©Photo: Dario Acosta

Golda Schultz

Soprano

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“It’s hard to imagine finer soprano singing or a more exuberant portrayal of the Countess than that supplied by Golda Schultz”
(George Hall, The Guardian)

Born in South Africa, trained at New York’s Juilliard School and the Opernstudio of Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper, soprano Golda Schultz has enjoyed success after success in the first seasons of her professional career and has already been firmly established on both sides of the Atlantic as one of today’s most exciting young artists.

Golda Schultz has delighted audiences and critics alike with her fresh, radiant stage personality and beguiling tone, and has recently enjoyed critically-acclaimed appearances as Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) at Salzburger Festspiele, Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) at The Metropolitan Opera, and Contessa Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, about which The Guardian wrote: “It’s hard to imagine finer soprano singing or a more exuberant portrayal than that supplied by Golda Schultz.”

The current season includes a return to Glyndebourne Festival as Mme Lidoine in Barrie Kosky’s new staging of Dialogues des Carmélites and to the Metropolitan Opera as both Sophie under Sir Simon Rattle, and Clara in James Robinson’s staging of Porgy and Bess, scheduled for live broadcast around the world via The Met’s Live in HD programme. On the concert platform, Golda Schultz joins Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra for Mozart’s Requiem, the London Symphony Orchestra and Alan Gilbert for Tippett’s A Child of Our Time, the Philharmonia Orchestra with Esa-Pekka Salonen in an all-Beethoven programme, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Antonello Manacorda in Brahms’ Ein deutsche Requiem, and a remarkable trio of concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic: Sibelius’ Luonnotar with Salonen, Mahler’s Symphony No.2 with Zubin Mehta, and Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with Gustavo Dudamel.

“Deh vieni non tardar”, Le nozze di Figaro © Teatro alla Scala, C Major

Further key debuts in recent seasons include Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) at Teatro alla Scala, Contessa Almaviva at Wiener Staatsoper and Opernhaus Zürich, Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito) at Salzburger Festspiele, Sophie at New National Theatre Tokyo, Clara in Jake Heggie’s It’s A Wonderful Life at San Francisco Opera and Nanetta (Falstaff) at The Met. As a former member of the ensembles of both Stadttheater Klagenfurt and Bayerische Staatsoper, Schultz amassed a wealth of new roles including Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Liù (Turandot), Musetta (La bohème), Freia (Das Rheingold), Micaëla (Carmen) and Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare).

At home on both the concert and the recital platform, Golda Schultz has recently joined The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst in Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten, performed Mahler’s Symphony No.2 at the closing concert of the 2019 Verbier Festival under Fabio Luisi, joined the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Dudamel for an extensive European tour of Mahler’s Symphony No.4, and appeared at the BBC Proms in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with Richard Farnes. As part of the 2019 Münchner Opernfestspiele, Golda Schultz joined Kirill Petrenko for the annual ‘Oper für alle’ event. Following highly acclaimed debut recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall and Berlin’s Boulez Saal, Golda Schultz and Jonathan Ware join forces again in the current season for appearances at New York’s Zankel Hall, UNC Chapel Hill and Stadttheater Klagenfurt.

Gallery

'Sul fil d’un soffio etesio' extract from Falstaff © Metropolitan Opera

Brahms Requiem, Aug 2018 © BBC Proms, BBC Symphony Orchestra

Summertime from Porgy & Bass © Metropolitan Opera

Schubert: Romanze aus Rosamunde D797.3 © BBC Radio 3, Wigmore Hall

'O mio babbino caro' (Gianni Schicchi) © Orchester der Deutsche Oper Berlin, 3SAT

“The lustrous soprano Golda Schultz burnt our ears in the concert aria Ah! Perfido”

(The Times, March 2020)

“Golda Schultz led off the evening with a meltingly beautiful ‘Summertime’.”

(Opera Magazine, December 2019)

“The soprano Golda Schultz was a radiant-voiced and tenderly innocent Sophie.”

(Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, Dec 2019)

“Golda Schultz’s beguiling Sophie is sung with resonant tonal beauty and polished musicality, and she too has an infectious pianissimo moment.”

