Dorothea Röschmann

Press

• Intonations Festival

  Kühlhaus Berlin

  Jun 2025 - Jun 2025

  • Anyone who has heard Dorothea Röschmann here in the Kühlhaus won’t be able to forget it any time soon. Her soprano tone literally spirals upwards, interweaving itself with the acoustics of the hall, seemingly entering into a blend with the masonry. It is an experience of tremendous, almost physical intensity.

    • Udo Badelt, Tagesspiegel
    • 14 June 2025

• JANACEK: The Makropoulos Case

  Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin

  Oct 2024 - Oct 2024

  • ...she embodied the role to perfection – her voice thrillingly-produced, while she injected the character with a fervid dramatic intensity. Her performance also managed to capture the character’s cold and manipulative nature, making Emilia an aloof figure from the very start. Röschmann’s secure and expressive voice soared in Janáček’s testing vocal lines, producing a stream of steady, well controlled tone throughout the evening. Her final scene was emotionally devastating. Not surprisingly she was rewarded with a huge ovation at the close, and rightly so, as this was an accomplished interpretation that ranks among the very best.

    • Music OMH
    • 19 October 2024

  • Dorothea Röschmann has been appointed to the role of Emilia. She is the first to be heard, like a magnet attracting the audience’s attention and the orchestra’s thunderbolt. Isn’t Emilia Marty a singer? A diva perhaps? That’s exactly what’s needed for a performer as complete as this peerless Mozartean – it’s almost astonishing to see her in this role, but the challenge is quickly met: sharp as a tack when she needs to be, with very clear and accurate articulation, and a projection perfectly adapted to the acoustic characteristics of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. A character of maturity (many others have taken on Emilia after building a solid career, such as Anja Silja, Libuše Prylová and Elisabeth Söderström, the reference in the discography currently available), Dorothea Röschmann is capable of providing everything necessary to ensure that the magnetism that reigns from Emilia Marty’s first appearance is assured on stage, in full view of us all, with a dramatic, strong, expressive, imperious soprano voice that takes the role in its stride. She is at times a shrew, a raven, but also a wounded woman, perfectly aware of the effects of the passage of time. The timbre is beautiful, very fleshy, shaped by a faultless career, with a voice that is sometimes insidious, with devastating high notes.

    • Opera Diary
    • 26 October 2024

• JANACEK: The Makropoulos Case

  Brno National Theater

  • Translation: When the main role - Emilia Marty is one of the greatest and most beautiful challenges for a singing actress ever - is interpreted as she will be on November 16, 2024 at the Brno National Theater, you simply have to love this woman. After a few performances in Berlin, Dorothea Röschmann seems to have already internalized the extremely complex role, which represents a summa summarum of all of Janácek's female characters. With total commitment - in terms of acting almost to the point of self-exposure, even self-abandonment, vocally with enormous intensity - she literally throws herself into this role, managing to increase this intensity from act to act, and at the end she dissolves into the role with an almost unbelievable vocal melody. She literally hurls out her confession of love for Pepi Prus – “Ja ho mela rada.” (“Because I really loved him.”) – which is repeated even more forcefully – “Jeho jsem mela rada,” (“Yes, I really loved him.”) – and is then incredibly moving, even touching, with the confession “Ta hroznà samota!” (What a terrible loneliness!”). “I want everyone to love her (Elina Makropulos). … I can’t live without love!” Janácek wrote to his beloved and muse Kamila Stösslová – and Dorothea Röschmann is able to convey this in a simply moving way. Seldom has one experienced such a moving portrayal of a role – devoid of any eroticism, the portrait of an old, lonely, icy, empty, tormented, life-weary, emotionally battered woman. And the way Ms Röschmann lets her bitter, cool, yet sensual soprano flow in the brilliant final scene – probably one of the most gripping, strongest opera endings – and then, as Janácek demanded, really sings and leaves all declamation behind, is truly great opera singing, truly great art.

    • Thomas Rauchenwald
    • 17 November 2024

• Wagner Wesendonck-Lieder

  Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

  Jun 2024

  • Then the majestic figure of great German soprano Dorothea Röschmann came on stage, for Wagner’s Wesendonck-Lieder, a setting of five poems by the composer’s lover Mathilde Wesendonck. The poetry is full of breathless evocations of the spirit realm which seem as dated as a Victorian boudoir, but in this performance one could actually believe in them. Röschmann has one of those thrilling voices that can dominate an orchestra even in pianissimo. At the end of the final song, as she sang of flowers sinking into the grave, it felt as if we too were being drawn down into delicious oblivion.

