Biography
German soprano Gun-Brit Barkmin studied at the Conservatoire Rostock and continued her studies at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden. After engagement in Freiberg, in 2000, she debuted at the Komische Oper in Berlin as Mimì (Puccini: La bohème) and at the same year, she became an ensemble member. The personification of the theatrically demanding character roles like Marie (Berg: Wozzeck) at the Komische Oper in Berlin and Welsh National Opera in Cardiff, Strauss‘ Salome in Zurich, Saarbrücken and Tokyo; Elsa (Wagner: Lohengrin) and Chrysothemis (Strauss: Elektra) in Lepzig and Verdi‘s Lady Macbeth in Essen have become integral roles in her repertoire. Further interpretations include Ellen Orford (Britten: Peter Grimes) at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf and Duisburg, Laura (Hindemith: Neues vom Tage) in Ancona and Macerata, Bianca (Zemlinsky: Eine florentinische Tragödie) in Toronto, The Prima Donna/Ariadne (Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos) in Leipzig, Katerina Izmailova (Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk) in Zurich, Mimì (Puccini: La bohème) in Seattle, Anna (Weill, Brecht:Die sieben Todsünden) at the Opéra de Lyon and at the Edinburgh Festival, Janáček‘s Jenůfa at the Komische Oper in Berlin and Katya Kabanova in Schwerin and Braunschweig, and many others. In July 2013, Gun-Brit Barkmin debuted at the Salzburg Festival as Guinevere (Harrison Birtwistle: Gawain). In November 2013, she debuted at the Vienna State Opera as Ellen Orford and she has also created there Sieglinde (Wagner: Die Walküre) and Salome. In March 2014, she sang Salome in two concert performances under the baton of Andris Nelsons in the USA: with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra at the Carnegie Hall in New York and with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Boston. At the National Theatre in Prague she debuted as Emilia Marty (Janáček: The Makropulos Affair, premiere Dec. 18, 2008) and she has also created there the role of Queen Elizabeth I (Britten: Gloriana, premiere March 3, 2012) and Strauss's Salome (premiere Oct. 23, 2014).
Update: September 2015
Photo: K und K Wien