Doris Soffel (born 12 May 1948, Hechingen, Germany) is a German mezzo-soprano.

Doris Soffel

Doris Soffel first played the violin, then switched to singing at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München. She was member of the Stuttgart Opera ensemble from 1973 to 1982. Her international breakthrough was as Sesto in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito at the Royal Opera House, London in 1982. She sang Fricka in the Bayreuth Festival 1983 and was the only German coloratura mezzo with an international career, singing in works by Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini. She sang world premieres by contemporary composers like Aribert Reimann and Krysztof Penderecki and had performances worldwide of Gustav Mahler's vocal works. From 1994, more dramatic roles like Judith in Béla Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle, Eboli in Verdi's Don Carlo and Amneris in his Aïda. Since 1999 she belongs to the most important interpreters of operas by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss (e.g. Ortrud, Kundry, Fricka, Herodias and Amme). In 2007 she sang the female principal part (Marfa) in the Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina in Munich. She appears on about 60 CDs and several DVDs.

Doris Soffel was awarded the title Kammersängerin and holds the Royal Swedish Order of Northern Star.

Repertoire

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Opera

 
Ortrud, Lohengrin
Composer Opera Part
Béla Bartók A Kékszakállú herceg vára (Bluebeard's Castle) Judit
Vincenzo Bellini Norma Adalgisa
Alban Berg Lulu Gräfin Geschwitz
Hector Berlioz Les Troyens Didon
Georges Bizet Carmen Carmen
Francesco Cilea Adriana Lecouvreur La Principessa di Bouillon
Gaetano Donizetti Anna Bolena Giovanna di Seymour
La Favorita Leonora di Guzman
Maria Stuarda Elisabetta
Antonín Dvořák Rusalka Hexe Jezibaba
Friedrich von Flotow Martha oder Der Markt zu Richmond Nancy
Christoph Willibald Gluck Orfeo ed Euridice Orfeo
George Frideric Handel Hercules Dejanira
Leoš Janáček Káta Kabanová Kabanicha
Pietro Mascagni Cavalleria rusticana Santuzza
Jules Massenet Hérodiade Hérodiade
Werther Charlotte
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Così fan tutte Dorabella
La Clemenza di Tito Sesto
Die Zauberflöte Zweite Dame
Modest Mussorgsky Boris Godunow Marina Mnisek
Chowantschina Marfa
Krzysztof Penderecki Ubu Rex Mère Ubu
Amilcare Ponchielli La Gioconda Laura Adorno
Francis Poulenc Dialogues des Carmelites Madame de Croissy
Aribert Reimann Troades Kassandra
Gioachino Rossini Cenerentola Angelina
Il Barbiere di Siviglia Rosina
L'Italiana in Algeri Isabella
Mosè in Egitto Sinaide
Camille Saint-Saëns Samson et Dalila Dalila
Othmar Schoeck Penthesilea Penthesilea
Louis Spohr Jessonda Amazili
Johann Strauss Die Fledermaus Prinz Orlofsky
Richard Strauss Elektra Klytämnestra
Ariadne auf Naxos Der Komponist
Capriccio Clairon
Die Frau ohne Schatten Die Amme
Der Rosenkavalier Octavian
Salome Herodias
Igor Stravinsky Oedipus Rex Jocaste
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Orleanskaja Deva Jeanne d'Arc
Pique Dame Gräfin
Giuseppe Verdi Aida Amneris
Don Carlos Eboli
Un ballo in Maschera Ulrika
Il Trovatore Azucena
Richard Wagner Götterdämmerung Waltraute
Lohengrin Ortrud
Parsifal Kundry
Das Rheingold Fricka
Rienzi: Der letzte der Tribunen Adriano
Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg Venus
Tristan und Isolde Brangäne
Die Walküre Fricka
Hugo Wolf Der Corregidor Frasquita
Alexander Zemlinsky Eine Florentinische Tragödie Bianca

Concerts

Johann Sebastian Bach Passionen und Oratorien Mezzo
Ludwig van Beethoven Missa solemnis D-dur op.123 Mezzo
Symphonie No. 9 Alto
Hector Berlioz Mort de Cleopâtre Mezzo
Nuits d´été Mezzo
Damnation de Faust Marguerite
Johannes Brahms Lieder Brahms Mezzo
Anton Bruckner Mass No. 3 in F minor Alto
Joseph Haydn Harmoniemesse B-dur Hob.XXII:13 Alto
Heiligmesse B-dur Hob XXII:10 Alto
Missa Sanctae Caeciliae C-dur Alto
Karl Amadeus Hartmann Symphonie 1 Versuch eines Requiem (on texts by Walt Whitman) Alto
Gustav Mahler Das Lied von der Erde Mezzo
Kindertotenlieder Mezzo
Sinfonie Nr.2 c-moll (Auferstehung) Alto
Sinfonie Nr.8 Es-dur (Sinf.der Tausend) Alto
Symphonie No. 3 Mezzo
Rückert-Lieder Mezzo
Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen Mezzo
Hermann Reutter Lieder Mezzo
Franz Schubert Lieder und Liederzyklen Mezzo
Erwin Schulhoff Landschaften/Menschheit Mezzo
Robert Schumann Lieder und Liederzyklen Mezzo
Arnold Schoenberg Gurrelieder Waldtaube
Wolfgang von Schweinitz Liederzyklus "Papiersterne" Mezzo
Alexander Scriabin Symphonie Nr. 1 E-Dur Mezzo
Richard Strauss Lieder und Liederzyklen Mezzo
Giuseppe Verdi Requiem Mezzo
Richard Wagner Wesendonk-Lieder Mezzo
Alexander Zemlinsky Maeterlink Orchesterlieder Mezzo

References

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