Maria Weiss is an Austrian mezzo-soprano from Carinthia who sings classical music from the Baroque period as well as more recent compositions, including Spanish and Latin-American works. After completing her studies under at the

University of Music and Performing Arts The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817. With a student body of over three thousa ...

in Graz in 2003, she received further training from

Angelika Kirchschlager Angelika Kirchschlager (born 24 November 1965, Salzburg) is an Austrian mezzo-soprano opera and lieder singer. Career Kirchschlager began her musical training at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, where she studied percussion and piano. In 1984, she w ...

and

Teresa Berganza Teresa Berganza Vargas OAXS (16 March 1933 – 13 May 2022) was a Spanish mezzo-soprano. She is most closely associated with roles such as Rossini's Rosina and La Cenerentola, and later Bizet's Carmen, admired for her technical virtuosity, mu ...

. In 2009, she made her début at the Konzerthaus in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

singing

Bach cantatas This is a sortable list of Bach cantatas, the cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. His almost 200 extant cantatas are among his important vocal compositions. Many are known to be lost. Bach composed both church cantatas, most of them for ...

. She released her first solo CD ''Favola in musica, alte neue musik'' together with a hardcover book in 2015 as part of her award-winning cultural project Favola in musica. In 2018, she participated in the DonauFestwochen at Schloss Greinburg, playing the role of Irene in Handel's rarely performed opera ''

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology ...

''.

Biography

Educated in music from the age of five, Maria Weiss sang works by

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He ...

and J. S. Bach as a 13-year-old soloist in various ensembles. After studying cultural history at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

, she received training in voice at the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

and at the Arts University in Graz under Joanna Borowska, graduating in 2003. She later trained under Jorge Sirena in Barcelona and attended master classes with Angelika Kirchschlager and Teresa Berganza. Her opera roles extend from Mozart to Renaissance and Baroque works as well as to operettas by Offenbach. She has performed in Handel's '' Ottone, Re di Germania'' and in

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widesprea ...

's ''

L'Olimpiade ''L'Olimpiade'' is an opera libretto in three acts by Metastasio originally written for an operatic setting by Antonio Caldara of 1733. Metastasio’s plot vaguely draws upon the narrative of "The Trial of the Suitors" provided from Book 6 of ...

'' at the Donaufestwochen (2008). At the same festival in 2018, she played Irene in Handel's rarely performed opera ''Atalanta''. She has sung both Baroque music and modern pieces at various music festivals and in opera houses in Graz, Klagenfurt and Vienna. In particular, in March 2009 she sang as the alto in Bach cantatas with the Ensemble Claudiana under Luca Pianca at the Konzerthaus in Vienna. Heading the project "Favola in Musica" (Fairy Tale in Music, from

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is consider ...

's full title for ''

L'Orfeo ''L'Orfeo'' ( SV 318) (), sometimes called ''La favola d'Orfeo'' , is a late Renaissance/early Baroque ''favola in musica'', or opera, by Claudio Monteverdi, with a libretto by Alessandro Striggio. It is based on the Greek legend of Orpheus, and ...

''), Weiss has presented biennial concerts of "alte neue Musik" (early new music) leading to a CD which won the Pasticcio Prize in 2018. The project was inspired by a course in project management from the Institut für Kulturkonzepte. Writing in ''Early Music Review'', Brian Robins qualifies her voice as "distinctive, a beautifully burnished and rounded mezzo that at the same time remains fundamentally pure in tone, vibrato being sparingly used for expressive purpose".

References

External links

Maria Weiss's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Maria 1990s births Living people Musicians from Klagenfurt Austrian mezzo-sopranos 21st-century Austrian women opera singers