Ricarda Merbeth studied in Leipzig and was a member of the Vienna Staatsoper from 1999 until 2005 during which time she made her debut as Marzelline in Fidelio. She went on to perform numerous roles there including the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Fjordiligi in Così fan tutte, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Chrysothemis in Elektra, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser, Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Sieglinde in Die Walküre, Irene in Rienzi, Elsa in Lohengrin, and the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier. In 2004, her career took on an international dimension when she performed the title role in Daphné. She still makes regular guest appearances in Vienna, where she was honoured with the title of “Kammersängerin” in 2010. In 2000, she made her Bayreuth Festival debut as Freia and Gutrune in The Ring and then sang Elisabeth in Tannhäuser and Senta in Die Fliegende Holländer. Ricarda Merbeth is regularly invited to perform at the major international opera houses, including the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the Hamburg Staatsoper, the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Teatro Real in Madrid, La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House in London, the New National Theatre in Tokyo and the Paris Opera (where she has performed the roles of Sieglinde, Ariadne, Chrysothemis, Marietta in Die Tote Stadt, Emilia Marty in The Makropulos Affair, and Goneril in Lear). Over the last few seasons, she has added numerous roles to her repertoire including Marie (Wozzeck at Milan’s La Scala), Isolde (Tristan und Isolde at the Hamburg Staatsoper), Elektra (at Milan’s La Scala), the title role in Turandot and Brünnhilde (Siegfried) at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. During the 2019-2020 season, she appeared as Elektra at the Berlin Staatsoper and sang the title role in Die ägyptische Helena at Milan’s La Scala. She also appeared as Brünnhilde (Die Walküre) at the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Teatro São Carlos in Lisbon. She then reprised the role of Brünnhilde in Siegfried and Gotterdammerung in a version of the Ring recorded at the Paris Opera in the autumn of 2020. She also performs in concert with a repertoire that includes the Wesendonck Lieder, Britten’s War Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater, Leoš Janaček’s Glagolitic Mass, Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs, the Brentano Lieder, and Gustav Mahler’s Eighth Symphony.

Ricarda MerbethSoprano