Mezzo‐Soprano STEPHANIE HOUTZEEL is winning accolades for her opera and concert performances around the world. Appearances as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier at the Wiener Staatsoper, Opéra National de Paris, the Israeli Opera and the Graz Opera have been heralded as “vocally, dramatically and physically sublime” (OPERA NEWS). She was nominated one of the best up‐and‐coming singers by OPERNWELT Magazine for her Graz performance of the Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos (under Philippe Jordan), and has gone on to sing this role in Zurich, Cologne, Tel Aviv, Antwerp and in 2011 at the Wiener Staatsoper under Sir Jeffrey Tate. She has sung all of the major Mozart roles for mezzo-soprano, most recently Dorabella in Così fan tutte at the Wiener Staatsoper and the Opéra National du Rhin, Sesto (La clemenza di Tito) in Graz and Idamante (Idomeneo) in Graz and Washington, DC. For Sesto, Austria’s DIE PRESSE wrote: “…rarely has one seen such a vocally outstanding and moving performance of Sesto as on this evening; thunderous applause for this world‐class performance!”
Ms. Houtzeel also recently celebrated an enormous critical and public success as Varvara, in the 2011 production of Katja Kabanova at the Wiener Staatsoper, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst. Notices mentioned her as “an ideal Singer-Actor” (DER STANDARD), “her voice rich in timbre and effortless in every respect” (THE OPERA CRITIC).
Ms. Houtzeel appears regularly in roles such as Nicklausse in Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Teatro Nacional de São Carlos‐Lisbon, Antwerp, St. Gallen, Linz), Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, most recently at the Wiener Staatsoper under Franz Welser-Möst and the Opéra de Lyon (Emmanuel Krivine), Marguérite in Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust (Antwerp, Tallinn) and Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther (Sassari). Her debut in Werther was hailed by the Italian press: “A surprise, a joy, has arrived with the Italian debut of Stephanie Houtzeel - a powerful, expressive voice and outstanding stage presence.” She has also sung major roles in contemporary opera, including Kreusa in Reimann’s Medea (Wiener Staatsoper), Amando in Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre, and World Premieres by Austrian composers Peter Androsch and Balduin Sulzer.
Stephanie Houtzeel’s baroque performances are wide‐ranging, on stage and in concert. She performed and recorded the title role in Lully’s Armide with Opera Lafayette (on Naxos), acclaimed by the THE WASHINGTON POST as “the outstanding performance…sung with all the ardor, intelligence and vocal luster at Houtzeel’s command, which was plenty.” Her New York appearance as La Haine in Gluck’s Armide ‘stopped the show’ according to the NEW YORK TIMES. Other baroque roles include Juno and Mystery in Purcell’s Fairy Queen in Rennes, Handel’s Ariodante in Linz and Ino (Semele) in Graz.
Ms. Houtzeel’s concert appearances include Mahlerʹs Third Symphony and Lieder aus Des Knaben Wunderhorn at the Vienna Musikverein and Avery Fisher Hall, appearances with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Bruckner Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Monnaie, the Norddeutsche Rundfunk Orchestra, the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, Collegium Vocale Gent, the Combattimento Consort, Ensemble MusicAeterna, the Latvian and Estonian National Symphonies, the Real Filharmonia of Galicia, the New York Festival of Song, Musicians from Marlboro, styriarte Graz, the International Bruckner Festival and Great Performers of Lincoln Center. She has collaborated in concert with conductors Dennis Russell Davies, Philippe Jordan, Pinchas Steinberg, Phillippe Herreweghe, Teodor Currentzis, Eric Ericsson, Claus Peter Flor, Karel Mark Chichon, Jérémie Rohrer and Michael Hofstetter.
In addition to the Armide recording, Ms. Houtzeel sings the title role on the world premiere CD of von Suppé’s Fatinitza (CPO). In 2011 Alpha Records released a new recording of Mozart’s Requiem under Teodor Currentzis, in which she appears as the Alto soloist. Her CD of Handel cantatas with the Bouts Ensemble (Raumklang) garnered high marks from both THE AMERICAN RECORD REVIEW and CLASSICS TODAY.
Stephanie Houtzeel was born in Kassel, Germany and grew up near Boston. She studied at New England Conservatory and at The Juilliard School. She was the first recipient of Juilliard’s Vocal Arts Debut Award as well as a Laureate at the International Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition.
CV-update: season 2011-2012
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