Biography

Martina Welschenbach received her musical training in her home town at the Stuttgart University of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and the Royal College of Music in London. During her studies, she made guest appearances at the Staatstheater Stuttgart and the National Theatre in Zagreb. 

In 2005, she became a member of the International Opera Studio at Zurich Opera House and was quickly accepted into the permanent ensemble. Martina Welschenbach moved to the Deutsche Oper Berlin for the 2008/09 season. Here she sang Musetta/La Bohème, Gretel/Hänsel und Gretel, Oscar/Un ballo in maschera, Ännchen/Der Freischütz and Echo/Ariadne auf Naxos as well as Clorinda/La Cenerentola, Susanna/Le nozze di Figaro, Zerlina/Don Giovanni, Micaëla/Carmen, Pamina/Die Zauberflöte, Woglinde/Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung, Karolka/Jenufa, Solveig/Peer Gynt, Liu/Turandot and Füchslein Schlaukopf/Schlaues Füchslein.

In the course of her career, Martina Welschenbach has worked with conductors Christoph Eschenbach, Vladimir Fedosejev, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Cornelius Meister, Ingo Metzmacher, Carlo Rizzi, Sir Donald Runnicles, Nello Santi, Peter Schneider, Franz Welser-Möst, Jonathan Nott, Sir Simon Rattle and with renowned directors such as Claus Michael Gruber, Jens-Daniel Herzog, Martin Kuschej, Carlo Lievi, Christof Loy, Giancarlo del Monaco and David Pountney.

In the 2012/13 season, she made her highly successful debuts as Freia in Wagner's Das Rheingold and Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, opening the door to the German repertoire.

Guest appearances and concerts have taken her to Vienna, Paris, Lucerne, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Eutin and Leipzig. Highlights were her celebrated debut at the Opéra National de Paris as Regina in Mathis der Maler under Christoph Eschenbach, the role of Thekla/Wallenstein with the ORF under Cornelius Meister at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Fiordiligi/Così fan tutte in a concert performance under Marcus Bosch, Tatjana/Eugen Onegin in several concert performances with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie and her debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker in Claude Debussy's La Damoiselle élue under the musical direction of Sir Donald Runnicles.

Martina Welschenbach has been freelancing since the 2015/16 season. She continues to be a welcome guest at the Deutsche Oper Berlin with roles such as Irene in Wagner's Rienzi and Senta/Der fliegende Holländer. Important role debuts and guest appearances included the title role of the opera Lulu at the Wuppertaler Bühnen, Marschallin/ Der Rosenkavalier and Leonore/ Fidelio at the Bonn Theatre, Senta/Der Fliegende Holländer again at the opera houses in Nantes/Angers and Rennes and the premiere of Jan Dvořák and Philipp Stölzls' music theatre revue “Phantoms of Opera” (a staged gala of the genre's arias) at the Mannheim National Theatre. This was followed by her first Sieglinde/ Walküre under the baton of Nicholas Milton and the direction of Aron Stiehl at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt before she sang Elsa/ Lohengrin for the first time at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna under the direction of Asher Fisch in autumn 2022. At the Leipzig Opera in 2023, she was Ellen Orford in the premiere cast of Peter Grimes conducted by Christoph Gedschold and directed by Kay Link, and at the Staatstheater Braunschweig she sang Sieglinde in a concert performance of Die Walküre conducted by Srba Dinić. 

Her recent concert appearances include Peri in Schumann's ‘Paradise and the Peri’ with the Robert Schumann Philharmonic Orchestra Chemnitz and the MDR Radio Choir, at the International Festival ‘Anima Mundi’ in Pisa with R. Strauss's Vier Letzte Lieder with pianist James Baillieu and with Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony conducted by Stefan Blunier and the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música.

In 24/25, she returns to Oper Leipzig with Senta in The Flying Dutchman and will sing the female lead in Kurt Weill's ‘The Protagonist’ for the first time at the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Malibran in a new production by Ezio Toffolutti under the musical direction of Markus Stenz.

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Martina Welschenbach redeems the Dutchman in Leipzig

Martina Welschenbach returns to Oper Leipzig after her successful debut as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes, this time with her signature role of Senta in Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer. The musical director of the revival is Christoph Gedschold, other roles include Ulrike Schneider as Mary and Yorck Felix Speer as Daland

Performance dates and further information can be found here: 
www.oper-leipzig.de

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