Born in Limburg, soprano Julia Kleiter studied voice with William Workman in Hamburg and with Klesie Kelly-Moog in Cologne. She began her international career in 2004 as Pamina in a production of The Magic Flute by Robert Wilson at the Opéra-Bastille in Paris. Marc Minkowski then chose her for the same role in a series of performances he conducted of the work, while Claudio Abbado engaged her for productions in Reggio Emilia, Ferrara, Baden-Baden, and Edinburgh. Nikolaus Harnoncourt also numbers among this young singer’s mentors. In 2006 he conducted her in the role of Serpetta in Mozart’s La finta guardiniera in Zurich, and in 2008 in the role of Ilia (Idomeneo) at the Styriarte Festival in Graz. Julia Kleiter has meanwhile appeared at many renowned festivals and opera houses, including the Salzburg Festival, where she made her debut as Celia in Lucio Silla, at Dresden Opera as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, and at the Maggio Musicale in Florence. She recently made her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York, once more as Pamina. In addition she performed her first Anna in Der Freischütz in a new production at Baden-Baden; in June 2010 she undertook Zdenka in Strauss’ Arabella at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Julia Kleiter regularly sings lieder recitals, often partnering with her uncle, tenor Christoph Prégardien, with whom she most recently recorded Hugo Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch. As a concert singer she has collaborated, along with the above-named conductors, with Ivor Bolton, Daniel Harding, René Jacobs, Fabio Luisi, Riccardo Muti, Helmuth Rilling, and Jeffrey Tate.
One previous LUCERNE FESTIVAL appearance: on September 7, 2006 in lieder by Joseph Haydn, Hugo Wolf, and Richard Strauss, accompanied by Hilko Dumno at the keyboard.
May 2010