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The German soprano, Hildegard Heichele, studied from 1966 to 1970 study at the Musikhochschule Munich, which she finished with the artistic state examination. Already during her training she had her first engagement at the Stadttheater of Klagenfurt (debut role: Jenny in Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny by Brecht-Weill).
From 1971 to 1974 Hildegard Heichele was engaged at the Staatsoper Munich, since 1974 she was first lyric coloratura soprano at the Opera House of Frankfurt a.M. She excelled as an important W.A. Mozart singer in roles like Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Zerline in Don Giovanni, Despina in Così fan tutte, Ilia in Idomeneo and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. Her career got international shape, by appearances as a guest with big successes at prominent opera houses: at the State Operas of Vienna (1973, 1979) and Munich, at the Opera House of Köln (1976 as Gretel in Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel), at the Staatstheater Karlsruhe (1976 as Adina in Elisir d'amore), at the Staatstheater Hannover (1988 as Elsa in Lohengrin), at the Staatstheater Kassel (1988 as Elizabeth in Tannhäuser), at the Deutschen Opernhaus Berlin (1978-1979), at the Opera of Zürich (since 1977), at the London’s Covent Garden Opera (1977, 1983 as Adele in Fledermaus), at the Teatro Liceo Barcelona, at the Opera of Monte Carlo (1982) and at the Théâtre de la Monnaie Brussels (1984 as Susanna in W.A. Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro). In 1984 she appeared at the Bayreuth Festival as Waldvogel in Siegfried and sang at the French Broadcast.
Apart from her affecting on the opera stage Hildegard Heichele developed a second great career as a concert soprano. In 1981 she sang at the opening of the Frankfurter Alten Oper a soprano solo in the 8th Symphony of Gustav Mahler; Concerts and Lieder recitals in Vienna, Graz, Venedig (1985) and in many other music centres. She was married with Ulrich Schwab, the general manager of the concert and congress center in Alte Oper Frankfurt a.M.
Recordings: CBS (including 8th Symphony of G. Mahler, Frankfurt a.M. 1981), Musica Bavarica, Ariola-Eurodisc (Aurora and Amor in Egisto by Francesco Cavalli), Telefunken (Magnificat (BWV 243) by J.S. Bach, Dettinger Te Deum by George Frideric Handel), Denon (8th Symphony of G. Mahler), Capriccio (Der Silbersee by K. Weill); Philips-Video (Adele in Fledermaus, Covent Garden Opera London, 1983). |
