Janina Baechle, mezzo soprano - Special Guest Artist

Williams presents a Liederabend with special guest artist Janina Baechle, mezzo soprano and Markus Hadulla, piano in a recital of classical vocal works. This event is sponsored by the Oakley Center for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, and the Williams College Department of Music .

German mezzo Janina Baechle is a regular guest on international opera and concert stages. Starting her career with the Staatstheater Braunschweig and the Staatstheater Hannover, she was a member of the Vienna State Opera until 2010, where she still returned as a regular guest until 2017.

She has appeared in major opera houses like the Semperoper Dresden, Hamburg State Opera, Munich State Opera, Gran Teatro del Liceu, Scala di Milano, Opéra National de Paris, Opéra National de Lyon, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Théatre du Capitole Toulouse, San Francisco Opera, Canadian Opera Company Toronto, and the Edinburgh Festival.

Her many operatic roles include Brangaene (Tristan und Isolde); Fricka, Erda and Waltraute (Der Ring des Nibelungen); Gertrud (Hänsel und Gretel); Gaea (Daphne); Herodias (Salome); Kabanicha (Katia Kabanova); and Jezibaba (Rusalka). Her most frequent repertoire features La Nourrice (Ariane et Barbe Bleu by Paul Dukas); Mme de Croissy (Dialogues des Carmélites by Francis Poulenc); Geneviève (Pelléas et Mélisande by Claude Debussy) in Toulouse in 2024; Filipjewna (Eugene Onegin) in Hamburg 2022/2023/2024 and Teatro del Liceu 2023; and Starjenka Burjakova (Jenůfa by Leoš Janáček) in Hamburg 2024. On the concert stage she is renowned for her performances of works of the early 20th century by Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schönberg (Song of the Wood Dove), among others. She has also appeared with the Dresden, Munich, Stuttgart, New York and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras; the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse; the hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, and NDR Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the National Polish Radio Orchestra, RSO Vienna, Bruckner Orchestra, and Klangforum Vienna.

She has collaborated with renown conductors such as Christian Thielemann, Sir Simon Rattle, Semyon Bychkov, Jeffrey Tate, Christoph von Dohnany, Pascal Rophé, Marc Albrecht, Krzysztof Penderecki, Frank Beermann, Andres Orozco Estrada, Leif Segerstam, Philippe Jordan and Mariss Jansons.

An avid recitalist, Janina Baechle collaborates with pianists Markus Hadulla, Anne LeBozec, Charles Spencer, Marcelo Amaral, Florian Krumpöck, and Elisabeth Leonskaja. Their programs explore Lieder of 19th and 20th centuries, as well as French mélodies. They have performed in such venues as the Hugo-Wolf Akademie, the Liedsommer Eppan, Vienna Musikverein, Festival de Musique Menton, Convergences at the Paris Opera, the Musée d ́Orsay Paris, Kultur.Sommer.Semmering, the Beethovenfest Warsaw, and the Gustav Mahler Musikwochen in Toblach.

Her work is available on CD and DVD. Her CD “Urlicht” with works by Gustav Mahler (with Markus Hadulla, piano) won the Orphée d ́Or 2014. In 2023 the French Minister of Culture awarded her the title Chevalier des Arts et des lettres. Janina Baechle studied with Gisela Litz at the Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg and worked for many years with Brigitte Fassbaender.

Janina Baechle also offers a voice masterclass on Wednesday, October 15, at 4:15pm in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall. Talented Williams singers will perform for the public while receiving musical guidance from Ms. Baechle.