MARTA HERMAN

KASSEL. The first scene of Korngold's opera Die tote Stadt belongs to her: as Brigitta, Marta Herman introduces the audience to the dark sequence of events that follow. For the 28 year old mezzo soprano, who has just begun her first Fest engagement at the Staatstheater Kassel, this role is simultaneously a joy and a challenge, as it is her first major role in an opera with such a large orchestra, nearly 100 players strong.

 

Marta is as thankful for the support she has received from the director and conductor of Die tote Stadt, Markus Dietz and Patrik Ringborg respectively, as she is that the theatre's Managing Director of Opera, Dr. Urusla Benzing, entrusted this role to her in the first place. In the meantime, she is lauded and celebrated by the audience after each and every performance, alongside the rest of the cast. As a child she sang with the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus in Toronto, where she was born and spent her childhood. It was a difficult decision for Marta to chose between music or her other potential professional path, archaeology. Thankfully, she chose to study music. After two seasons in the Young Artist Program at the Oper Frankfurt, she auditioned in Kassel – and was offered a contract.

 

This season in Kassel Marta also sang the role of Linetta in “The Love for three Oranges”, and next season, she will sing roles in seven (!) productions. One of them has long been a dream role of hers: Cherubino in Mozart's “Le nozze di Figaro”. She especially enjoys singing pants roles, she adds mischeviously.