GABRIELE FONTANA
soprano
When the Austrian Soprano Gabriele Fontana marked her Debut at the Age of 21 as PAMINA in the Frankfurt Opera House under the baton of Michael Gielen, she already was a Member in the Opera Studio at the Vienna State Opera, and had won the Bachprize at the international Competition in Leipzig, and the R.Tauber Memorial Prize in London.
Her early Career continued when she became a member at the Hamburg State Opera, where she sang parts such as PAMINA, KONSTANZE, SOPHIE/ - Rosenkavalier and where she created the Role of SOPHIE SCHOLL in U.Zimmermann´s “Weisse Rose”. Sequently she was invited to the Bayr.Staatsoper Munich (CONTESSA/ROSALINDE), Vienna State Opera (PAMINA/SOPHIE/ZDENKA/ROSALINDE), Glyndebour-ne Festival (CONTESSA - FIORDILIGI), Proms (CONTESSA), Bregenz Festival (PAMINA), Salzburg Festival and Mozartwoche, Festwochen Vienna, to various Festivals and Operahouses in Berlin, Dresden, Amsterdam, Prag, Israel, USA and Japan.
She has worked regularely with conductors as H.Blomstedt, P.Boulez, D.Barenboim, C.Davis, Ch.von Dohnanyi, B.Haitink, E.Leinsdorf, K.Mazur, Z.Mehta, W.Sawallisch, J.Tate, F.Welser-Möst u.a.
A wide Discography documents her artistic way, like “Schubert-Lieder”, Bach Cantatas, ZDENKA/Arabella and Rheingold for DECCA, ROSALINDE - Naxos, Moses ans Aron/DG, Lieder by H.Wolf/R.Strauss/Preiser and the first recording of all Songs by Clara Schumann. In 1998 she was awarded the title KAMMERSÄNGERIN of the Hannover State Opera.
Since 1997 she made such major Debuts as MARSCHALLIN - Saatsoper unter den Linden and Hannover, MADELAINE - Capriccio at the Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam and Hannover, EVA - Deutsche Oper Berlin,Hannover,and ELSA.She had a huge personal Success in her debut as SENTA in 2002 in Malmö/Sweden.
She has appeared in Recitals and Concerts in NewYork, Washington and Philadelphia (with W. Sawallisch), Manchester and Prag (Four Last Songs) and Vienna Musikverein. In 2003 she celebrated her Debuts with Accademia di Santa Cecilia Rome with “Mahler 8” (Chung) and “Paradies und Peri”/PERI with W.Sawallisch.
She returned in February 2003 to the Munich State Opera to sing ROSALINDE with Z.Mehta, celebrated her Debut as VITELLIA/Titus at the Semper Opera Dresden, and with a huge personal Success LEONORE/Fidelio in Lyon.
Since 2003 she had major Debuts with Euryanthe/Amsterdam/Edinburgh/Dresden,Köln and Brussels, Senta/Marseille, Elsa, Sieglinde in Marseilles/Lyon, Arabella in Graz, Marschallin, Staatsoper Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Taipeh, Kaiserin in Frankfurt and Amsterdam, Chrysothemis in Amsterdam and Dresden. Capriccio, Amsterdam, Dresden, Edinburgh Festival, Maria Stuarda - Maria in Geneva and Baltimore, and over all- Fidelio in Lyon, Leipzig, Tokio, Moskow, St.Petersburg, Baden-Baden and Frankfurt.
In 2006 she celebrated her Debut as Gutrune (Götterdämmerung) in the new Ring production at Bayreuth with Thielemann.
The season 2008/2009 will bring her debut with Ellen Orford in Geneva (2009) and Dresden (2010), Fidelio - Leonore in Barcelona (2009) and MARSCHALLIN in Marseille.
From October 2007 on she teaches Lied and Oratorio at the Music University in Vienna.