“The soprano, whose compelling stage presence captivates audiences, impressed above all with her disarming naturalness,” writes the FAZ. Katharina Ruckgaber is currently establishing herself both on the opera and concert stage.
Since embarking on a freelance career at the start of the 2023/24 season, Katharina Ruckgaber opened the 2024/25 season performing the role of Beppi in Gerd Kühr’s opera Stallerhof at Stadttheater Klagenfurt. This was followed by debuts under René Jacobs in Handel’s Tamerlano at Teatro Real, the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, and in Valencia, as well as a return to the Berlin Philharmonie with the Freiburger Barockorchester. Highlights of recent seasons include her acclaimed performance as Ännchen in Weber’s Der Freischütz in Philipp Stölzl’s celebrated production at the Bregenz Festival, Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, Bellezza in Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno at the ClassicAnd Festival in Andorra, her debut as Galatea with the Kammerakademie Potsdam, as well as concert debuts at the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the Berlin Philharmonie, and with the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra.
Katharina Ruckgaber has also appeared as a guest at Opernhaus Zürich in Turnage’s Coraline, at the Theater an der Wien, at Staatstheater Darmstadt as Adele and Pamina, and at the Gärtnerplatztheater in Munich.
Her extensive concert activities have taken her to Paris with the Orchestre National de France, to the MDR Symphony Orchestra, to the Konzerthaus Berlin under Iván Fischer, the Gewandhaus Leipzig, the St Petersburg Philharmonic, Moscow, the Cologne Philharmonie, and regularly to the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg — most recently in 2022, returning as Ännchen on René Jacobs’ acclaimed Der Freischütz tour with the Freiburger Barockorchester and alongside several concerts with the Zürcher Kammerorchester.
Immediately after completing her studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich, Katharina Ruckgaber was engaged by the Oper Frankfurt’s Opera Studio and subsequently became an ensemble member at Theater Freiburg until 2023. There, she appeared in numerous central roles of her repertoire, including Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), the Vixen (The Cunning Little Vixen), Musetta (La Bohème), and Nanetta (Falstaff). Her portrayal of Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande) was celebrated by the press as a “highlight of the season” (nmz / Der neue Merker, July 2019).
As a passionate recitalist, the multiple award-winning soprano enjoys close collaborations with pianists Helmut Deutsch, Sholto Kynoch, Daniel Heide, So-Jin Kim, and Jan Philip Schulze. Her most recent album, LOVE AND LET DIE, showcases her versatility, spanning repertoire from Schubert to Berio. Recital appearances have taken her to the Konzerthaus Vienna, Oper Frankfurt, Zurich, Bayreuth, Budapest, Madrid, and Barcelona, as well as to the Oxford Lieder Festival and Wigmore Hall in London.
