Tanja Ariane Baumgartner

Tanja Ariane Baumgartner is a German operatic mezzo-soprano. A member of the Oper Frankfurt since 2009, she has enjoyed an international career, appearing in major European and American opera houses and the Salzburg Festival.
Career.
Baumgartner grew up in Rheinfelden, the daughter of a teacher who conducted several choirs. She first studied violin, graduating from the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg. She then studied voice at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe and at the Musikhochschule Wien with Helena Lazarska. She was first engaged at the Lucerne Opera from 2002 to 2008 where she learned many parts of the mezzo-soprano repertoire, including Dorabella in Mozart's "Così fan tutte", Charlotte in Massenet's "Werther", Mrs. Quickly in Verdi's "Falstaff", Giulietta in Offenbach's "Les contes d'Hoffmann", and Baba the Turc in Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress". In 2008, she studied the title role of Othmar Schoeck's "Penthesilea" with Hans Neuenfels for the Basel Opera, a production that received the award "Inszenierung des Jahres" (production of the year) by "Opernwelt".
Baumgartner has been a member of the ensemble of the Oper Frankfurt from the 2009/10 season, where her roles included Bizet's Carmen, Mary in Wagner's "Der fliegende Holländer", Eboli in Verdi's "Don Carlos", Lisa in Mieczysław Weinberg's "The Passenger", the Nurse in "Die Frau ohne Schatten" by Richard Strauss, again Penthesilea and Fricka in Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen". She appeared as Circe in the world premiere of Rolf Riehm's "Sirenen" in 2014.
She made her debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2010 as Geschwitz in Alban Berg's "Lulu", followed in 2012 by Charlotte in Bernd Alois Zimmermann's "Die Soldaten", staged by Alvis Hermanis and conducted by Ingo Metzmacher. She appeared at the Hamburg Opera in the premiere of Beat Furrer's "La bianca notte", and as Ortrud in Wagner's "Lohengrin". Fricka was her role again for her debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
She performed in 2017 in Frankfurt the role of Cassandre in "Les Troyens" by Berlioz, staged by Eva-Maria Höckmayr and conducted by John Nelson. A reviewer noted that her dramatic mezzo-soprano expressed both, the visionary close to madness and the sorrowful lover. Also in 2017, she appeared as Fricka at the Bayreuth Festival.