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Anne Wieben

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Anne Wieben (born 1981) is an award-winning, American-Austrian operatic soprano singer, actress, and arts administrator based in Vienna, Austria and Saint Paul, Minnesota. She has been a featured artist in recordings by CPO, Marco Polo, and Naxos Opera.[1]

Musical training[edit]

Born in New Ulm, Minnesota, Anne began her musical training as a violinist at age 9, while living in Bismark, North Dakota.[2] However, she decided to study vocal performance instead of orchestral strings, moving to the Twin Cities.[3] While in Minnesota, she saw her first opera at Minnesota Opera,[3] and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota.[4] As an undergraduate, she studied abroad and worked in Vienna, Austria. She decided to attend the Vienna Conservatory of Music for her master's degree in vocal performance after being headhunted by its director, and ultimately stayed to pursue her performing career.[3][5]

Performing career[edit]

Wieben's performing career currently straddles both sides of the Atlantic, with regular performances in Western and Central Europe, and in the United States. She performs theatre, musical theater, opera, and operetta.[6] She has starred in opera and theatre performances in Munich's Pasinger Fabrik and Heppel & Ettlich, Vienna's Wiener Kammeroper, Metro Kino [de], Odeon Theater [de], Theater Akzent [de], and Musiktheater Schönbrunn, as well as performances with the Kammeroper Weißenhorn. She has headlined concerts in Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Madagascar, and Poland.

A notable interpreter of new music, Wieben gave the world premiere of Clio Montrey's Five Mannequin Songs for soprano and chamber orchestra in 2010, a work that she has reprised many times.[7] She starred in the 2012 Clio Montrey and Klara du Plessis opera Photo Socrates, returning for the piece's 2015 main stage debut.[8] She premiered Hannes Kerschbaumer’s luce nera,[9][10] and starred in the Austrian premiere of Raymond Yiu's The Original Chinese Conjuror in 2013.[11]

Her performance in ensemble Nesterval's [de] 2017 production of Dirty Faust was ranked by Austrian newspaper Die Presse as the country's second-best theater experience of the year, and became a textbook entry in Theresa Schütz's guide to immersive theater.[12] She was a featured performer for Vienna City Hall's 2020 Vienna Ball of Sciences.[13]

Wieben regularly appears with the immersive theater company Nesterval.[14] During the 2020 lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nesterval's remotely created video production won the Austrian Theatre Prize for 2020.[15]

In 2022, she was a featured performer in Really Spicy Opera's State Department-backed tours of France and Madagascar, representing American music overseas. She returned the following summer to Saint Paul, Minnesota, for Opera on the Lake's production of The Merry Widow.

In 2023, she appeared in Vienna-based Nesterval's sold-out premiere of Die Namenlosen (The Nameless), which explored Nazi murders of gay and transgender people before and during World War II.[16]

Critical reception[edit]

The Twin Cities Arts Reader's Amy Donahue called her "Minnesota’s foremost authority in performing Viennese operetta", praising her directing and writing.[17] Describing Wieben's adaptation of Die Csárdásfürstin, Sheila Regan of the Pioneer Press praised the subtle tweaks and updates to the libretto, and how it "captures the absurdity of the original plot while adding a modern spin".[18]

Wieben's performances have been praised in the Kronen Zeitung (Austria's largest newspaper), the Süddeutsche Zeitung (southern Germany's largest newspaper), the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press (the Twin Cities' largest newspapers); and more.

Fritz Jurmann, writing for Kulturzeitschrift, praised Wieben as "a radiant diva" for her performance in Musiktheater Vorarlberg's Die Fledermaus.[19] The Saint Paul, Minnesota-based Pioneer Press's Rob Hubbard praised her "brilliant...devil-may-care playfulness and supple vocal power" in a 2019 production of the same opera.[20]

Der Ybbstaler has praised her singing and acting as Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni.[21] Peter Dusek of Der Neue Merker praised her broad and flexible voice, including high and low coloratura prowess.[22] She was a recipient of Austria's Nestroy Theatre Prize in 2020[23][24], after having been separately nominated for Das Dorf for the same in 2019.[25]

Arts leadership[edit]

In addition to her performing career, Wieben is the founder and creative director of Minnesota's annual Opera on the Lake festival (since 2019),[5] and the managing director of Minneapolis-based Really Spicy Opera (since 2022).

