Caroline Wenborne
Caroline Wenborne
[Vienna]
Australian soprano Caroline Wenborne has been a soloist at the Vienna State Opera, both as an ensemble member and as a guest artist, since 2007. Her critically-acclaimed appearances there include the Mozart heroine roles Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito) and Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte). She has also appeared in many premiere productions including as Gutrune in Gotterdämmerung, Emma in Chowantschina, Mascha/Chloe in Pique Dame and as Lucile in Dantons Tod. She performed the Four Last Songs of Richard Strauss in the Vienna State Ballet production of Meistersignaturen, also on the stage of the Vienna State Opera.
In 2019 she celebrated a Vienna role debut - and career highlight - returning to the Vienna State Opera as a guest artist in the role of Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, to great acclaim by both the public and the press.
Further guest appearances have taken her to the Bayreuth Festival (2016 -18), where she made her debut in the roles of Freia and Gerhilde, the Vienna Volksoper in the role of Fiordiligi in a new production of Cosi fan tutte, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Oper Burg Gars and as Donna Anna with the Victorian Opera, Melbourne.
As a sought after concert performer she has sung in renowned venues including the Vienna Musikverein, the Vienna Konzerthaus, The European Music Open Festival Oradea, The Athens Concert Hall, The Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, Seoul Arts Center, National Concert Hall Taipei, Kaohsiung City Culture Center, The Esplanade Singapore and the Abu Dhabi Emirates Palace with the Bayreuth Festival. Most recently she performed the Verdi Requiem at the Vienna Konzerthaus and Strauss' Four Last Songs in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein.
Caroline has performed with many distinguished conductors including, Seiji Ozawa, Adam Fischer, Donald Runnicles, Franz Welser-Möst, Ivor Bolton, Peter Schneider, Marco Armiliato, Simone Young, Jeffrey Tate, Sir Simon Rattle, Semyon Bychkov and Christian Thielemann. She can be heard in the role of Gutrune on the Deutsche Grammophon complete recording of Wagner’s Ring Cycle at the Vienna State Opera under the baton of Christian Thielemann.
Caroline performs regularly as a soloist with the Wiener Graben Ensemble, a chamber music group formed with members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Their performance schedule has included appearances at MuTh (The Vienna Boys Choir Concert Hall), the Vienna Philharmonic Ball, the annual music festival in Golling, Austria and at the Vienna State Opera as part of the Vienna Philharmonic Chamber Music series.
“Wenborne’s is a bigger voice than we often hear in this music... She is also a commanding actress holding the stage whenever she appears and portraying a completely magnetic character.”
TRAINING
Caroline Wenborne was awarded a Bachelor of Music (Voice Performance) Sydney Conservatorium of Music and a Diploma of Opera (Voice) Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
AWARDS
Caroline Wenborne is a prize-winner of several international vocal competitions, including the Opera Foundation Australia - German Operatic Award, which landed her a place in the Cologne Opera Young Artists Studio during their 2005/06 season. In 2007 she was the recipient of the Opera Foundation Australia - Vienna State Opera Award, paving the way to her position in the Vienna State Opera Ensemble. In this same year, she was the awarded the prestigious Eberhard Wächter Medal in Austria.
REVIEWS
Fiordiligi- Cosi fan tutte - Vienna State Opera
"She is ready when it comes to casting very tricky roles. And she clearly sings a broad repertoire at high calibre. She effortlessly manages the many devilish/fiendish traps that Mozart sets for his primadonna - especially where it concerns an enormous vocal range.”
Die Presse (Wilhelm Sinkovicz , 23.01.2011)
Fiordiligi - Così fan tutte - Vienna State Opera
"With exuberance, Caroline Wenborne let (Fiordiligi's) loyal soul emerge as a romantic connousseur."
Wiener Zeitung (Daniel Wagner, 14.01.2014)
Fiordiligi - Cosi fan tutte -Vienna Volksoper
"And Wenborne is exceptional as Fiordiligi. In her Act 2 aria (Per pieta ben mio), she sings excusing herself for the treachery of love: what scandal and shame, hidden in the shadows. Wenborne, accompanied by woodwind and horn, was genuinely moving”
viennaoperareviewonline.com, 13.06.2015
Fiordiligi -Volksoper Wien
“Only the commanding house debutante Caroline Wenborne has no real trouble with the enormous vocal range that Mozart expects of Fiordiligi, and she masters both Prima Donna arias flawlessly.”
Die Presse (Wilhem Sinkovicz,16.05.2015)
Vitellia - La clemenza di Tito - Wiener Staatsoper
“Wenborne’s is a bigger voice than we often hear in this music. It’s an impressive instrument with the high D holding no terrors and an impressive lower register. She is also a commanding actress holding the stage whenever she appears and portraying a completely magnetic character”
Operatraveller.com - 28.03.2016
Donna Anna- Don Giovanni- Vienna State Opera
“At his side we finally experienced a Donna Anna with the necessary vocal power...Caroline Wenborne delivered the dramatic impulses of Or sai and Non mi dir with aplomb."
Die Presse (Wilhelm Sinkovicz, 04.03.2017)
Gerhilde - Walküre - Bayreuth Festival
“But it get better: Caroline Wenborne as the Valkyrie Gerhilde. As in the previous year, she delivers the greatest magic in this Valkyrie. Her voice is beautiful, incredibly rich and powerful, at the same time ethereal and floating above all things. It shines with tremendous intensity and a great wealth of colours in the large hall and with an impressive naturalness and lightness! She is blessed with the gift of a very, very big voice.”
klassik-begeistert.de (Andreas Schmidt, 1. August 2018)
Gutrune - Götterdämmerung - Vienna State Opera
Caroline Wenborne led the rest of the ensemble with her luminous Gutrune.
Die Presse (Walter Weidringer, 26.05.2015)