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 as 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: 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 as 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: 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 2023-24 season, Hanna-Elisabeth Müller’s peerless versatility is once again on display in a return to the Vienna State Opera, where she debuts the title role of Strauss’s Daphne under the baton of Sebastian Weigle. Also in Vienna, the soprano sings further performances as Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg following her critically acclaimed debut last season. At the Bayerische Staatsoper, Müller reprises Elettra in Idomeneo, and in Salzburg’s Mozart Week, she makes another role debut, Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito.
On the concert stage, Müller thrice performs her signature Vier letzte Lieder of Richard Strauss: at the CRR Concert Hall in Istanbul, in Salzburg with the Mozarteum Orchestra, and in Bamberg under the musical direction of Christoph Eschenbach. She will be heard as the soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” in her first appearance with the New York Philharmonic and music director Jaap van Zweden, and sees further performances of the same piece with the Philharmonie in Cologne. Müller also will sing Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem in Zürich, Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with the Munich Philharmonic under Philippe Herreweghe, Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder in Helsinki, and Dvořák’s Stabat mater in Dresden conducted by Marek Janowski. Additionally, she will sing in the 2023 Christmas Concert at Frauenkirche Dresden, under the baton of Christian Thielemann. The concert is streamed live by ZDF.
Last season, Müller made an auspicious role debut as Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with the Vienna State Opera, where she was also heard as Contessa Almaviva in a new production of Le nozze di Figaro and as Donna Anna in Barrie Kosky’s Don Giovanni. She saw further performances of Donna Anna at the Bayerische Staatsoper and in Robert Carsen’s iconic production for La Scala under Pablo Heras-Casado.
Operatic highlights of recent seasons include her Metropolitan Opera debut as Marzelline in Fidelio, subsequently returning for Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and Pamina in The Magic Flute. Müller made her debut at Zurich Opera in Idomeneo as Ilia, and sang Elettra in the same opera at the Bayerische Staatsoper in a new production by Antú Romero Nunes. From 2012-2016 she was a member of the ensemble of the Bayerische Staatsoper, and has since become a favorite of the company, including on tours to Japan (Pamina, Die Zauberflöte), Carnegie Hall New York (Sophie, Der Rosenkavalier) and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Noteworthy concert performances include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden led by Christian Thielemann, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Schumann’s Faust Scenes under Daniel Harding with the Orchestre de Paris, Vier letzte Lieder with the Staatskapelle Berlin, orchestral songs of Strauss with the WDR Symphony Orchestra and Christoph Eschenbach, and Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder with the Berlin Philharmonic and Paavo Järvi.
A seasoned recitalist, Hanna-Elisabeth Müller has performed at major venues such as Teatro alla Scala Milan, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Heidelberger Frühling, Cologne Philharmonie, De Singel Antwerp, Teatro de la Zarzuela Madrid, Schubertiada Vilabertran, and Festival Rheinvokal.
Hanna-Elisabeth Müller is a Pentatone exclusive artist. Her debut album Traumgekrönt was released in 2017 and included songs by Strauss, Berg and Schönberg. Reine de Coeur, her second Lied disc, featured works by Schumann, Zemlinsky, and Poulenc, and was released in 2020. Her third album, an all-Strauss program entitled Sinnbild, was recorded live during the aforementioned 2022 concert performance in collaboration with the WDR Symphony Orchestra and Christoph Eschenbach. A longtime student of Rudolf Piernay, Müller has participated in master classes with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Julia Varady, Elly Ameling and Thomas Hampson.
