- Voice
Known for her compelling stage-presence and powerful musicianship, HEDWIG FASSBENDER has established herself as an ideal interpretor of Herodias (Salome), Kostelnička in Janáček’s „Jenůfa“ as well as contemporary music during the last years.
Ms. Fassbender began her vocal studies with tenor Ernst Haefliger in Munich after having already become proficient at the piano. As a lyric mezzo-soprano she was a member of the ensembles of Freiburg(82) and Basil (85). Subsequently she was invited as a guest to the stages of Vienna, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Trieste, Lyon, Paris and Genève in such varied roles as Carmen, Baba the Turk, Fricka, Mescalina, Judit, Mère Marie etc.
Her 2001 success as Isolde at the Theater Saarbrücken marked her definite approach to some roles of the dramatic soprano-repertoire.
Hedwig Fassbender is Isolde in the 2005 recording of Wagner’s TRISTAN (Leif Segerstam, Naxos) and released a CD with songs by Richard Strauss „Songs of love and death“ (accompanist: Hilko Dumno) in 2007. Both recordings were greeted with international critical acclaim.
Her interpretaion of Sieglinde received a nomination fort he „artis-of-the-year“-award.
Conductors: Riccardo Chailly, Donald Runnicles, Armin Jordan, Olaf Henzold, Adam Fischer, Kirill Petrenko, Vladimir Jurowski, Iván Fischer, Karen Kamensek, Kazushi Ono, Sebastian Weigle, Asher Fish, Christian Arming, Jacques Lacombe, Konstantin Trinks, Paul Daniel ...
Stage directors: Harry Kupfer, Herbert Wernicke, Robert Carsen, Willy Decker, Pierre Strosser, Georges Lavaudant, Laurent Pelly, Nicolas Brieger, Peter Stein, Jim Lucassen, Guy Joosten, Dominique Pitoiset, Elisabeth Stöppler...
Recently: Mrs. Grose/The Turn of the Screw in Zürich, Der Goldene Drache by Peter Eötvös in Frankfurt, Mère Marie/Diaogues des Carmélites in Nantes and Angers, Kostelnička at the Staatsoper Hannover, Der Goldene Drache at the Bregenz Festival.
Projects: , Mrs. Grose/The turn of the Screw in Bordeaux, Der Goldene Drache in Frankfurt. She is also preparing La Madre (Il Prigioniero), Emilia Marty (Več Makropulos).
Much sought after as a teacher and pedagogue Prof. Fassbender joined the faculty of the in Frankfurt Conservatory (Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst) in 1999 and was director of the voice faculty from 2001-2011, when the vocal department received the price for Excellency in innovative teaching method in a university environment from the state of Hessen. Several promising singers of the young generation have studied in her class: Gurgen Baveyan (Opernstudio Frankfurt), Jana Baumeister (Staatsoper Darmstadt), Nohad Becker (Oper Bielefeld), Björn Bürger (Opern Frankfurt, Paris, Oslo, Glyndebourne), Esther Dierkes (Opernstudio Stuttgart), Maren Favela (Opern Frankfurt, Paris, Oviedo...) Stine Marie Fischer (Oper Stuttgart), Kateryna Kasper (Oper Frankfurt), Sebastian Kohlhepp (Staatsoper Stuttgart), Katharina Magiera (Oper Frankfurt), Ruzan Mantashyan (Opernstudio Paris), Marian Müller (Oper Flensburg), Christos Pelekanos (Ensemble Teatro del Mondo) Gustavo Quaresma (Opern Köln, Wiesbaden...) Sofia Pavone (Opernstudio Basel), Linda Sommerhage (Oper Mainz), Keith Stonum (Opernstudio Köln), Amadeu Tasca (Oper Trier), Tamara Weimerich (Oper Dortmund), Johannes Weiss (Tenor, Cembalist, Dirigent, Künstl. Leiter Festival Eichstätt)... (see "Teaching")
2015 she gave a masterclass for the Paris Opera Studio in Villecroze. From the 2015/16 season on she has been regularly teaching at the International Opera Studio in Zürich and has also been invited to work with the Opera Studio in Moskow.
Hedwig Fassbender founded and is the artistic director of "Exzellenz-Labor Gesang", a new ,very successful format of masterclasses which will be held for the 3rd time in 2016.
He teaches at the Académie musicale de Villecroze in 2015.