Fledermaus: Orlofsky

Renate Kaschmieder, mezzosoprano

The warm timbre and deeply evocative sound of Renate Kaschmieder’s voice have inspired a loyal following of music lovers throughout Europe.

Renate Kaschmieder was born in Straubing, Bavaria and began her training as a singer at the Meistersinger Conservatory at Nuremberg. Even during this time she made a name for herself in the genre of church music. She finished her studies at the Conservatory with the concert exam and attained first prize in the Nuremberg Dr. Drexel competition. Master classes with Julia Hamari, Hans Hotter, Brigitte Fassbaender and Anna Reynolds further honed Renate’s technique and expanded her range. Further studies included private tutelage with Norma Lerer and Emmy Lisken-Seiltgen.

Renate’s repertoire covers a wide span. It extends from early music beginning with Hildegard von Bingen, to Monteverdi, Schuetz, Bach, Handel, Mozart and Beethoven, to the Romantic period, especially Mendelssohn and Gustav Mahler. Her vast repertoire further includes modern music of the 20th and 21th century. Concentrating on concert and lieder performance, Renate along with the guitarist Uwe Stein, founded the Duo Esperanza. Other musical contacts include the pianists Jeanpierre Faber, Florian Kaplick and others. Together with these artists Renate creates utterly delightful concert events performing works of different musical periods.

In 1989 Renate gave her operatic debut as Dritte Dame in Mozart's "Magic Flute" during the opera festival in Bad Hersfeld. On this stage, she convincingly embodied Mercedes in Bizet's "Carmen", Fenena in Verdi’s "Nabucco" and Ines in Verdi’s "Troubadour". Other roles include Prince Orlofsky in "Die Fledermaus", Marcellina in "Le nozze di Figaro" and Maddalena in "Rigoletto". These performances took Renate to Eutin, Schwerin and Passau where she worked with conductors like Peter Falk (Broadcast Orchestra of the SWF), Vladimir Valek (Broadcast Symphony Orchestra of Prague) and Roderich Kreile (Kreuz Choir of Dresden).

The unique timbre of Renate Kaschmieder’s voice together with her deeply moving power of expression has led to great achievements in the field of church music. One example is her performance in Verdi’s Requiem in Belgium. In Bern, Switzerland, Renate Kaschmieder appeared with deeply impressive performances in Bach’s Johannes Passion with the Camerata Bern and in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Collegium Musicum Luzern.

In 2005, Renate Kaschmieder has been in Tokyo for to sing Bach's High Mass in B minor and she is invited again in Dezember 2007 for a production of Bach's Matthäuspassion together with the Choral Arts Society of Tokyo.

Many of Renate Kaschmieder’s performances were recorded on CD and included in broadcasts by the Bavarian Broadcast Company. The latest examples are a concert at the International Organ Week in Nuremberg (ION) and the production of Roland Schmidt's "Neruda Songs" (2007).