Cornelia Kallisch (born 1956) is a German operatic

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

who made an international career. She has participated in premieres of operas and in concert, and in award-winning recordings.

Early life

Born in

Marbach am Neckar Marbach am Neckar is a town about 20 kilometres north of Stuttgart. It belongs to the district of Ludwigsburg, the Stuttgart region and the European metropolitan region of Stuttgart. Marbach is known as the birthplace of Friedrich Schiller, to w ...

, Kallisch first studied violin and piano. She studied voice with

Josef Metternich Josef Metternich (2 June 1915, in Cologne – 21 February 2005, in Feldafing) was a German operatic baritone. Metternich also appeared at the Royal Opera House in London, La Scala in Milan, and made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York ...

and the opera studio of the

Bavarian State Opera The Bayerische Staatsoper is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bayerische Staatsorchester. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Ele ...

. She also studied with

Siglind Bruhn Siglind Bruhn (born October 11, 1951 in Hamburg) is a German musicologist, writer and concert pianist. Biographical Sketch Siglind Bruhn was born in Hamburg. Her father was the engineer Ernst Bruhn, her mother the interpreter Leonore Bruhn né ...

and Anna Reynolds.

Career

Kallisch joined the ensemble of the Zurich Opera in 1991, where she performed parts such as Cherubino in Mozart's ''

Le nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'' and the title role of ''

Der Rosenkavalier (''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel ''Les amours du chevalier de Faublas'' ...

'' by Richard Strauss. She took part in premieres of operas, such as in 1998 Heinz Holliger's ''

Schneewittchen "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

'' in Zurich, conducted by the composer,

HK Gruber Heinz Karl "Nali" Gruber (born 3 January 1943), who styles himself HK Gruber professionally, is an Austrian composer, conductor, double bass player and singer. He is a leading figure of the so-called Third Viennese School. Career Gruber is said to ...

's ''Der Herr Nordwind'' and in 1999 Philippe Boesmans' ''

Wintermärchen ' is an opera by Philippe Boesmans to a libretto by Luc Bondy and after Shakespeare's ''The Winter's Tale''. It was premiered on 10 December 1999 at La Monnaie in Brussels. The German premiere followed in 2001 at the Staatstheater Braunschweig. ...

'' at

La Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National O ...

in Brussels, conducted by

Antonio Pappano Sir Antonio Pappano (born 30 December 1959) is an English-Italian conductor and pianist. He is currently music director of the Royal Opera House and of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He is scheduled to become chief con ...

. In concert, she recorded Mahler's ''

Kindertotenlieder (''Songs on the Death of Children'') is a song cycle (1904) for voice and orchestra by Gustav Mahler. The words of the songs are poems by Friedrich Rückert. Text and music The original were a group of 428 poems written by Rückert in 1833– ...

'' in 1998, with

Michael Gielen Michael Andreas Gielen (20 July 19278 March 2019) was an Austrian conductor and composer known for promoting contemporary music in opera and concert. Principally active in Europe, his performances are characterized by precision and vivacity, aid ...

conducting the

SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg The Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra (also known in English as the SWR Baden-Baden Freiburg Symphony Orchestra and in German as the Sinfonieorchester des Südwestrundfunks) was a German radio orchestra located in the German cities of Bad ...

. A reviewer noted: "There is a level of emotion in her singing which conjures up for us the right amount of both compassion and horror with Mahler's texts. She sings with a clear tone, some but not excessive vibrato, and handles Mahler's complex writing very ably." She sang the alto solo part in the premiere of

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (born 13 March 1952) is a German composer and academic teacher. He is musical director of the Institute of New Music and Media at the University of Music Karlsruhe and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Sa ...

's ''Deus Passus – Passions-Stücke nach Lukas'' on 29 August 2000, with

Helmuth Rilling Helmuth Rilling (born 29 May 1933) is a German choral conductor and an academic teacher. He is the founder of the Gächinger Kantorei (1954), the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (1965), the Oregon Bach Festival (1970), the Internationale Bachakademie S ...

conducting the

Gächinger Kantorei Gächinger Kantorei (Gächingen Chorale) is an internationally known German mixed choir, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1954 in Gächingen (part of St. Johann close to Reutlingen) and conducted by him until 2013, succeeded by Hans-Christoph Radema ...

and

Bach-Collegium Stuttgart Bach-Collegium Stuttgart is an internationally known German instrumental ensemble, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1965 to accompany the Gächinger Kantorei in choral music with orchestra. Its members are mostly orchestra musicians from Germany and ...

, alongside

Juliane Banse Juliane Banse (born 10 July 1969 in Tettnang, Germany) is a German opera soprano and noted singer. Banse received her vocal training at the Zürich Opera, and with Brigitte Fassbaender in Munich. She won first prize in the singing competition of ...

Iris Vermillion Iris Vermillion (born 1960) is a German operatic mezzo-soprano. A member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1988, she has enjoyed an international career, appearing in Amsterdam with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and at the Salzburg Festival, among others. ...

, Christoph Prégardien and Andreas Schmidt. She recorded in 2002 the mezzo-soprano part of Mahler's ''Das Lied von der Erde'', again with Gielen conducting the orchestra of the SWR. A detailed review mentions "the closing pages are suitably inward and lonely, her final, murmured 'Ewig' seemingly emerging from silence. Three recordings in which she participated were nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

: in 1994 Wagner's ''

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...

'' in the category Best Opera Recording, in 2001 Rihm's ''Deus Passus'' in the category Best Choral Performance, and in 2003 her performance of Judith, the leading female role in Bartók's opera ''

Bluebeard’s Castle ''Duke Bluebeard's Castle'' ( hu, A kékszakállú herceg vára, link=no, or ''The Blue-Bearded Duke's Castle'') is a one-act expressionist opera by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. The libretto was written by Béla Balázs, a poet and friend of ...

'', conducted by Peter Eötvos.

References

External links

Cornelia Kallisch / Mezzosopran
(in German) ks-gasteig.de
Cornelia Kallisch singt Franz Liszt – Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh
on YouTube * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kallisch, Cornelia German operatic mezzo-sopranos People from Marbach am Neckar 1956 births Living people 20th-century German women opera singers 21st-century German women opera singers