    • The Telegraph
    • 23 June 2024

• Recital Dorothea Röschmann & Malcolm Martineau

  Wigmore Hall, London

  Dec 2023

  • what a thrilling sound it was. You could feel the weight in the German words, ... even when her tone was rapt and hushed, as it was in Brahms’s setting of a wonderful Heine poem comparing death to cool night and life to sultry day.

    • Ivan Hewett and Nicholas Kenyon, The Telegraph
    • 21 December 2023

• Le Nozze de Figaro (Marcellina)

  Bayerische Staatsoper

  Oct 2023 - Oct 2023

  • Dorothea Röschmann als Wonneproppen Marcellina, die mit ihrem mütterlichen Charisma und pompösen Outfits sofort zum Mittelpunkt der Riesenbühne wurde. Dorothea Röschmann as the bundle of joy Marcellina, who immediately became the center of the giant stage with her motherly charisma and pompous outfits.

    • Peter Jungblut, BR Klassik
    • 31 October 2023

  • Dorothea Röschmann [was] a delight.

    • Antoine Lévy-Leboyer, Seen and Heard International
    • 05 November 2023

• Le nozze di Figaro (Marcellina)

  Royal Opera House

  Jul 2023

  • Now she is Marcellina, and what a wonderful job she made of it, a more fully drawn portrait than I can recall: a woman in her prime.

    • Mark Berry, Seen and Heard International
    • 09 July 2023

• Tristan und Isolde (Isolde)

  Opéra National de Lorraine

  Jan 2023

  • Fraglos an der Spitze steht Dorothea Röschmann als Isolde. War die Norddeutsche über Jahrzehnte eine der führenden Mozart-Ssängerinnen, feiert sie mit diesem Fachwechsel einen Triumph. Ihre Isolde hat einerseits den mädchenhaften Glanz und die berückend schönen Töne einer Lyrischen, andererseits nunmehr das satte, aber nie überstrapazierte mittlere und tiefe Register der Bruststimme. Da denkt man etwa an die Aufnahme mit Margret Price unter Carlos Kleiber zurück. Dorothea Roschmann as Isolde is undoubtedly at the top . The North German was one of the leading Mozartians , but she is triumphant in this change of Fach. Her Isolde, on the one hand, has the girlish shine and the bewitchingly beautiful tones of a lyric, and on the other hand, the rich, but never overused middle and low register of the chest voice.One is reminded of Margaret Price under Carlos Kleiber.

    • Peter Krause, Concerti
    • 30 January 2023

  • Aus gesehen machte vor allem die erste Isolde von Dorothea Röschmann neugierig. Und tatsächlich: die exzellente Mozart-Interpretin bei diesem spektakulären Fach-Wechsel zu erleben, lohnt die Reise nach Lothringen! Was Röschmann hier bietet, ist ein Schulbeispiel für wortverständlichen Wagnergesang, inklusive der orchesterumtosten hochdramatischen Ausbrüche. Man hört und staunt. Wobei sich ein Besuch für junge Sängerinnen empfiehlt, denn streckenweise liefert Röschmann auch eine optisch nachvollziehbare Lehrstunde darin, wie man Töne ansteuert, stützt, sie abfeuert und dabei keinen einzigen Konsonanten oder Vokal verschlampert. Dabei ist ihr mozartgeschultes Timbre ein besonderer Genuss. Dorothea Röschmann's first Isolde aroused curiosity. To experience the excellent Mozart interpreter in this spectacular change makes the trip to Lorraine worthwhile! What Röschmann offers here is a classic example of word-for-word Wagnerian singing, including the highly dramatic outbursts roaring with the orchestra. You hear and marvel. A visit is recommended for young singers, because Röschmann also provides a visually comprehensible lesson in how to control tones, support them, fire them and not squander a single consonant or vowel. Her Mozart-trained timbre is a special treat.

    • Joachim Lange, Klassik Info
    • 06 February 2023

  • Dorothea Röschmann, mozartienne en pleine reconversion comme elle nous l’expliquait, réussit en grande partie le défi d’Isolde. Le volume et la projection sont suffisants pour une salle et une fosse comme celle de l’Opéra national de Lorraine. Certes, le haut de la tessiture se tend rapidement et les deux uts de la partition s’avèrent hors de portée, marqués au mieux, criés au pire. Mais l’incarnation et le portrait trouvent dans la ligne, la diction et la rondeur du medium tout ce qu’il faut. Les récits et imprécations du premier acte résonnent déjà avec la maturité d’une habituée du rôle, le duo du deuxième, dès lors qu’il s’apaise, lui permet de déployer toute l’onctuosité savamment acquise chez Mozart. La diseuse se charge du reste et si son retour au troisième manque d’endurance et de souplesse, elle sait se couler dans ces raucités pour toucher au plus juste. Dorothea Röschmann, a Mozartian in full re-invention as she explained to us, succeeded in the challenging role of Isolde. The volume and the projection are sufficient for a room and a pit like that of the Opéra national de Lorraine. … the incarnation and the characterisation find everything they need in the line, the diction and the roundness of the medium. The stories and imprecations of the first act already resonate with the maturity of one experiences in the role, the duet of the second, as soon as it calms down, allows her to deploy all the smoothness skilfully acquired in Mozart.

