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The German soprano, Vera Schönenberg, began her musical career as instrumentalist in the context of school music at the Musikhochschule in Köln. There she received her first singing instruction with Professor Klesie Kelly. Subsequently, she studied opera singing with Mrs. Professor Ingeborg Reichelt at the Robert-Schumann-Hochschule in Düsseldorf. Her studies were concluded in 2000 with the note "very well with honour" for her singing studies, followed with concert exams. She received valuable suggestions, in particular for the opera work with Bernd Weikl, Charles Spencer and Tamar Rachum as well as in master-courses with Brigitte Fassbaender and Richard Miller.
In the oratorio area Vera Schönenberg was influenced considerably by her co-operation with Ingeborg Danz. Her work within the opera range began early. She could be heard as the first lady with Jungen Kammeroper Köln when they produced W.A. Mozart's Zauberflöte and performed it in numerous cities. In the Midsummer Night Dream (Benjamin Britten), a co-production of the Deutschen Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf and the Musikhochschule Düsseldorf, she performed the role of Helena. She sang with great success the title role in Puccini's opera Suor Angelica; likewise a co-production of the German Deutschen Oper am Rhein and the Musikhochschule Düsseldorf.
For the season 2001-2002 Vera Schönenberg was engaged by the Theater of Ulm. Her first role there was Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata - and she sang it meanwhile regularly at various houses, the last so far in Basel. In Ulm she sang in her first year also as Elmire in Der Tartuffe (Marx) and as Sylva Varescu (Csárdásfürstin, E. Kalman). Latter roles she sang also with great success, such as with the seaworthy plays Mörbisch 2002. This was documented also by a television production, which was broadcast by ORF, BR and 3Sat. Followed in Ulm were Lisa in Das Land des Lächelns (Lehár) and Josabeth in George Frideric Handel's oratorio Athalia. In this season (2004) she is going to sing Micaela in Carmen (Georges Bizet) and Eurydike (Orpheus in the underworld, Offenbach). In the opera I Pagliacci she will perform the role of Nedda. Apart from her activity with the Ulm Theater, she is much in demand as a concert singer. She has participated in numerous opera and operetta galas - a high point was the Karajan Memory Concert with Leo Nucci. With Gerd Albrecht she produced in November for the NDR in "Music Contacts" on the topic "Operetta".
Vera Schönenberg appears likewise successfully with Lieder recitals and with concerts of oratorio works (oratorios, masses, and cantatas). She has participated in many productions, for example in the performance of Cherubini's Lex Deux Journees under Christoph Spering with Mireille Delunsch and Andreas Schmidt (CD co-production, broadcasting). |
