merican
soprano Carla Thelen Hanson is garnering attention for exciting and
vocally thrilling performances of opera's leading heroines throught
the country. Of her New York City Opera debut as Puccini's Tosca,
The New York Times noted, "Ms. Hanson made a strong debut as
Tosca, by turns fiery and vulnerable, her voice agreeably dark in
its middle range and sufficiently full on top" and the New Yorker
exclaims "her dark-grained, strongly felt "Vissi d'arte"
sailed right up to the uppermost balcony." She received equal
praise for potrayals of Maddalena de Coigny in Andrea
Chenier for Mobile Opera, as well as the title roles of Ariadne
auf Naxos and Norma, both with Union Ave Opera Theatre.
Other roles in her repertoire include Verdi's Aida,
Leonora (Il Trovatore and Fidelio),
and Amelia (Boccanegra and Un ballo
in Maschera), as well as the recent additions of Strauss' Salome,
Puccini' Turandot, Wagner' Senta
and Sieglinde.
The success of her transition
into this repertoire has been recognized by her participation in
Seattle Opera’s 2008 International Wagner Competition, won
2nd place in the 2008 Gerda Lissner Foundation and a 2009 study
grant from the New York Wagner Society. Additional recent engagements
include covering Gerhilde, Helmwige,
and Ortlinde in Die Walküre in August
2009 with the Seattle Opera; performing Tosca and
covering Magda in La Rondine with New
York City Opera; performing Maddalena in Andrea
Chenier with Mobile Opera; covering Amelia
in Simon Boccanegra, Resi in Intermezzo,
and Bacchis in La Belle Hélène
with the Santa Fe Opera, performing Ariadne in
Ariadne auf Naxos and Norma with Union
Avenue Opera Theatre, covering Norma with the Virginia
Opera, and performing Röschen in the U.S.
premiere of Dame Ethyl Smyth’s The Forest with the
Plymouth Music Series and Philip Brunelle.
On the concert stage, Ms. Hanson performs with noted symphony orchestras
across the country including acclaimed performances of Barber’s
Hermit Songs, Handel’s Messiah,
Harbison’s Mirabai Songs, Mozart’s
Exultate Jubilate, Orff’s Carmina
Burana, Rutter's Feel the Spirit, Strauss’s
Vier Letzte Lieder, Verdi’s Requiem,
and Vivaldi’s Gloria and Motetto.
Ms. Hanson is Professor of Voice and Music Appreciation at Rochester
Community and Technical College. She is happy to sing her first
Beethoven 9th Symphony with the Rochester Symphony Orchestra and
Chorale in November, 2009.
merican
soprano Carla Thelen Hanson is garnering attention for exciting and
vocally thrilling performances of opera's leading heroines throught
the country. Of her New York City Opera debut as Puccini's Tosca,
The New York Times noted, "Ms. Hanson made a strong debut as
Tosca, by turns fiery and vulnerable, her voice agreeably dark in
its middle range and sufficiently full on top" and the New Yorker
exclaims "her dark-grained, strongly felt "Vissi d'arte"
sailed right up to the uppermost balcony." She received equal
praise for potrayals of Maddalena de Coigny in Andrea
Chenier for Mobile Opera, as well as the title roles of Ariadne
auf Naxos and Norma, both with Union Ave Opera Theatre.
Other roles in her repertoire include Verdi's Aida,
Leonora (Il Trovatore and Fidelio),
and Amelia (Boccanegra and Un ballo
in Maschera), as well as the recent additions of Strauss' Salome,
Puccini' Turandot, Wagner' Senta
and Sieglinde.