Rachel Harnisch

The schedule of Swiss soprano Rachel Harnisch in 2011 contains, among others, ‘Ann Truelove’ (“The Rake’s Progress”) in Berne as well as Mahler IV. in Berne, Poulenc’s “Gloria” in Geneva and a song recital in Basel.

2012 she will give her debut in the part of ‘Hélène’ in Donizetti’s “Le Duc d’Albe’ in Antwerp, and there are scheduled many concerts, among others Brahms’ “Ein deutsches Requiem” in Novara and Berne, Schumann’s “Faust-Szenen” in Berne, Concerts with Claudio Abbado in Bologna, Freiburg and at the Salzburg Festival, Haydn’s “Jahreszeiten” with Roger Norrington in Zürich and “La voix humaine” in Porto.

From the 2012/13 season on she will be heard in Zurich in roles like ‘Contessa’ (“Le Nozze di Figaro”, ‘Micaela’ (”Carmen”) and ‘Sophie’ (“Der Rosenkavalier”).

2013 are scheduled, among others, “Das Paradies und die Peri” in Paris and Grenoble as well as Brahms’ “Ein deutsches Requiem” in Magdeburg, Leipzig and São Paulo conducted by Marin Alsop.

In 2000 Rachel Harnisch made her debut as ‘Pamina’ (“Die Zauberflöte”) in Berne conducted by Miguel Gomez-Martinez and in Zurich conducted by Franz Welser-Möst. At the Grand Théâtre de Genève she made her debut in the part of ‘Micaela’ (“Carmen”) conducted by Cyril Diederich.

2001 she sang her first ‘Zerlina’ (“Don Giovanni”) conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt in Zurich, in Berne she was most successful in the Swiss creation of “L’amour de loin” by Kaija Saariaho. She sang more ‘Pamina’ in Berne as well as 2002 a new production “Die Zauberflöte” in Santiago de Chile.

2003 she sang ‘Mélisande’ (“Pelléas et Mélisande”) in Berne, made her debut at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in the part of ‘Marzelline’ (“Fidelio”), sang ‘Xenia’ (“Boris Godunov”) in Geneva and a new production “Die Zauberflöte” in Marseille.

2004 she made her debut in the part of ‘Fiordiligi (“Così fan tutte”) conducted by Claudio Abbado in Ferrara, Modena and Reggio Emilia, sang ‘Micaela’ in Berne and Avenches, made her debut at the Paris Opéra-Bastille in the Part of ‘Pamina’ in the Bob Wilson production “Die Zauberflöte” conducted by Jiri Kout and sang her first ‘Sophie’ (“Der Rosenkavalier”) in Essen conducted by Stefan Soltesz.

2005 she sang two new productions of “Die Zauberflöte”: in Reggio Emilia, Ferrara and Baden-Baden conducted by Claudio Abbado and in Athens conducted by Sir Neville Marriner.
2006 she made two very successful debuts: in the part of ‘Contessa’ (“Le Nozze di Figaro”) in Verona and Reggio Emilia and in the part of ‘Konstanze’ (“Die Entführung aus dem Serail”) in Brussels. After “Die Zauberflöte” in Madrid conducted by Sir Colin Davis she sang another new production in Turin in December conducted by Fabio Biondi.



2007 she sang ‘Contessa’ in Berne, made her debut at Deutsche Oper Berlin as ‘Pamina’, her debut at Glyndebourne Festival in the part of ‘Fiordiligi’, her operatic debut at Teatro alla Scala in the part of ‘Nermin’ in the world creation of “Teneke” by Fabio Vacchi conducted by Roberto Abbado and her debut at Bayerische Staatsoper Munich as ‘Pamina’ conducted by Sir Ivor Bolton.

2008 she performed ‘Amore’ (“Orfeo ed Euridice”) in Naples conducted by Leopold Hager and ‘Servilia’ (“La Clemenza di Tito”) conducted by Roberto Abbado in Torino.  After her first and very successful ‘Antonia’ (”Les Contes d’Hoffmann”) at the Grand Théâtre de Genève Rachel Harnisch sang ‘Marzelline’ (“Fidelio”) conducted by Claudio Abbado in Modena and Ferrara.

2009 she performed Mahler’s 4th  symphony in Caracas with Claudio Abbado, Mahler’s 2nd symphonie with Eliahu Inbal  in Antwerp and Gent, “Messiah“ in Biel and Berne, “Nelson Mass“ with Roberto Abbado in Florence, Mozart’s “Requiem“ and arias with Claudio Abbado in Torino, Bolzano and Beijing, Pergolesi concerts in Bologna and Jesi with Claudio Abbado, Haydns „Schöpfung“ with Muhai Tang and “Jahreszeiten” with Franz Welser-Möst in Zurich as well as ‘Contessa’ (“Le Nozze di Figaro”) conducted by Tomas Netopil in Dresden.

2010 she made her highly acclaimed debut in the part of ‘Blanche’ (“Les Dialogues des Carmélites”) in Berne, sang ‘Pamina‘ (“Die Zauberflöte“) in Toulouse and ‘Marzelline‘ in concert performances „Fidelio“ conducted by Claudio Abbado at the Lucerne Festival. In fall she performed ‘Clémance’ (“L’amour de loin”) in Antwerp and Gent and ‘Contessa’ (“Le Nozze di Figaro”) in Florence. 2011 she sang ‘Blanche’ at Deutsche Oper Berlin.

As a concert singer she performs Luigi Nono’s “Prometeo”-Suite, Tippett’s “A child of our time”, Schumann’s “Faust-Szenen” (Harnoncourt), Mendelssohn’s “Elias” and “Ein Sommernachtstraum”, Debussy’s “Le Martyre de St. Sébastien” (Abbado, Holliger) Haydn’s “Schöpfung”, Beethoven’s 9th symphony (Zacharias, Askenazy), Mahlers 2nd and 4th symphony (Nagano, Abbado, Pappano, Byrd), Pergolesi’s “Stabat mater” (Abbado), Haydns “Isola disabitata” (A. Jordan), Bach’s “Johannes-Passion”, Mozart’s “Requiem” (Hogwood) and c minor mass, Brahms’ “Ein deutsches Requiem” or Poulenc’s “Gloria” with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Philippe Herreweghe, Kent Nagano, Bruno Weill, Dimitri Kitajenko, Eliahu Inbal, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Roberto Abbado, John Neschling, Armin Jordan, Christian Zacharias, Stefan Soltesz, Sir Christopher Hogwood,  Michel Plasson or Jeffrey Tate with the major European orchestras.

As a recitalist she was heard in Zurich, Geneva, Bochum, Berlin, Berne, Florence, Perugia, Rome and at the prestigious Lucerne Festival.

She has recorded W. A. Mozart's: “Betracht dies Herz (from “Grabmusik”) and “Laudate Dominum” (from “Vesperae solennes de confessore”) with Berlin Philharmonic as well as Pergolesi’s “Stabat mater” – both conducted by Claudio Abbado for Deutsche Grammophon.