Ursula Hesse von den Steinen received her vocal training at Hochschule der Künste Berlin. She refined her skills in master classes with Brigitte Fassbaender and Aribert Reimann. During her studies, she received numerous prizes at national and international competitions.
From 1999 until 2002 she was a member of the ensemble at the Semperoper in Dresden, building her repertoire under conductors such as Antonio Pappano, Pinchas Steinberg, Semyon Bychkov, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Riccardo Chailly, and Michael Boder. From there, her path rapidly led her to all the important European stages in Amsterdam, Munich, Berlin, Vienna, Brussels, Barcelona, Toulouse, Glyndebourne, and Paris, singing the fach roles of the German and Italian repertoire.
With a sensational debut as Fricka in “Rheingold” in Karlsruhe, Ursula Hesse von den Steinen began her development in the Wagner-fach. Since then, she sang Fricka in various “Walküre” productions, including in Riga (Stefan Herheim), Essen (Dietrich Hilsdorf) and Nuremberg. In Mannheim she could be seen as Venus in “Tannhäuser”, followed by Adriano in “Rienzi” in Riga. Most recently she debuted as Ortrud in “Lohengrin” in Bern.
Highlights of the past seasons were Herodias in “Salome” in Klagenfurt, Klytämnestra in “Elektra” at Theater Basel, Foreign Princess in “Rusalka” and Mother Goose in “The Rake's Progress” at the Komische Oper Berlin, Margret in “Wozzeck” at De Nationale Opera in Amsterdam, and Matilde in “Lotario” at the International Handel Festival Göttingen, and in the concert field Glanert’s “Requiem for Hieronymus Bosch” with the orchestra of Concertgebouw Amsterdam as well as with the Hamburger Symphoniker at the Elbphilharmonie, both under the baton of Markus Stenz.
In the concert field, the artist worked with such institutions as Concerto Köln, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, Sächsische Staatskapelle, Berliner Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestre National de France under Michael Gielen, Vladimir Jurowski, Markus Stenz, Eliahu Inbal, Riccardo Chailly, and Pierre Boulez.
CD recordings with lieder by Reimann, Rihm, Webern, and Widmann as well as the “Echo” awarded recording of “Das lange Weihnachtsmahl” by Hindemith under Marek Janowski and Glanert’s “Requiem for Hieronymus Bosch” under Markus Stenz document her career.
As of August 2022.