Hanne Fischer

INTRODUCTION

Hanne Fischer, Knight of the Dannebrog, is a much sought-after Danish mezzo-soprano: at home, where she frequently performs at the Royal Danish Opera and abroad. Her strong presence of expression is often highlighted. Her role interpretations range from baroque to Wagner to contemporary music.

RECENT AND FUTURE ENGAGEMENTS

Recent engagements at the Royal Danish Opera Copenhagen include, among others: Larina/Eugene Onegin, Brangäne/Tristan und Isolde, Serena Joy/The Handmaid’s Tale, Fricka/Die Walküre, Pelageya/Nose, Marthe/Faust, Magdelone/Maskarade, Auntie/Peter Grimes, 3rd Maid/Elektra. 

In the 2024/2025 season at the Royal Danish Opera, she performed as La Frugola/Il Tabarro, La Badessa/Suor Angelica, and La Ciesca/Gianni Schicchi in Puccini’s Il Trittico, and Magdalena/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. She also joined the Royal Summer Opera tour in summer 2024 and performed in the Royal Danish Opera’s New Year’s concert in December 2024.

In the 2025/2026 season, Hanne Fischer will take on the roles of Giovanna/Rigoletto and Mère Marie/Dialogues des Carmélites at the Royal Danish Opera.

Among Hanne’s other notable recent and future engagements are: Larina/Eugene Onegin at the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet; Fricka/Die Walküre at the Greek National Opera in Athens; Niels W. Gade’s romantic cantata Elverskud with the Copenhagen Phil; Duruflé’s Requiem and a Danish Opera Gala with the Aarhus Symfoniorkester; Duruflé’s Requiem with the Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir; Verdi’s Requiem with the Copenhagen Cantate Choir.

BIOGRAPHY

Past engagements of Hanne Fischer in recent years include Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking at the Opera in Copenhagen (she has received a great amount of star reviews), Waltraute in the concert performance of Götterdämmerung in Odense, under the direction of Alexander Vedernikov and Blanca/The Exterminating Angel at Royal Danish Opera Copenhagen in 2018.

At the Royal Opera House Copenhagen, she has performed many roles, such as  The Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos, Melibea in Journey to Reims, Charlotte in Werther, Penelope in Odysseus, Ottavia in Poppea’s Coronation, and La Frugola in Puccini’s Il Tabarro, and also Carmen.

During the period 1993-1997, Hanne Fischer was part of the ensemble at Opera Kiel. She also performed at Glyndebourne Festival in England, at Staatsoper Berlin, Hamburger Staatsoper, Opera in Antwerp and Ghent, and at Théâtre de Champs-Élysées.

Since 2005, when the Royal Danish Opera inaugurated its new waterside Opera House in Copenhagen, she was among the first performers in the world premiere of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, composed by Poul Ruders and dedicated to Hanne Fischer.

After her success as Fricka in Wagner’s Das Rheingold and Valkyrie in Strasbourg, Hanne Fischer debuted in 2011 as Waltraute in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung under the direction of David McVicar. She received great critical acclaim from international opera magazines, who all praised her unique voice character with poignant expression abilities, and also her strong role interpretation.

As a concert singer, Ms. Fischer has performed with all major Danish Orchestras and internationally in the big concert halls in Amsterdam, München, Berlin, Paris, and London.  In 2009, on the 60th birthday of the European Council, she performed Mahler’s 3rd Symphony under the direction of Marc Albrecht. She has also performed with many other great conductors, such as Daniel Barenboim, Andrew Davis, Mark Elder, Marko Letonja, Mark Minkowski, Giancarlo Andretta, Hartmut Haenchen, Manfred Honeck, Michael Jurowski, Ton Koopman, Susanna Mälkki, Leif Segerstam, Michael Schönwandt, Yuri Temirkanov, Alexander Vedernikov, Carlo Rizzi, and Kirill Petrenko.

Her discography includes CDs with The Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (Lehar’s Tatjana) and Aalborg Symphony Orchestra.  She also performs Verdi’s Requiem in a recording of Trinitatis Kantori og Orkester.

On DVD, she performs in the production of Wagner’s Ring, Carl Nielsen’s Masquerade, and also in Selma Jezkova (Dancer in the Dark) by Poul Ruders.

AWARDS

Ms. Fischer has received numerous awards and prizes, including the Noilly Prat Price in 1993, the Elisabeth Dons Memorial Award in 1995, the Danish Music Critics Artist Award in 2004, the Holger Bruusgaard Award of the Royal Orchestra in 2007, and the Axel Schiøtz Award in 2010. She has been nominated many times for the Reumert award with her performances of Sextus in Mozart’s Titus, Orpheus in Orpheus and Eurydice, and Händel’s Jephta. In 2014, she received the Ellen Gilbert scholarship.