She is also a Co-Director of the Aria Institute for Composers and Librettists,[26] which trains music and text writers to write opera using a uniquely performer-driven model.[3][27]

Opera on the Lake[edit]

After performing German operetta in Vienna for more than a decade, Wieben founded the Opera on the Lake music festival to (re-)import this tradition to Minnesota; the festival formally debuted in 2019, to critical praise.[28][2][29]

Although a planned 2020 festival was canceled due to COVID-19, the festival resumed in 2021 and currently follows a summer season performance model. A typical season now includes a variety of outreach and concert performances, plus a mainstage production at St. Paul's Como Lakeside Pavilion, and performances are regularly highlighted by the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, and other news outlets.[30][31][18][32]

As the creative director of Opera on the Lake, Wieben crafts adaptations of Viennese operettas for American audiences,[18] following a practice once used by Broadway producers to adapt Austrian hits for New York audiences.[33] A 2022 production of The Merry Widow used English-language dialogue and German-language singing,[34] with a story riffing off The Golden Girls, St. Olaf College, and (Mankato, Minnesota-based) My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell.[35] These adaptations have included:

Partial discography[edit]

  • Orchestra of the Sorbian National Ensemble, Anton Urspruch's Das Unmöglichste von Allem (2012) Naxos Opera 2770988
  • Munich Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra Gdansk, Siegfried Wagner's Der Schmied von Marienburg (2008) Marco Polo DDD 4886720
  • Orchester des Musiktheaters, Carl Michael Ziehrer's Die drei Wünsche (2008) CPO, DDD (25.5.2009)

References[edit]

  1. "Anne Wieben". Stephens Nicolson Artists Management. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Terry Blain. "Opera goes to the lake this summer, with a new company opening in St. Paul". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Life & Work with Anne Wieben of Saint Paul". Voyage Minnesota Magazine. 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  4. Clay Schuldt (July 30, 2019). "Opera producer, performer has New Ulm roots". The Journal. New Ulm. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "School of Music Alumna Anne Wieben Launches Opera on the Lake". University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts. 2019-07-09. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  6. "Biography – Anne Wieben". annewieben.com. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  7. "Anne Wieben". www.onepointfm.com. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  8. "Photo Socrates". photosocrates. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  9. "luce nera". www.tenm.at (performance details). September 2014. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  10. "luce nera (music theatre)". hanneskerschbaumer.eu. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  11. "2013 – Raymond Yiu". raymondyiu.com. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  12. "Theater der Vereinnahmung. Publikumsinvolvierung im immersiven Theater". Theater der Zeit. 2022-04-04. Retrieved 2023-08-05 – via Issuu.
  13. Wiener Ball der Wissenschaften 2020 (in German). Vienna: Wien Kultur. 2020. pp. 53, 56–57.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
  14. "Die Legaten von Nesterval". www.unikum.ac.at. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  15. "The Nameless ... – National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism". www.nationalfonds.org. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  16. "Nestervals Die Namenlosen: Die Angst der Nazis knistern hören". Der Standard (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  17. "Interview: Opera on the Lake's Anne Wieben and Redesigning Scandalous Stage Marriages". Twin Cities Arts Reader. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 "Opera on the Lake's Die Csárdásfürstin is breezy summertime fare". Twin Cities. 2023-07-28. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  19. "Ibiza grüßt die Fledermaus – Musiktheater Vorarlberg spart nicht mit Seitenhieben auf aktuelle Politaffäre". Kulturzeitschrift (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  20. "Review: Opera on the Lake debuts with bubbly, buoyant Die Fledermaus". Twin Cities. 2019-07-25. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  21. "Giovanni – wir kriegen dich!". Der Ybbstaler (in Deutsch). 2017-08-25. Archived from the original on 2017-09-23. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
  22. "Teatro Barocco : Presse". www.teatrobarocco.at. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  23. "Nestroypreis – Der Wiener Theaterpreis – Corona-Spezialpreis – Der Kreisky-Test – Gewinner". www.nestroypreis.at. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  24. Donahue, Amy. "Preview: Opera on the Lake Strikes Back". Twin Cities Arts Reader. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  25. "Werke – Nesterval" (in Deutsch). Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  26. "Your very good news in a really bad year". MPR News. 2020-12-28. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  27. "Aria Institute | Really Spicy Opera". spicyopera.com. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  28. "Preview: Opera on the Lake Returns with The Merry Widow". Twin Cities Arts Reader. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  29. "History Theatre returns to the stage; Jim Denomie book signing at Bockley Gallery". MinnPost. 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  30. Tribune, Rob Hubbard Special to the Star. "7 outdoor classical music performances to see in the Twin Cities this summer". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  31. Chin, Richard; Tribune, Star Tribune staff Star. "There's still time to enjoy these simple pleasures of summer". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  32. "Opera everywhere; 'The Prodigious Life of Clara S.' at Orchestra Hall". MinnPost. 2019-07-24. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  33. "Interview: Opera on the Lake's Anne Wieben and Redesigning Scandalous Stage Marriages". Twin Cities Arts Reader. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  34. Fessler, Jared. "Interview: Anne Wieben of Die lustige Witwe, The Merry Widow at Opera on the Lake". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  35. "Opera on the Lake gives The Merry Widow the Minnesota treatment, dontcha know". Twin Cities. 2022-07-28. Retrieved 2023-08-05.

External links[edit]


Others articles of the Topic Biography : List of Mensans, Bankrol Hayden, MrWolfy, 27 Club, Trippie Redd, List of pneumonia deaths, Tony Tinderholt

Others articles of the Topic Opera : List of operas by title, List of prominent operas, List of operas by composer, List of operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart


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