    • Yannick Boussaert, Forum Opera
    • 31 January 2023

• Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne)

  Teatro Comunale di Bologna

  Mar 2022

  • Dorotea Röschmann (nei panni della Prima donna/Arianna) è perfetta interprete della diva d’altri tempi, sia per portamento e naturale inclinazione, sia per la sua vocalità spiegata. Dorothea Röschmann (who played the role of Ariadne) is the perfect interpretor of the diva of yesteryear, both for her posture and natural inclination and in her vocailty.

    • Valentina Anzani, Giornale della musica
    • 21 March 2022

• Le Nozze di Figaro (Marcellina)

  Opera National de Paris

  Jan 2022

  • German soprano Dorothea Röschmann was a true gift in the supporting role of Marcellina. She has sung as both Susanna and the Countess throughout her career and is consequently no stranger to this opera. Her fourth act aria was cut, as it often is, so her role was limited to short interventions and ensemble numbers, but Röschmann was still able to showcase her potent lyric sound and strong stage presence in these moments.

    • Mauricio Villa, Opera Wire
    • 20 February 2022

  • Dorothea Röschmann was a delightful Marcellina, sparring with Susanna and pleading her case to the Count with rapt conviction, but plausibly sympathetic in the second half.

    • Jesse Simon, Mundo Clasic
    • 21 February 2022

• Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne)

  Edinburgh International Festival

  Aug 2021

  • The headline name on the bill was that of German soprano Dorothea Röschmann, who was absolutely magnificent.

    • Keith Bruce, The Herald
    • 29 August 2021

  • Internationally renowned German soprano Dorothea Röschmann gives an impeccable performance as Greek mythological princess Ariadne.

    • Julie Boyne, Art Mag
    • 30 August 2021

  • Röschmann’s first Ariadne was a triumph, her Prima Donna role in the Prologue giving little away as she emerged in the main opera as her full character with rusty coloured scarf in tow, her commanding voice, dramatic focus and sighing cellos setting the solemn tone.

    • David Smythe, Bachtrack
    • 26 August 2021

  • Following the agreement reached in the Prologue, the opera begins with a captivating Röschmann emerging onto the stage as Ariadne, solemn in tone and demeanour … Röschmann’s first entrance as Ariadne is in total , deep contrast to the prologue - a tortured and depressed figure. Her voice fills the airy venue, a masterclass in restrained power.

    • Douglas McDonald, The Arts Desk
    • 30 August 2021

• Recital Dorothea Röschmann & Magnus Svensson

  Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet

  Jun 2021

  • [Röschmann] soars with each new emotion... Her voice is rich in character, on all the tessitura and all the nuances, from eloquence to prayer. The bass is deep, chestnut when necessary, the medium supple and solid, the treble radiating or a very unfolded lyricism... The perky outbursts of joy thus fall all the more into sad nostalgia.

    • Charles Arden, Olyrix
    • 10 June 2021

• Mahler Des Knaben Wunderhorn

  Barcelona Auditorium

  Apr 2021

  • Dorothea Röschmann was wonderful in all her interventions, perfectly drawing the states of mind that she was in charge of, both as the mother of the dead child, as the lover in the face of loss or as a loquacious narrator. Her highs, her phrasing, her dramatic focus, everything about her is pure emotion.

    • Pablo Melendez-Haddad, El Periodico
    • 10 April 2021

  • Dorothea Röschmann, in a state of grace, overcame not only the orchestral texture imposed by Gardolinska but also the acoustic difficulties of a hall ungrateful for voices. The Röschmann instrument has evolved and has grown considerably in recent years without losing quality and always maintaining the elegance and expressiveness of its phrasing. From " Das irdische Leben" she was plentiful, perfectly coordinated with Gardolinska's baton, and her performance went in permanent crescendo to a moving " Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen".

    • Antoni Colomer, Opera Actual
    • 04 April 2021

  • Röschmann showed undeniable tables and musicality throughout all his [Ian Bostridge] interventions. The German soprano, with great clarity in the broadcast, raised her Mahler with a great expressive load, which is what these texts require, in which both the onomatopoeias of the cuckoo, the nightingale and the donkey in the Praise of Intelligence and the demand in the treble in the love struggle of the lied Useless effort overcame the acoustic problems posed by the room.

    • Lluis Trullen, Scherzo
    • 21 April 2021