Caroline Melzer, Anke Vondung, Simon Bode, Ulrich Eisenlohr
Biography Caroline Melzer, Anke Vondung, Simon Bode, Ulrich Eisenlohr
Caroline Melzer
studied singing with Rudolf Piernay and song interpretation with Ulrich Eisenlohr, and Irwin Gage. Her first permament engagement from 2007 until 2010, was at the Komische Oper Berlin, where she sang numerous roles including Countess/Le Nozze di Figaro, Donna Elvira/Don Giovanni, Fiordiligi, Mimì, Armida (directed by Calixto Bieito), Cordelia/Lear (directed by Hans Neuenfels), Lisa/Pique Dame and Leonore/Fidelio. At the same time she made guest apperances at the Ruhrtriennale and at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin. Since 2010 she has been a permanent member of the ensemble at the Vienna Volksoper , where she has sung roles such as Rusalka, Marie (The bartered Bride), Micaela, Liù, Donna Elvira, Jaroslawna (Prince Igor) and Merry Widow.
Numerous Lieder recitals have taken Caroline Melzer throughout Germany and to Austria, Spain, Belgium and Switzerland. Contemporary music is a particular focus of her work: Aribert Reimann wrote the cycle Rilke-Fragmente and the scene Der Blick war's, der mich ins Verderben riss for her, in 2016 she premiered works of Wolfgang Rihm, Manfred Trojahn, Vladimir Tarnopolski and a cycle for string quartet and soprano Lament of the poets by young irish composer Sean Doherty. She has worked with such ensembles as musikFabrik and the Ensemble Intercontemporain directed by Peter Rundel. In addition she has given many other world premère performances.
As a concert singer, Caroline Melzer has appeard at festivals including the Rheingau Musik Festival, UltraSchall Festival Berlin, Mozartfest Würzburg, Herbstlichen Musiktagen Bad Ulrach and the Gustav Mahler Musikwochen Toblach, and she appeared in the Berlin Philharmonie, Berlin Konzerthaus,Vinna Konzerthaus, Laeizshalle Hamburg, Tonhalle Zürich, deSingel ArtCenter Antwerp and Liederhalle Stuttgart working with several eminent conductors including Helmuth Rilling, Patrick Lange, Konrad Junghänel, Christoph Poppen, Alfred Eschwé, Jac van Steen, Frieder Bernius, Francois-Xavier Roth and Michael Sanderling. Caroline Melzer has made several CD recordings, radio productions and live broadcasts. To be mentioned especially the highly acclaimed recording with the violinist Nurit Stark of György Kurtág Kafka-Fragments.
Anke Vondung
German mezzo-soprano Anke Vondung was born in Speyer and studied with Rudolf Piernay at the Mannheim Academy of Music. Between 1997 and 1999, she won numerous prizes at prestigious singing competitions. From September 1999 until the end of the 2001/02 season, she was a member of the Tyrolean Landestheater in Innsbruck, where she sang several major roles, including Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier), Sesto (La clemenza di Tito) and Hansel (Hansel and Gretel). From 2000 onwards, guest engagements took Anke Vondung all over the world, including the Munich, Hamburg and Berlin State Operas, the Théâtre du Châtelet and the Opera Bastille in Paris, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, the Theater an der Wien, the San Diego Opera, Salzburg's Mozart Week Festival, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Herrenchiemsee Festival, the Bregenz Festival, the Munich Opera Festival and the Flanders Festival. She made her Salzburg Festival debut in 2001 at a Mozart matinee returning as Alkmene (Die Liebe der Danae) in 2002 and for Die ägyptische Helena in 2003. For three seasons from 2003 to 2006 she was a member of the Dresden State Opera, to which she remains closely bound. In October 2007, she made her acclaimed debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera as Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), returning for Annio (La clemenza di Tito) in 2008. In 2009, she appeared on the concert platform with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under James Levine and in 2011 made her role debut as Fricka in Das Rheingold in Mon-treal under Kent Nagano. In addition to her regular appearances in leading opera houses in Europe and the United States, Anke Vondung is also in demand as a concert singer and lieder recitalist. She has performed with many top-flight orchestras and worked with conductors such as James Conlon, Marc Albrecht, Helmuth Rilling, Roger Norrington, Philippe Herreweghe, Edo de Waart, Gerd Albrecht, Kent Nagano, Philippe Jordan, Ivan Fischer, Armin Jordan, Manfred Honeck, Peter Schreier, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, James Levine, Fabio Luisi, Marek Janowski, Alexander Shelley, Howard Arman, Lothar Zagrosek, Peter Schneider, Jun Märkl, Enoch zu Guttenberg, Hans-Christoph Rademann,, Jeffrey Tate, Markus Stenz, René Jacobs, Vladimir Jurowski and Richard Bonynge.
Simon Bode
is a commanding presence on the opera and recital stages throughout Europe. Born in Hamburg, his recital and concert career has taken this young tenor to prestigious international festivals including Salzburger Festspiele, Beethovenfest Bonn, Heidelberger Frühling, Kissinger Sommer, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein, and Schlossfestspiele Ludwigsburg. Mr. Bode recently sang highly praised debuts at the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin and the Rheingau Musik Festival and reappeared with a solo recital at Wigmore Hall London. His regular collaborators are pianists Igor Levit, Graham Johnson and Nicholas Rimmer as well as Bajanist Elsbeth Moser. Whilst a member of the soloist ensemble at Oper Frankfurt and State Opera Hanover, he received several nominations for “Young Singer of the Year” from Opernwelt Magazine. Recent engagements include title roles at the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Théatre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, International Handel Festival Göttingen, Hannover State Opera, Theater Basel, Wiesbaden State Opera and the Bregenz Festival, singing under conductors Kent Nagano, Andrew Manze, Andrea Marcon, Constantinos Carydis, HK Gruber, Peter Eötvös and Sebastian Weigle. Simon has performed regularly with renowned orchestras and ensembles such as Wiener Philharmonikern, dem Ensemble Modern, der NDR Radiophilharmonie, dem Münchner Rundfunkorchester oder „Les Talens Lyriques“. His broad-ranging repertoire spans from Bach’s Passions and the most demanding roles of his fach, to world premieres of contemporary works. He has sung numerous world premieres. Simon Bode is scholar and recipient of numerous prizes and awards, was a former student of Charlotte Lehmann in Hannover and currently studies with Neil Semer in New York.
