Mezzo-soprano Nadine Weissmann has recently drawn international attention particularly as a Wagner-singer.
This fall sees her returning to Madrid to cover the role of Leokadja Begbick in Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, followed by Mathis der Maler in Paris, and next spring a return to Barcelona and Bilbao, as well as revivals of the Weimar Ring.
Starting the 2009/10 season was her debut in Falstaff as Quickly at the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki. Shortly following that, she made her debut in Bilbao as Marthe in Faust. 2010 began with her first Mary in Der fliegende Holländer at the Teatro Real, Madrid, followed by her first performance of Mahler 2 in Weimar. More debuts followed as Brigitta in Die tote Stadt at the Opéra national de Lorraine Nancy, and at the Teatro Real, Madrid, with an open-air Spanish Night concert with the Staatskapelle Weimar to close the season.
In the 2008/2009 season, she completed performances of the Ring in Weimar as Erda (Rheingold/ Siegfried), Schwertleite (Walküre), and 2.Norn/ Waltraute in (Götterdämmerung). In January she sang Elektra in Lisbon with the Gulbenkian Orchestra under Lawrence Foster. Jumping in with the Staatskapelle Halle for the Berio Folk Songs under Karl-Heinz Steffens set a highlight in February. She was heard in Beethoven's 9th symphony in Weimar as well as in Lisbon in the spring. She made her Berlin Philharmonic debut in May with the second alto part in Elijah under the baton of Seiji Ozawa.
Nadine Weissmann is the winner of the Orchestra Choice Award of the Seattle Opera International Wagner Competition 2008, and performed there in August with great success under the baton of Asher Fisch. She completed her first Ring-cycle at the DNT Weimar in July of that year, with her role debuts as Second Norn and Waltraute in Götterdämmerung. Arthaus has published the cycle on DVD.
The 2007/2008
season saw Nadine in her second Erda, in the premiere of
Siegfried at Weimar. Since January,
her new Carmen received highest praise, under the baton of Martin Hoff with the Staatskapelle Weimar.
In May, she made her debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona as Schwertleite in
concert versions of Walküre under
Sebastian Weigle, performing with Plácido Domingo.
In 2006/2007, Nadine’s season began with Erda in Rheingold as a guest artist in Weimar. The calendar year ended with new concerts with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon and the Missa solemnis in Santiago de Compostela. In January 2007, she made her debut as Emilia in Otello at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. She joined the ensemble in Weimar in February 2007, starting with Schwertleite in Walküre. March saw the release of the Deutsche Grammophon CD Duets with Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon under Nicola Luisotti, where Nadine can be heard as Giovanna in the selection from Rigoletto. At the end of the season she was also adding a new Verdi role, Federica in Luisa Miller, to her repertoire, also in Weimar.
In September 2005, she was a finalist in the Marseille Opera Competition and a prize-winner of the Hilde Zadek Singing Competition in Vienna. In December, she sang Carmen at the theater in Nordhausen and Baba the Turk in Lübeck. In January 2006, she won second prize, the Wagner-Prize, and the special prize of Sao Paolo at the Francisco Viñas Competition in Barcelona. In March 2006, she appeared in the Thomas Quasthoff Professional Workshop and final concert at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall. In April, she made her debut as Herodias in Salome with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon under Lawrence Foster. In June, she premiered as Florence Pike in Albert Herring in Lübeck. Throughout the summer, she was a cover for the title role of the Duenna in Betorthal in a Monastery at the Glyndebourne Festival, and sang Herodias at the German National Theater in Weimar
In the 2004/2005 season, she performed Carmen at the Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin; in March and April, she returned to the role of Baba in The Rake's Progress for the first time at the theater in Hagen. Also in March, she was the featured soloist in Bernstein's Jeremiah - Symphony at the Berlin Konzerthaus and on radio broadcast under the baton of Lawrence Foster with the RSB.
She was a principal artist of the theater in Osnabrück from March 2002 to July 2004. Among other roles, she appeared as Marcellina (Figaro), Old Lady (Candide), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Gräfin Helfenstein (Hindemith:Mathis der Maler) Anita (West Side Story) and Annina (Der Rosenkavalier); her debut as Carmen under Lothar Koenigs was received enthusiastically by audiences and press alike. In August of 2004, she was chosen as the only German participant for the Operalia Competition in Los Angeles.
In the years 2000-2002, she introduced herself in and around Berlin with a number of debut recitals, concerts in the chamber music series of the DSO, and premieres of several new vocal works. Upon her return from the United States, she successfully participated in many international competitions, receiving an extraordinary prize in the FranciscoViñas Competition and being a finalist in the national German singing competition. As a winner of the Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg Competition, she appeared as Kytämnestra in Iphigenie in Aulis and in the opera gala at the Rheinsberg Festival 2002.
Nadine Tamira Weissmann was born in 1974 in Berlin. During her time at the John-F.-Kennedy School she had many opportunities to explore her passion for singing in diverse genres, performing in diverse ensembles in musicals and concerts. After graduation she was accepted to the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she completed her Bachelor of Music in 1997. She pursued her graduate training at the world renowned Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, where she studied with Virginia Zeani. During her time there, she was a soloist in concerts, recitals, oratorios, and also performed the role of the Old Baroness in Barber's Vanessa and Baba the Turk in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, both under Imre Pallo. After completing her Master of Music in 1999, she was offered a scholarship as an Associate Instructor and continued studying for one year, after which she obtained a Performer Diploma. She attended many masterclasses during her college years, amongst others those of Brigitte Fassbaender and Marjana Lipovšek. She is under the vocal guidance of Anneliese Fried and Jean-Ronald LaFond.
(Please destroy any previous biographical material. For updates and shortened biogaphy texts, please contact the artist.)