Stephanie Houtzeel

American mezzo-soprano Stephanie Houtzeel is a soloist at the Wiener Staatsoper where she regularly sings Octavian, the composer, Dorabella, Orlofsky, Nicklausse, Kreusa (Medea), Jenny Hill (Mahagonny) or Miranda (The Tempest). In 2016 she created the role of La Haine in Vienna’s first production of Gluck’s Armide, as well as the role of Vera in the world-premiere of Patchwork, a new work for children, to be released on DVD.

In recent seasons, the role of Octavian has also taken Houtzeel to the Paris Opéra (under Philippe Jordan) and to the Kennedy Center (with Renée Fleming/Christoph Eschenbach). She sang the composer in Ariadne auf Naxos under Fabio Luisi (Zurich), Franz Welser-Möst and Sir Jeffrey Tate (Vienna) and in a highl y-acclaimed 2016 series in Tokyo under Marek Janowski. An additional highlight has been the title role in Xerxes, at the Komische Oper Berlin and at the Oper Graz, which garnered her a nomination for the 2016 Austrian Music Theatre Award. 2016 also mark ed her debut at the Bayreuth Festival (Wellgunde/Waltraute/Second Norn). In 2017 she returned to Bayreuth both for the Ring and as Venus in a new staging of Tannhauser.

Recordings include her 2016 solo Lieder album Nostalgia with Charles Spencer (Capriccio), the title roles in both Lully’s Armide (Naxos) and von Suppé’s Fatinitza (CPO) as well as the alto solo in Mozart’s Requiem under Teodor Currentzis (Alpha Records).