Michaela Selinger

Michaela Selinger was born in Upper Austria and is a graduate of the Linz Academy of Music. She studied Voice in Vienna and Basel and was engaged at the by Ioan Holender in 2005. As a permanent member of the Vienna State Opera, Selinger sang in a multitude of important roles in her field, for example as Cherubino in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Idamante in Mozart’s Idomeneo, Rosina in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and Octavian in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier (The Knight of the Rose). She made her debut at the Zurich Opera House in 2008, playing the role of Prince Orlofski in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus (The Bat). Her debut at the Aalto Theatre in , Germany, came in 2009, when she took on the role of Octavian, singing with the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Stefan Soltesz. In a review of her portrayal of Octavian, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper stated that: “the highlight of the performance is Michaela Selinger, who is both passionate as a young lover and traditionally comedic as Mariandel, equipped with a melodious, full and freely flowing mezzo-soprano voice”.

In the anniversary run of Don Giovanni at the Vienna State Opera in May 2009, her portrayal of Zerlina delighted both the audience and the press, being hailed as “wonderful” and “fabulous”. She also played a highly acclaimed Kreusa in the world premiere of Aribert Reimann’s “Medea”.

Selinger sang in the role of Hansel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel at Lyon Opera House and performed as Cherubino in Mozart’s Figaro at the NTT in Tokyo.

She celebrated a successful run in the role of Dejanira in Handel’s “Hercules” at the Aalto Theatre in Essen. Her future operatic roles include that of Strauss' Octavian at the Wiener Staatsoper, Romeo in Bellini’s "Capuleti" in Essen, Octavian in a new production of Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier in Strasbourg, Magdalena in the new production of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg) at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera and her debut at the Nomori Spring Festival in Tokyo, both in a recital with the Japanese pianist Yu Kosuge and in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

At the in 2009, Michaela Selinger sang the alto part in Haydn‘s Stabat Mater, conducted by Ivor Bolton. She also sang the soprano solo in Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra and Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder with Stefan Soltesz. In April 2010, she debuted at the Moscow Conservatory, singing the alto part in Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde” (The Song of the Earth) with the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio, conducted by Maestro Vladimir Fedoseyev.

Michaela Selinger’s upcoming concert projects include Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor at the Wiener Musikverein ("Viennese Music Association"). In the fields of both opera and concert performances, she works together with conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Stefan Soltesz, Christian Thielemann, Franz Welser-Möst and Kirill Petrenko.

On top of this, reciting art songs is also important to Michaela Selinger. She recently combined forces with the baritone singer Wolfgang Holzmair to record Wolf’s Italienisches und Spanisches Liederbuch (Italian and Spanish Book of Art Songs).