Hanna-Elisabeth Müller, possessing “a voice as if cut from crystal” (Salzburger Nachrichten) is considered in equal measure to be one of today’s foremost interpreters of lied and concert repertoire, and one of the most sought-after operatic artists. The soprano had her international breakthrough at the 2014 Salzburg Easter Festival as Zdenka in Strauss’ Arabella, co-starring with Renèe Fleming and Thomas Hampson under the baton of Christian Thielemann. For this role, she was voted “Young Artist of the Year” by Opernwelt magazine. The production was subsequently released on DVD under United Classica in partnership with C Major. Müller is a frequent guest of the world’s leading opera houses and festivals, including the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Vienna Staatsoper, the Metropolitan Opera, Dresden’s Semperoper, Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opernhaus Zurich, and the Salzburg Festival, among others.
Hanna-Elisabeth Müller, possessing “a voice as if cut from crystal” (Salzburger Nachrichten) is considered in equal measure to be one of today’s foremost interpreters of lied and concert repertoire, and one of the most sought-after operatic artists. The soprano made her international breakthrough at the 2014 Salzburg Easter Festival as Zdenka in Strauss’ Arabella, co-starring with Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson under the baton of Christian Thielemann. For this role, she was voted “Young Artist of the Year” by Opernwelt magazine. The production was subsequently released on DVD under United Classica in partnership with C Major. Müller is a frequent guest of the world’s leading opera houses and festivals, including the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Vienna Staatsoper, the Metropolitan Opera, Dresden’s Semperoper, Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opernhaus Zurich, and the Salzburg Festival, among others.
In the 2025/26 season, Hanna-Elisabeth Müller takes on three major new productions at leading houses. She tours Japan with the Vienna State Opera, appearing at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan as the Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro, conducted by Bertrand de Billy in Barrie Kosky’s acclaimed staging. In the same role, she makes her company debut with the Paris Opera under Antonello Manacorda in a new production by Netia Jones. She returns to the Vienna State Opera as Vitellia in a new production of La clemenza di Tito, conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado and directed by Jan Lauwers.
On the concert stage, Müller joins the Wiener Symphoniker under Petr Popelka for Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder and appears in Paris with the Orchestre National de France and Philippe Jordan in Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri. At the Salzburg Easter Festival, she performs Haydn’s The Creation with the Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Daniel Harding. Further engagements include Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with Zubin Mehta and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra; Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” in Utrecht with Karina Canellakis and the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest; and a program combining Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder with Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in Palermo under Lothar Königs. At the Weiwuying International Music Festival in Taiwan, she presents a recital of Schumann’s Liederkreis and Myrthen alongside Strauss Lieder and performs with Chien Wen-pin and the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder. She also appears at Munich’s Cuvilliés-Theater for a Festspiel-Kammerkonzert devoted to Zemlinsky and Wagner, a program she later brings to Blaibach and Schloss Elmau for the Tage der Romantik festival.
Highlights of recent seasons include acclaimed appearances on the stages of the world’s most prestigious opera houses. At the Vienna State Opera, Müller sang Rosalinde in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, Contessa Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, the title role in Strauss’s Daphne under Sebastian Weigle, and Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. At the Staatsoper Berlin she appeared as Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and as Elettra in Idomeneo. With the Bayerische Staatsoper, she was heard as Elettra in Idomeneo and as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, a role she also performed in Barrie Kosky’s staging in Vienna and in Robert Carsen’s celebrated production at La Scala under Pablo Heras-Casado. At the Metropolitan Opera she made her debut as Marzelline in Fidelio before returning as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. Müller’s Zurich Opera debut came as Ilia in Idomeneo. From 2012 to 2016, she was a member of the Bayerische Staatsoper ensemble, appearing on international tours to Japan (Die Zauberflöte), Carnegie Hall New York (Der Rosenkavalier), and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Hanna-Elisabeth Müller has collaborated on the concert stage with many of the world’s foremost orchestras and conductors. Noteworthy engagements include Richard Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder, performed with Philharmonia Zürich under Gianandrea Noseda, with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, at the CRR Concert Hall in Istanbul, in Bamberg under Christoph Eschenbach, and with the Staatskapelle Berlin. She was frequently heard as soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection”, performing with Orchestre National de France under Cristian Măcelaru, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome under Daniel Harding, the Seoul Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic under Jaap van Zweden, and at the Philharmonie in Cologne. She also sang Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, with whom she additionally performed Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland.
Further highlights include Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with the Munich Philharmonic under Philippe Herreweghe, Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem in Zürich, and Dvořák’s Stabat mater in Dresden under Marek Janowski. With Christian Thielemann she appeared in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 both with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and in the 2023 Christmas Concert at Frauenkirche Dresden. She has sung Schumann’s Faust Scenes with Daniel Harding and the Orchestre de Paris, Strauss’s orchestral songs with the WDR Symphony Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach, and Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder with both the Berlin Philharmonic under Paavo Järvi and in Helsinki.
Additional appearances include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Academy of Bayerische Staatsoper and Vladimir Jurowski, Mozart’s Requiem with Camerata Salzburg, and an opera gala concert with the Würth Philharmoniker under Claudio Vandelli.
A seasoned recitalist, Müller recently appeared with pianist Juliane Ruf and clarinetist Daniel Ottensamer at the Philharmonie Köln, the Heidelberger Frühling Festival, and other venues.
Hanna-Elisabeth Müller is a Pentatone exclusive artist. Her debut album Traumgekrönt (2017), featuring songs by Strauss, Berg, and Schönberg, was followed by Reine de Coeur (2020) with works by Schumann, Zemlinsky, and Poulenc. Her most recent release, Sinnbild (2022), an all-Strauss program recorded live with the WDR Symphony Orchestra and Christoph Eschenbach, was widely acclaimed. A longtime student of Rudolf Piernay, she has also benefited from masterclasses with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Julia Varady, Elly Ameling, and Thomas Hampson.
© CSAM, August 2025
