration with great conductors like Celebidache, Karajan, Giulini, Sawallisch, Sinopoli, Maazel, Mehta and Masur.
 
She sang concerts and Lieder (particularly Mahler) all over the world. Her versatility is reflected in a very large number of CDs and DVDs and in recordings from radio and television.
 
She celebrates one triumph after the other in Strauss roles such as Amme (Frau ohne Schatten) i. a. in Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, Herodias (Salome) i. a. in Munich, Paris, Madrid, Zurich, Washington, as well as Klytämnestra (Elektra) i. a. in Salzburg Festival, Munich, Stuttgart, Brussels, and Berlin.
 
Working with stage directors like Rennert, Ponnelle, Friedrich and Kupfer had a great influence on her artistry and today she works with directors like Konwitschny, Loy, Carsen, Herheim, Wilson and Tscherniakov.

Her plans for the season 2017/18 include Herodias (Salome) in Zurich, Turin, and Leipzig, Klytämnestra (Elektra) at Deutsche Oper Berlin, recital at the Essen Philharmonie, Erda (das Rheingold) in Hamburg, Adelaide (Arabella) in Munich, Baroness (Barber´s Vanessa) in Glyndebourne, and The Old Lady (Bernstein´s Candide) in Barcelona.

Doris Soffel is German “Kammersängerin” and has been awarded with the Royal Swedish Northern Star Order.

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www.dorissoffel.com

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