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The German soprano, Gudrun Sidonie Otto, studied from 1986 to 1998 voice, violin, piano and conducting at the Robert-Schumann-Conservatory in Zwickau, at the music school Chemnitz and at the Carl Maria von Weber Academy of Music in Dresden. From 1998 to 2004, she studied voice at the Franz Liszt Academy of music in Weimar with Helga Bante, Mario Hoff and with Mira Zakai in Israel. She furthered her vocal and dramatic studies in lessons with Klesie Kelly, Richarda Merbeth, Renate Biskub, Sylvia Greenberg (opera), Dorothee Mields and Inga Virör (Baroque voice), Margit Legler and Reinhold Kubik (Baroque gesture/style), W. Kammerlander, Julian Pike (Lied) and Ingrid Figur. At present, she has lessons from Stefan Haselhoff.
In 2004, whilst still a student, Gudrun Sidonie Otto sang Iris in Pastorelle by Georg Philipp Telemann (stage premiere) alongside Jochen Kowalski, on a scholarship at the Komische Oper Berlin. In 2004-2006, she was a member of the Landesbühnen Sachsen solo ensemble where she was engaged to sing Zerlina, Gretel, Ännchen, Lauretta, Stasi, Anna (Musical), Pamina in Children's Die Zauberflöte, Sorge in Scenes from Faust and Iduna in Feuerwerk and participated in concerts (Briefchristl/Vogelhändler) and revues. She returned to the Landsbühnen Sachsen in 2007-2008 as a guest soprano singing Adele in Die Fledermaus and Serpetta in Die Magd als Herrin.
As a guest soloist as well Gudrun Sidonie Otto sang roles including Adele and Olympia in Tales of Hoffmann at the Hannover State Opera and Blonde in Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Würzburg Theatre. With roles such as Undine in Undine by Lorzing, Ännchen in Der Freischütz and Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, she guested at the Théâtre de Picardie, France, at the Theatre Plauen-Zwickau, at the Landestheater Eisenach-Rudolstadt and at the Annaberg Theatre. She sang the part of Undine at the Staatstheater Am Gärtnerplatz in Munich. At the Handel Festival of Halle 2008, Gudrun Sidonie appeard with great success as Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, she sang Hermia in Purcell’s Fairy Queen and the Blaue Fee in Ottorino Respighi’s Dornröschen at the Konzerthaus Berlin and returned to this venue as Popentochter (Dmitri Shostakovich) in 2010. In 2008, she guested as Fortuna/Allegrezza in Giovanni Legrenzi’s Il Giustino at the Grand Théâtre de la Ville Luxembourg in a copresentation with the Schwetzinger Festspiele 2007. At the Halle Opera House she guested as Blonde in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009, a role she also took over at short notice at the Nuremberg Opera. She sang the title role in the German première of HK Gruber’s opera Gloria v. Jaxtberg in Berlin, appeared at the International Herrenchiemsee Festspiele 2010 and 2011 as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte under the baton of Enoch zu Guttenberg, and sang the role of Dalinda in George Frideric Handel’s opera Ariodante, staged by Kobie Van Rensburg in Munich, Villach and Winterthur. In 2013, Gudrun Sidonie will repeat Papagena in a revival of the International Herrenchiemsee Festspiele’s Die Zauberflöte production at the Prinzregententheater in Munich.
In 2007 Gudrun Sidonie Otto was a prize winner (contemporary music) of the Schloss Rheinsberg international singing competition. In the 2008-2009 season, she received a scholarship from the German-Austrian Vössen-Foundation.
In addition to her work as an opera-singer, the young soprano is very active in the field of Ancient Music. Gudrun Sidonie Otto has sung at festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein-Musikfestival, Halle Handel Festival, Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, Telemannfestspiele Magdeburg, Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Europäisches Musikfest Stuttgart, Güldener Herbst Thüringen, Tage Alter Musik Regensburg, at the Bach Festivals of Hamburger Bach-Wochen, Thüringer Bachwochen and Bachwoche Stuttgart and at the Oregon Bach Festival. At these festivals, she has worked with renowned conductors such as Rolf Beck, Gabriel Feltz, Robin Gritton, Peter Gülke, Sir Neville Marriner and Helmuth Rilling, and has been involved in various radio and tv recordings. In 2009, Messiah tour under Thomas Hengelbrock led her to Gent and Basle and to venues such as Alte Oper Frankfurt, Vienna Konzerthaus, Festspielhaus Baden Baden and Beethoven Fest Bonn, followed by tours with J.S. Bach’s B minor mass (BWV 232) in 2010 and works by J.S. Bach and Jan Dismas Zelenka in 2011.
Since 2010, Gudrun Sidonie Otto frequently appears with Bach-Kantaten Abonnement-Zyklus at Wiener Konzerthaus under Luca Pianca, and in the Bach Nights at the Gewandhaus Leipzig. At the Internationale Herrenchiemsee Festspiele 2010 the young soprano sang Bach solo cantats under Enoch zu Guttenberg. In 2011, she made her debut in Salzburg in J.S. Bach’s B minor mass (BWV 232) under Ivor Bolton, appeared in Robert Schumann’s Missa Sacra at the Monaco Spring Festival under Thomas Hengelbrock, and in F. Hiller’s oratorio Die Zerstörung Jerusalems at the Gewandhaus Leipzig under G. Meyer (CD production, broadcast by DR Kultur, MDR, NDR). In May 2012, Gudrun Sidonie started her collaboration with The Hague Baroque Orchestra/The New Dutch Academy under Simon Murphy singing solo arias by W.A. Mozart. This recital was transmitted live by the Netherlands Public Broadcasting.
Concert engagements in 2012-2013 include: the first performance of reconstructed Köthner Geburtstagskantaten’ (J.S. Bach) under Alexander Ferdinand Grychtolik at the Köthener Bach Festtage (CD production for rondo/Deutschland Radio Kultur); works by J.S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi with the Ensemble Virtuosi Saxoniae under Ludwig Güttler at the Frauenkirches Dresden; J.S. Bach’s Magnificat (BWV 243) with the Berner Kammerchor; and the first performance of reconstructed Köthner Trauermusiken under Alexander Ferdinand Grychtolik at the Internationales Bachfest Schaffhausen 2013 (CD production).
Gudrun Sidonie Otto also works in close collaboration with Cantus Cölln, Salzburger Hofmusik, Ensemble Amarcord and Cantus Thuringia (Director: Bernhard Klapprott). The cpo lable recently released the CD “Triumph, Ihr Christen seid erfreut”- Easter cantatas by G.F. Handel and Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow - with her and Cantus Thuringia. Scenic lied recitals are a special interest of Gudrun Sidonie's which she perfects with the pianoforte player Wolfgang Brunner. A CD with Felix Mendelssohn-Lieder was released in 2009 by the Hänssler-Profil lable. In 2011, her solo CD „Sweet Bird“ with the organist Andeas Liebig was released by Sagenhapter/NDR Kultur. |
