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The German mezzo-soprano, Katja Pieweck, studied voice with Judith Beckmann at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg, where she participated in various master-classes, including those with Elio Battaglia, Brigitte Fassbaender, and James Wagner. She is a prize-winner of numerous competitions, including the Oberdörfer-Prize 2007 by the Körber-Foundation, the Kulturpreis der Berenberg Bank Stiftung, and was the winner of the International Robert Stolz Singing Competition 2000 in Hamburg.
From 1997 to 1999, Katja Pieweck was a member of the International Opera Studio at the Hamburg State Opera, where she appeared in roles such as Sélysette in the new production of Ariane et Barbe-Bleue (Dukas) conducted by Ingo Metzmacher, and as Siegrune in Die Walküre under Gerd Albrecht. In the Season of 1998-1999, she sang Mercédès in Georges Bizet's Carmen and Alisa in a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor under the baton of Frédéric Chaslin.
In 1999, Katja Pieweck became a member of the Hamburg State Opera’s ensemble. The roles of her first seasons included: Mother in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, First Lady in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Mother in Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel, Marcellina in W.A. Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly and Annina in Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss) directed by Peter Konwitschny. In the 2002-2003 season, she appeared as Magdalena in the premiere of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner), directed by Konwitschny as well. Further roles at the Hamburg State Opera have been: Fenena in Nabucco under the direction of Karoline Gruber; Mère Marie in Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, Marquise de Berkenfield in La Fille du Régiment (Donizetti), Emilia in Otello, and Klementia in a concert performance of the opera Sancta Susanna by Paul Hindemith. In 2007, she made her role debut as Brangaene in Tristan und Isolde under Simone Young, and sang the alto-solo in the ballet version of J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio ()BWV 248 directed by John Neumeier. In the new 2008 production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen she made her role debut as Fricka in the premiere of Das Rheingold. Other notable roles in 2008-2009 were Meg Page in Falstaff and Adelaide in Arabella.
In the 2009-2010 Season, Katja Pieweck appeared as Donna Elvira in W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni and made her role-debut as Alice Ford in Falstaff. In 2010-2011, she repeated Fricka, Marcellina and 1st Lady. In 2011-2012, she sang the role of Goneril in A. Reimann’s Lear to great acclaim. In 2012-2013, her roles in Hamburg included Ortrud in Lohengrin, Fricka in Das Rheingold, Sieglinde in Die Walküre (understudy) and Brangaene. As a special highlight she made her role-debut as Adriano in R. Wagner's Rienzi. Role debuts in 2013-2014 have included the title-role in R. Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and Leonore in L.v. Beethoven's Fidelio. A new part in 2015 was Marguerite in Arthur Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher alongside renowned French actress Fanny Ardant as Jeanne.
Outside her engagements with the Hamburgische Staatsoper Katja Pieweck was a guest soloist at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin in 2003-2004 as the First Maid in Elektra (Strauss), and in 2003 performed at the Staatstheater Mainz as Eglantine in Euryanthe (Weber) with great success. In 2005 she appeared in two concerts of Jenufa (Janáček) with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir Simon Rattle and also in the same year as Aufseherin in Elektra at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich under Peter Schneider. At the 2004 and 2006 International Herrenchiemsee Festpiele she sang the part of Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, and in 2007 made her role debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni under Enoch zu Guttenberg. In 2010 and 2011, she returned to the Herrenchiemsee Festspiele as 2nd Lady in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. In 2013, she has guested at the noted Lucerne Festival in Wagner’s Die Walküre with the Bamberger Symphoniker under Jonathan Nott. In 2015, she returned to the Bayerische Staatsoper for Strauss’ Elektra.
Besides her operatic activities, Katja Pieweck is a passionate concert-, lied- and oratorio-singer. Concert engagments led her to various European countries as well as to Israel, Russia, Japan and the USA.
Katja Pieweck has worked with distinguished conductors such as Ingo Metzmacher, Gerd Albrecht, Rolf Beck, Enoch zu Guttenberg, Günter Jena, Sebastian Weigle, and Krzysztof Penderecki. |