(FT, December 2019)

“In the opening scene, Clara (the exquisite soprano Golda Schultz) sings the wistful lullaby “Summertime” to her baby boy.”

(Anthony Tommasini, New York, Times, September 2019)

“Clara, who as sung by Golda Schultz was less sheerly beautiful of voice and more believable as a person than I’ve often seen her.”

(Anne Midgette, Washington Post, September 2019)

“When Schultz sings, everything becomes clear, it is as if one looks directly into the soul of the “Junge Nonne”. Because she does not create artificial drama from the verse, because she does not suppress it, but rather unlocks the song from within and in this way makes them all the more powerful.”

(Der Tagesspiegel, June 2019)

“the merry wives were a zesty, vocally polished lot: Golda Schultz, an exquisite Nanetta”

(Opera Magazine, May 2019)

“the exquisite soprano Golda Schultz, endearing as Nannetta”

(New York Times, Anthony Tommasini February 2019)

“the soprano Golda Schultz, in a vocally arresting company debut”

(Opera magazine, March 2019)

“sung with exquisite versatility and grace by debuting soprano Golda Schultz.”

(San Francisco Chronicle, November 2018)

“Powerful soprano Golda Schultz literally and figuratively soared, particularly with her inspirational aria “Mustn’t Fail”

(San Francisco Examiner, November 2018)

“Above all, Golda Schultz makes a brilliant debut as Contessa Almaviva at the Wiener Staatsoper. Strong and energetic both vocally and in her characterisation”

(Wiener Zeitung, November 2018)

“In Beethoven’s aria “Ah, perfido!” the Konzerthausorchester delicately supported Schultz’s powerful vocal performance, lending her voice to the contradictory feelings of anger and despair through the aria. In Mozart’s concert arias “Vado, ma dove” and “Misera, dove son,” desperate women are on show, but Golda Schultz’s soprano is full of self-confidence.”

(Der Tagesspiegel, Sep 2018)

“the enchanting soprano Golda Schultz.”

(Times, August 2018)

“Golda Schultz’s solo ‘Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit’ offered a near ideal blend of the angelic and the womanly”

(Opera Today, August 2018)

“Golda Schultz’s fine voice floated beautifully and eloquently into the vast auditorium.”

(Seen & Heard, August 2018)

“Golda Schultz’s sparkling Susanna…Schultz’s soprano is cream and gold – and [she and the Contessa] heart-stoppingly intertwine in the Letter duet.”

(Gramophone, February 2018)

“The South African soprano Golda Schultz, new to me, was a consistent joy in the Cleveland Orchestra’s recent presentation of Haydn’s oratorio “The Seasons”…Ms Schultz, a favourite of Mr Welser-Möst, sang with clear, pure tone and conveyed a sparkling personality, with a ready sense of humour”

(New York Times, January 2018)

“Of the trio, the standout by far was the Hanne of Golda Schultz … she brought a winning, bright-eyed stage presence to match the irresistible energy of her voice. …. her soprano is at its most affecting when she lets it be cool and liquid. She can spin off a line of pure silk with ease, and showed perfect control … delicately and precisely crafting her phrases”

(New York Classical Review, January 2018)

“Golda Schultz is earning a reputation as an up-and-coming opera star, and she did not disappoint here. Her tone was pure and shining, and she managed Haydn’s many high notes with floating ease; her coloratura was cleanly articulated.”

(Bachtrack, January 2018)

“Golda Schultz a rich-voiced Pamina.”

(Opera Magazine, November 2017)

“Another debut artist, the soprano Golda Schultz, was the true star of “Flute” as Pamina, her voice buoyant yet substantial, creamy but never heavy.”

(New York Times, Zachary Woolfe, September 2017)

“Lovely and girlish onstage, she offered a radiant, sunny lyric sound deployed with seamless legato throughout her range. All of Pamina’s potential trouble spots — the double climax of “Bei Männern,” the G minor aria’s many pitfalls, the sustained B in “Bald prangt” — were taken with great aplomb.”

