Claudia Mahnke
mezzo-soprano
© Barbara Aumüller
Claudia Mahnke, a member of the Ensemble and Kammersängerin at Oper Frankfurt since 2020/21, is one of the most sought-after mezzo-sopranos in the world, for roles including Fricka (Ring des Nibelungen), Judith (Bluebeard's Castle), Didon (Les Troyens) and the Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos). Recent triumphs in Frankfurt have included Mère Marie de l’Incarnation, Brangäne and Herodias in new productions of Dialogues des Carmélites, Tristan und Isolde and Salome, Judith in Bluebeard's Castle and Anticleia in a new production of Dallapiccola's Ulisse. During the 2025/26 season roles for the company include a Barmaid and Mother in new productions of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and Fortner's Bluthochzeit / Blood Wedding and you can hear her again as Brangäne. Last season she enjoyed triumphs with the roles of Geschwitz and Giselle in new productions of Berg's Lulu and Magnard's Guercœur and had great fun as Annina in Der Rosenkavalier, a role she recently sang at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. During the 2023/24 season she enjoyed great success with Amneris in the first new Aida in Frankfurt for many years, and repeated her wonderful portrayals of Herodias in Salome and Emilia in Verdi's Otello, these were preceded by Magdalena in a new Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, a role she sang when making her debut at the Met in the autumn of 2021, and the Princess in a new Tchaikovsky'sThe Sorceress (get the DVD!). Recent guest engagements have included Mahler 2 with the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne and Herodias at the Hamburg State Opera. Her repertoire includes Marie (Wozzeck - get the CD! OehmsClassics), Gertrud (the mother, in Hänsel und Gretel), the Foreign Princess (Rusalka), Selika (Meyerbeer's L’Africaine - get the CD! Oehmsclassics), Ottavia (Lʼincoronazione di Poppea), Waltraute / 2nd Norn (Wagner's Ring), Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier) and the title role in Hartmann's Simplicius Simplicissimus. She used to be a member of the ensemble at the Staatsoper in Stuttgart, who also made her a Kammersänger. She recently sang Herodias at the Vienna State Opera and Auntie in Britten's Peter Grimes at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and appeared at opera houses in Madrid, Lyon, Dresden, Hamburg, Cologne, Essen, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Tokyo and Seoul, the Theater an der Wien, Ruhrtriennale, Edinburgh International and, several times, Bayreuth festivals.