We are delighted to welcome to our roster German soprano Dorothea Herbert.
Her artistry has inspired international critical acclaim. The Westdeutsche Zeitung commended her for ‘passion in a voice that (…) shines very charmingly, has warmth in its mid-register but glows beautifully’. A finalist in the 2014 Wagner Society Singing Competition in London and a Richard Wagner Scholar in 2016, she was one of the youngest students in Germany ever to be selected for the Young Student Programme at Munich’s Richard Strauss Conservatoire. Dorothea went on to graduate from Trinity College of Music in London, and completed her studies at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Opera Studio at Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in cooperation with Welsh National Opera in Cardiff, where she was supported by the Leverhulme Foundation. She has taken part in masterclasses with some of the world’s leading singers, Christa Ludwig and Anna Tomowa- Sintow among them.
In recent seasons, Dorothea Herbert has become established on the stage of many European opera houses. Her repertoire includes roles such as Senta (Der Fliegende Holländer), Donna Anna, Salome, Rusalka, Leonore (Fidelio), Eva (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Elsa, Rosalinde, Elisabetta (Don Carlo), Agathe, Chrysothemis and Arabella. In 2016-17, she made her debuts as Senta at the Bühnen Halle and as Amelia (Un ballo in maschera) at the Stadttheater Bremerhaven. An invitation to sing Amelia at Nationaltheater Mannheim followed. In 2017-18 season, Dorothea Herbert was second cast for the title role in Christof Loy’s new production of Das Wunder der Heliane at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and made her successful debut as Donna Anna in the new production of Don Giovanni at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. In 2018-19, she sang Agathe in Der Freischütz at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe. The 2019/20 season saw her debut as Salome at Theater Krefeld Mönchengladbach, and Gerhilde in Wagner’s Die Walküre at Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam under the baton of Marc Albrecht. In December 2019 Dorothea gave her house debut at Semperoper Dresden in Weber’s Freischütz and sang Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the iconic Salzburg Easter Festival production at Semperoper Dresden under Christian Thielemann. Dorothea returned to the role of Fidelio in January 2020 at Theater Chemnitz and in spring 2020 Dorothea gave her debut in the title role of Rusalka for which she received outstanding reviews, prompting the Neue Ruhr Zeitung to predict that she ‘is on the brink of a really great career’ and Opernmagazin to conclude that ‘she convinced throughout the evening with a wonderfully balanced voice’.
2020/21 highlights included her debut at Theater an der Wien in Christof Loy’s new production of Zazà as Floriana and La Signora Dufresne and her Sieglinde debut in Wagner’s Walküre at Theater Krefeld. In 2021 Dorothea made her Glyndebourne Festival debut in Beethoven’s Fidelio as Leonore.
Future highlights include Sieglinde in a concert performance at Staatstheater Darmstadt, the revival of her acclaimed Salome and Operettengalas at Nationaltheater Mannheim. She will return as Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer in her house debut at the State Opera in Prague in 2022.
Dorothea will be managed by Simon Goldstone