SONJA LEUTWYLER
Mezzo-Soprano
“The Krenek and Spohr Lieder were beautifully sung by Sonja Leutwyler, whose mezzo was consistently strong and nuanced from her lowest to highest range and her careful attention to innuendos of the texts by means of subtle dramatic gestures.”
“The voice of Sonja Leutwyler spirals into heavenly spheres with her emphatic singing.”
“A wonderful voice and haunting power of interpretation.”
Sonja Leutwyler – the "internationally successful mezzo-soprano with a wonderful voice and haunting power of interpretation" (art TV) – has established herself in opera and concerts as an artist of exceptional musical intelligence in a wide range of music from classical to works of the 21st century.
As a concert soloist, Sonja Leutwyler performs with renowned orchestras including the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Radio Orchestra under Ulf Schirmer, the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and the SWR Symphony Orchestra under Helmuth Rilling. She is a popular guest at major festivals including the Richard Strauss Festival of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the Festival of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, the Beethoven Festival of Bonn, the Stuttgart Music Festival and the St Martin-in-the-Fields concert series in London. She also regularly appears at the Zurich Tonhalle and the Vienna Konzerthaus.
Highlights of recent seasons include Mendelssohn’s Walpurgis Night at the Rheingau Music Festival with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra under Andrés Orozco-Estrada, concerts and CD recordings with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Vienna Konzerthaus, a solo recital of arias by Haydn and Vivaldi with Camerata Zurich at the Zurich Tonhalle, CPE Bach’s Magnificat with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Diego Fasolis and a song recital at Tonhalle Maag in Zurich.
Sonja Leutwyler is much sought after for her performances of contemporary works. At the Prinzregententheater in Munich, she portrayed a lead role in Elliott Carter’s opera What Next? with the Munich Radio Orchestra. She appeared as the soloist in the opening concert of the “Wien Modern” series with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and performed works by Luigi Nono on a tour of Italy under the baton of Roberto Abbado. She recently enjoyed great success in performances of Berio’s Folk Songs in numerous Swiss concert halls.
Ms. Leutwyler was engaged as a soloist for four years at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich, where she sang major roles for her voice type. Further engagements have taken her to the Margravial Opera House of Bayreuth, the Cuvilliés Theatre in Munich, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and the Zurich Opera House. She recently sang a lead role in the opera Kein Licht (no light) by Philippe Manoury staged by l’Opéra-Comique in Paris and has made guest appearances at the National Theatre of Zagreb and the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg.
Sonja Leutwyler was born in Zurich. She studied viola and singing at the Zurich College of the Arts and the Munich College of Music and Drama with Maria de Francesca-Cavazza, Christian Gerhaher and Helmut Deutsch. While still studying, she sang roles including Sesto, Larina and Dorabella at such venues as the Prinzregententheater of Munich.
