Angelika Kirchschlager (born 24 November 1965,
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...
) is an Austrian
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 middl ...
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
and
lieder
In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...
singer.
Career
Kirchschlager began her musical training at the
Mozarteum
Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the “Mozarteum” moniker in Salzburg municipality; the International Mo ...
in Salzburg, where she studied percussion and piano. In 1984, she went to the
Vienna Music Academy
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 ...
, where she studied with Gerhard Kahry and
Walter Berry.
Her first engagements were at the
Wiener Kammeroper
Wiener Kammeroper is a chamber opera theatre and company in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1948 by the conductor , it was originally named Vienna Opera Studiom receiving its present name in 1953. It is located at 24 Fleischmarkt Street in the city c ...
and the
Graz Opera
The Graz Opera (German: Oper Graz) is an Austrian opera house and opera company based in Graz. The orchestra of the opera house also performs concerts as the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra (''Grazer Philharmonisches Orchester'').
History
Opera h ...
. Kirchschlager won 1st Prize together with Morenike Fadayomi in Wien's international Operncafé HArtauer-COmpetition and third prize in the
International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition The International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition is an annual competition for young opera singers. It has been described as "THE 'springboard' for a career in opera", or the "singers' stock exchange, the 'Wall Street of Voices'".
Hans G ...
both in 1991. Her stage debut was in
Graz
Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popula ...
in 1993 as Octavian (''
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'' ...
'').
In 1993, she became a member of the
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August ...
, and made her debut there as Cherubino (''
The Marriage of 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 premi ...
''). Also in 1993, she was awarded the
Mozartinterpretationspreis
The Mozartinterpretationspreis (Mozart Interpretation Prize) was a music award named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, administered by the Mozartgemeinde Wien ( Vienna Mozart Society) and sponsored by the Austrian Ministry of Education and Culture. ...
of the