Annika Schlicht

While still a student, the mezzo-soprano Annika Schlicht was engaged by the International Opera Studio of the Berlin State Opera, where she appeared in cameo and secondary roles. In 2014 she made her Salzburg debut through the Young Singers Project, singing the title role in a version of Rossini’s La Cenerentola for children, and in the world premiere of Marc-André Dalbavie’s Charlotte Salomon.

Since the 2015/16 season she has been a member of the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where she sang Fricka and Waltraute in the new production of Der Ring des Nibelungen. She has also appeared as Fricka at the Bregenz Festival and in her house debut at the Stuttgart State Opera.

Annika Schlicht’s wide-ranging repertory includes Fenena (Nabucco), Mistress Quickly (Falstaff), Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Magdalene (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Olga (Eugene Onegin), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Marchesa Melibea (Il viaggio a Reims), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Auntie (Peter Grimes), Contessa di Coigny (Andrea Chénier) and Princess Clarice (L’Amour des trois oranges).

Highlights of the 2022/23 season have included her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as the Page (Salome), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel) at the Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman and her role debut as Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde) at the Cottbus State Theatre. She also sang the alto solo in a staged production of Bach’s St Matthew Passion, and appeared in Gustav Mahler’s Third Symphony with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra and Donald Runnicles, in Antonín Dvořák’s Stabat Mater and in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem.

She has worked with leading conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Donald Runnicles, John Fiore, Alondra de la Parra, Enrique Mazzola, Asher Fisch, Edward Gardner, Stéphane Denève, Sebastian Weigle, Kent Nagano, Ingo Metzmacher, Christopher Moulds and Stefan Soltész, and with renowned directors such as Harry Kupfer, Hans Neuenfels, Stefan Herheim, Luc Bondy, Claus Guth, Jossi Wieler, Dmitri Tcherniakov and Johannes Erath. She has performed with ensembles including the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Radio Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, the Brussels Philharmonic and Ensemble Modern.

Annika Schlicht has benefitted greatly during her career from masterclasses with Julia Varady and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Deborah Polaski and Patricia McCaffrey, and with Brigitte Fassbaender, who continues to mentor her today. She is a scholarship-holder of the International Association of Wagner Societies, and a prizewinner in various well-known competitions.