Petra Lang

Style: Opera; Classical

Bio:

Petra Lang

is a graduate of the Akademie für Tonkunst, Darmstadt. She studied violin (state music teacher exam) and completed her singing studies with Gertie Charlent in 1989 with the artistic degree.

Until 2006, she was supervised by Prof. KS. Ingrid Bjoner, Oslo, and worked on her Wagner roles with KS Astrid Varnay, Munich. She studied with Angelo Loforese, Milano, and since 2007 works with vocal coach Adrian Baianu with whom she also developed a common voice-teaching concept.

She attended masterclasses with Judith Beckmann, Brigitte Fassbaender, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Hans Hotter, Peter Schreier and Jürgen Uhde.

The singer is one of the most renowned Wagner interpreters of today. Her legendary Ortrud was to be experienced worldwide. She sang Isolde in Bayreuth, Vienna and Munich and portrayed Brünnhilde in Bamberg, Berlin, Budapest, Bucharest, Dortmund, Dresden, Geneva, Hong-Kong, Lucerne, Munich, Stuttgart, Tokyo and Vienna. After her beginnings as a lyric mezzo-soprano she is known for the portrayal of Judith (Duke Bluebeard's Castle), Cassandre (Les Troyens), Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos), Marie (Wozzeck) and the interpretation of her Wagner roles (Brangäne, Sieglinde, Venus, Kundry, Waltraute, Fricka). The singer sang with the leading orchestras and at the major houses on both sides of the Atlantic, performed at the festivals of Salzburg, Bregenz, Edinburgh and Bayreuth.

Her interpretation of Cassandre on a live recording of "Les Troyens" under Sir Colin Davis and with the London Symphony Orchestra brought her 2 Grammy Awards, the BRIT Award, the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and the Prix d'Or de l'Academie du Disque.

She has a special connection to the works of Gustav Mahler, recorded his Symphonies No. 2 and 3 under Riccardo Chailly and the Concertgebouw Orchestra for DECCA, sang a wide-ranging concert repertoire from Bach to modern times and is a sensitive lieder singer. She gave recitals with Adrian Baianu, Matthias Graeff-Schestag, Malcolm Martineau, Carmen Piazzini, Maurizio Pollini, Wolfram Rieger, Burkhard Schaeffer, Charles Spencer and Einar Steen-Noekleberg in Amsterdam (Concertgebouw), Brussels (La Monnaie), Dresden (Semperoper), Edinburgh, Geneva (Victoria Hall , Grand Théâtre), Ghent, London (Wigmore Hall, St. Lukes), Milan (Scala), Munich (Gasteig), New York (Carnegie-Weill-Hall, Danny Kaye Hall, Rockefeller University), Tokyo and Paris (Châtelet , Louvre, Salle Pleyel).

Petra Lang is also a passionate pedagogue herself. From 1982 to 1989, during and after her violin studies, she worked as a teacher for violin, viola, early music education and basic musical education at the Music School Gross-Gerau and at the Municipal Music School in Rüsselsheim.

She has given masterclasses for singing at the Cologne Conservatory and for the Studio of the Cologne Opera, at the Music University of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, in Münster, Bucharest, at the St. Goar Music Academy, for the Mahler Society and Wagner Society London, for the Swiss Richard Wagner Association and at the Bayreuth Festival. She has degrees in various relaxation techniques (Relaxation Trainer (AT and PMR), Progressive Muscle Relaxation Trainer), Nutrition Counseling (Nutritionist BTB and Food Coach License DTA) and has successfully adapted the principles of sports nutrition to the needs of singers. Petra Lang is a Certified Sound Massage Practitioner (SHB) (Steinbeis-University Berlin) and has developed the teaching concept PetraLangKlang® by including the Peter Hess®-sound-methods in vocal master classes.

Voice Type: Mezzo-soprano

Music Styles Taught: Opera; Classical

Availability: I am currently accepting private students

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