(Opera News, September 2017)

“the South African soprano Golda Schultz making a dazzling debut as Pamina”

(Huffington Post, September 2017)

“Golda Schultz gives us a wonderfully sophisticated super-bitch as Vitellia” *****

(Financial Times, Shirley Apthorp, August 2017)

“In the role of Vitellia, Golda Schultz sings with a round and sonorous tone…[she] makes Vitellia’s rage and remorse all the more palpable”

(Opera Online, August 2017)

“Golda Schultz is a wonderful Vitellia who, with her noble, passionate soprano, impressively transforms from vengeful to repentant.”

(Wiener Zeitung, July 2017)

“Golda Schultz sang with a silky, glossy soprano as Vitellia”

(Frankfurter Rundschau, July 2017)

“Ms Schultz was magnificent in every way [as Sophie]”

(Seen and Heard, February 2017)

“That role [Liù] was shiningly sung by Golda Schultz, suggesting a stellar future in the ‘Freni’ roles (her limpid pianissimos at the climaxes of ‘Signore ascolta’ and ‘Tu che di gel sei cinta’ were something to marvel at).”

(Hugh Canning, Opera Magazine, February 2017)

“The best in the cast was South African soprano Golda Schultz as Liù…Her attractive voice is nicely suited to the role, and she sings with gusto”

(Seen & Heard, December 2016)

“Soprano Golda Schultz has a voice that is well-suited to the role of Susanna. She’s very musical and sings with gusto.”

(Seen and Heard, November 2016)

“The South African soprano Golda Schultz was a revelation as Susanna, with a polished timbre, great musicality and precise diction; subtly sensual and flirtatious, she sang her aria “Deh vieni, non tardar” impecabbly, sitting inside a crystal chandelier suspended above the stage.”

(Connessi’all Opera, November 2016)

“Golda Schultz’s honeyed timbre…Self-confident and vocally agile in her arias”

(Bachtrack, October 2016)

“Golda Schultz was a jaunty Susanna in her stage presence and musicality. A rather traditional characterization, her duets with Figaro and the Count demonstrate her sensuality in “Giunse alfin il momento”, and gentle playfulness with the Contessa in “Canzonetta sull’aria”.

(Operaclick, October 2016)

“Golda Schultz, who has sung Contessa in Zürich, debuts here as Susanna, a role that fits even better with her comedic character.”

(Neue Zürcher Zeitung, October 2016)

“It was Villa-Lobos’s magnificent Bachianas Brasileiras No 5, however, that stole the show, though that was as much due to the singer — the fast-rising South African soprano Golda Schultz — as the 12 cellists. What a luscious, full-blooded timbre she has; even her humming in the famous Cantilena sent shivers down the spine. And what energy she thrust into the fast-pattering syllables of the Dança.”

(The Times, Richard Morrison, July 2016)

“A top cast includes some notable debuts: the South African soprano Golda Schultz makes a tremendous, honey-toned Countess Almaviva.”

(The Guardian, Stephen Pritchard, July 2016)

“Once in a while a singer new to Glyndebourne gets the house tingling. It happened in 2005 with Danielle de Niese…I felt another crackle of electricity with Golda Schultz – born in South Africa, experienced in Germany, cast as the Countess in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. Schultz doesn’t just add exotic colouring to Michael Grandage’s 2012 show…She also lends a dark vocal lustre and depth of feeling that are immediately showcased in her aria bemoaning the Count’s infidelity.”

(Geoff Brown, The Times, July 2016)

“But it’s the women who are exceptional. It’s hard to imagine finer soprano singing or [a] more exuberant portrayal of the Countess than [that] supplied by Golda Schultz”

(George Hall, The Guardian, July 2016)

“South African soprano Golda Schultz, as Countess Almaviva, has an exquisitely beautiful voice”

(Ivan Hewett, The Telegraph, July 2016)

“there was time and space for Mozart’s sublime moments. The best of these was the Countess’ lament “Dove sono”, which Glyndebourne debutante Golda Schultz sang with heartfelt beauty, smoothness of voice, with a carefully measured touch of vibrato.”

(Bachtrack, July 2016)

“Golda Schultz gave a clear interpretation and excelled as Liù. With a very fine piano, she soared in “Signore ascolta”…With a crystal-clear timbre, she personified the goodness of her character consistently, and even in her final aria before she died “Tu, che di gel sei cinta” demonstrated her unwavering loyalty [to Calaf].”

(Bachtrack, April 2016)