Bettina Jensen

Lachenmann Music

General Management

About the Artist

The Hamburg-born soprano Bettina Jensen grew up in a musical environment and began singing at an early age in the choir of St. Michael’s Church in Hamburg. Her exceptional voice did not go unnoticed by vocal coach Judith Beckmann, who began teaching her from that point on.

Biography

After graduating from high school, Jensen moved to Berlin to study voice with Norma Sharp at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music. She also attended master classes with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Hermann Prey, and Peter Schreier, with whom she maintained both a musical and personal connection over the years.

While still a student, Bettina Jensen was engaged by the renowned director Harry Kupfer at the Komische Oper Berlin, where she made her stage debut as the First Lady in Mozart’s *The Magic Flute*. This was followed by other defining roles in Kupfer’s productions. Permanent engagements took her to Lucerne and the Staatstheater Kassel before she returned to the Komische Oper Berlin in 2001. She has been working as a freelance artist since 2008 and has established herself on both German and international stages.

Guest engagements have taken her to venues including the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Stadttheater Klagenfurt, the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, the Aalto-Theater Essen, the Leipzig Opera, the Theater Bremen, the Kiel Opera House, the Hanover State Opera, and the Staatstheater Kassel. In addition, she has performed on major international stages, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the New York City Opera, the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv, the New National Theatre Tokyo, the Konzert Theater Bern, the Zurich Opera House, the Hong Kong Opera, the Lucerne Theater, the Theater Basel, and the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

Her musical versatility is evident not only on the opera stage but also in her work as a lieder and concert singer. Her repertoire includes works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Hanns Eisler, Richard Strauss, Johannes Brahms, George Frideric Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Carl Maria von Weber, Hugo Wolf, and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. She regularly performs with harpist Ronith Mues as DuoBerlin. DuoBerlin has made a name for itself particularly in renowned concert halls such as the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Schauspielhaus in Berlin, and the Glocke in Bremen.

Her portrayal of Hanna Glawari in *The Merry Widow* at the Metropolitan Opera in New York marked a significant turning point in her career. Her performance as Elettra in Mozart’s *Idomeneo* in 2017 was also a great success. In a concert performance with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, she was celebrated as an outstanding performer of this demanding role.

Over the years, Bettina Jensen’s voice has evolved from a lyric soprano to a dramatic soprano, and she is particularly well-suited to so-called coloratura soprano roles. The role of Leonore in Beethoven’s *Fidelio* is a prime example of this development. In 2019, Jensen sang Leonore for the first time in Gars am Kamp, Austria, under the musical direction of Johannes Wildner, with Herbert Lippert as Florestan.

She enjoyed further notable successes as Elettra in *Idomeneo* in Birmingham, as well as in the roles of Senta in *The Flying Dutchman*, Elisabeth in *Tannhäuser*, and Elsa in *Lohengrin*. Her repertoire now includes both dramatic opera roles and lyrical roles such as the Marschallin in *Der Rosenkavalier*.

Through her ongoing artistic development and exceptional versatility, Bettina Jensen has established herself on the world’s leading stages. Her ability to portray both dramatic and lyrical characters with great expressiveness makes her an outstanding interpreter of the classical opera repertoire.