Germany based, Australian born soprano, Valda Wilson, is an outstanding interpreter of the works of Mozart, Strauss, Handel, Verdi and Puccini and is a consummate musician who enjoys bringing to life the works of contemporary composers. Valda is praised as a true singing actress with a ‘full, crystal clear soprano voice,’ and ‘sensuous, sensitive phrasing’. Her richly coloured and warm timbred voice, captivating stage presence and nuanced interpretations delight opera and concert audiences alike.

 

Valda’s 2023 world premiere performance in the title role of Sarah Nemtsov’s Ophelia was fêted by Opus Kulturmagazin and the Frankfurter Allgemeine: ‘An extraordinary performance in terms of acting and singing.’ This was followed by ‘a wonderful Traviata with a beautiful, generous voice….dosing her lyricism with supreme elegance and remarkable expressiveness’ (ForumOpera) and a highly acclaimed debut as Suor Angelica: ‘So intimate, so moving, yet in the depths of tragedy so beautiful in timbre… Suor Angelica unquestionably crowned the evening’ (Saarbrücker Zeitung Il trittico).

 

Other recent operatic highlights include 2022/23 house debuts at the Royal Opera House Copenhagen (Helmwige, Die Walküre), the New National Theatre Tokyo (Euridice, Orfeo ed Euridice), l’Opéra Royal de Versailles (Wellgunde, Das Rheingold) and major role debuts at the Saarländisches Staatstheater where Valda has been a member of the ensemble for several years. These include the Feldmarschallin (Der Rosenkavalier, R. Strauss), Alcina (Alcina, Handel), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte, Mozart), Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito, Mozart), Marguerite (Faust, Gounod), Micaëla (Carmen, Bizet), Violetta (La traviata), Leonora (Il trovatore), Elisabeth de Valois (Don Carlos, 5-act French version, Verdi).

 

Valda’s irreverent Australian sense of humour and comic timing has found a home in the world of German and Austrian operetta – particularly the characters of Hanna Glawari (Die lustige Witwe, Lehár) and Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus, J. Strauss). Recent concert performances include Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 and the concert aria ‘Ah! Perfido’ with the Bremer Philharmoniker, the Strasbourg Philharmonique, Sinfonieorkester Aachen and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra; and a Dresdner Philharmonie chamber concert featuring Brett Dean’s 'Ophelia'.

 

Valda enjoys collaborative relationships with conductors including Sébastien Rouland, Marko Letonja, Christopher Ward, Gaetano d’Espinosa, Marcus Bosch, Jonathan Darlington, Erik Nielsen, Tomáš Hanus, Suzuki Masato, Philippe Herreweghe, John Fiore, Erin Helyard, John Nelson, Richard Bonynge, and directors Eva-Maria Höckmayr, Lorenzo Fioroni, Roland Schwab, Vasily Barkhatov, Wolfgang Nägele and Lindy Hume.

 

Valda trained at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She won Opera Foundation Australia’s prestigious Rockend National Opera Studio London scholarship and then became a young artist at the Semperoper Dresden and at the Verbier and Salzburg Festivals. She placed in the finals of the Concours de Genève International Singing Competition and Plácido Domingo’s Operalia, and won the 2012 Stella Maris International Vocal Competition. Coaches and teachers have included  Franco Farina, Lillian Watson, Karen Mitzscherling, Francisco Araiza, Christa Ludwig, Kiri Te Kanawa, Michael Schade, David Aronson, Angelika Kirschlager, Claudio Desderi, Edda Moser.

 

Valda Wilson was chosen by Richard Bonynge AC CBE to be the only featured soloist at the Westminster Abbey memorial service for Dame Joan Sutherland with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, under Sir Antonio Pappano. Thus began a happy friendship with Maestro Bonynge and a CD recording of a performance of Handel’s Rodelinda (ABC Classics).  Valda’s discography includes Theodora with Pinchgut Opera and Erin Helyard (Pinchgut Opera), Verdi’s Un giorno di regno (Coviello Classics) and a CD of rarely performed Beethoven with Marcus Bosch and Capella Acquilea (CPO). With the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz she has recorded a CD of songs by Franz Schrecker with Christopher Ward (Capriccio) and another of Hindemith songs with Karl-Heinz Steffens (Capriccio Classics).

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Full biography in English  PDF

Please email for biography in German/French.

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Operatic repertoire PDF

Concert and chamber music PDF

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