BIOGRAPHY

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German soprano Maida Hundeling was born in Bizerte, Tunisia. Her first singing lessons were with the baritone Werner Schürmann. In 1997, she participated in a masterclass held by KS Walter Berry, made possible by a stipend from the Richard-Wagner-Verband in Bayreuth. She completed her vocal studies with the KS Olivera Miljakovic, in Vienna, and with the tenor Jan Vacik. She had the chance to work intensely with Richard Trimborn in Munich.

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Praised by the press for her “fierce and dramatic soprano sound with ringing top notes” and for being a “charismatic and sophisticated singer in her prime with ample means of expressing emotions with secure and beautiful singing in all registers”, she is best known for her heroines in the German Romantic repertoire, especially in operas by Wagner, R. Strauss, Beethoven and Weber, among others. She often sings dramatic soprano roles by Verdi, Puccini, Janáček, Dvořak, Smetana and Tchaikovsky.

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Major roles as Turandot, Elisabeth and Venus (Tannhäuser), Elsa and Ortrud (Lohengrin), Senta, Sieglinde, Brünnhilde, Isolde, Elektra, Salomé, Ariadne, Leonore in Fidelio, Marie in Wozzeck, Tosca, Aida, Abigaille, Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera and Desdemona, have led Maida to opera houses worldwide, such as Covent Garden, Arena di Verona, New National Tokyo Theatre, Staatsoper Hamburg, Oper Leipzig, Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova, Teatro La Fenice, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Teatro Verdi di Trieste, Houston Grand Opera, Salt Lake City- Utah Opera, Edmonton Opera, Opéra de Montréal, Prague National Theatre, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Oldenburg, Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Theater Freiburg, Saarländisches Staatstheater, Theater Dortmund, Theater Bielefeld, Theater Münster, Regensburg, NCPA- Beijing, Slovenian National Opera in Ljubljana, ND Brno, Ostrava, Slovak National Theatre, Volskoper Wien, Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari and many others.

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Maida Hundeling’s 2024-25 season started with Turandot at the Luglio Musicale Trapanese. Then, she sang Tosca at the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre (Ostrava); Magna Peccatrix in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra; title roles in Fibich’s Šarka and Turandot, at the National Theatre Prague; Abigaile in Verdi’s Nabucco, at the Slovak National Theatre; Abigaile and Turandot in Ostrava and Maddalena di Coigny in Giordano’s Andrea Chénier, at the Liberec F. X. Šalda Theater. At the Royal Opera House London, she will appear as Helmwige in Wagner’s Die Walküre. 

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In the 2023-24 season, she sang the role of Turandot, conducted by Antonio Pappano, with the choir and orchestra of the ROH London, at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan. This same role was performed by her at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. At Theater Lübeck and Croatian National Theatre in Rijeka, Maida sang the title role in Strauss’ Elektra. In Bratislava, Maida performed the title role in Verdi’s Aida. With the Slovak State Philharmonic Košice, she went Ortrud. In Ostrava, she sang Abigaile, Venus in Wagner’s Tannhäuser and Turandot. In this same season, she gave a recital in Rijeka, alongside the pianist Valentin Egel, singing Strauss' Vier Letzte Lieder and Wagner's Wesendonck-Lieder. 

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Highlights of M. Hundeling’s 2022-23 season include Turandot at Teatro Verdi di Trieste, National Theatre Prague and ND Brno; Aida in Bratislava; Elisabeth in Tannhäuser, in Ostrava; Isolde with the Slovak Philharmonic; Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, in Rijeka; and Ariadne in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, at the Slovenian National Opera Ljubljana. In the precedent season, she debuted in the role of Ortrud in Wagner’s Lohengrin, at the Covent Garden.  

   

Among her next commitments, Maida Hundeling will sing Turandot at the Royal Opera House London and Helmwige at the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden.