Golda Schultz

Soprano

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“Really outstanding is Golda Schultz as Agathe. Her voice is warm, natural, focused, it glows – a voice whose emotional power and beauty no one can resist. This was world class.”
(BR Klassik, February 2021)

South African soprano Golda Schultz is hailed as one of the most talented and versatile young artists on the classical music scene today, equally at home in leading operatic roles as she is as featured soloist with the world’s foremost orchestras and conductors, she garners consistent praise for a fresh, radiant stage personality and lustrous tone. The Financial Times wrote, “Golda Schultz sings with strength and assurance, her voice with its own distinctively thrilling radiance; she is a newcomer who simply has everything.”

The 20/21 season for Golda Schultz starts with a bang as featured soloist in the Last Night of the BBC Proms, joining the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Dalia Stasevska for a specially curated programme, broadcast live on television and radio to a worldwide audience. Elsewhere, she returns to Bayerische Staatsoper to star as Agathe in a new staging by Dmitri Tcherniakov of Der Freischütz under Antonello Manacorda, and debuts at Osterfestspiele Salzburg in Mozart’s Requiem and an operatic gala programme, both under Christian Thielemann. In concert, she joins Alan Gilbert and NDR Elbphilharmonie as Clara (Porgy and Bess), Hannu Lintu and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne, headlines Grafenegg’s annual flagship media event the Midsummer Night’s Gala, and debuts with Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia alongside Riccardo Minasi in an all-Mozart gala streamed live on Idagio. Following acclaimed debuts at London’s Wigmore Hall, Berlin’s Boulez Saal and New York’s Weill Recital Hall, Golda Schultz and collaborative pianist Jonathan Ware join forces again for recitals in both Munich and Bad Kissingen, and she makes a first appearance at the Schubertiade Festival in Hohenems.

'Leise, leise, fromme Weise' from Der Freischütz © Bayerishe Staatsoper

Trained at New York’s Juilliard School and Bayerische Staatsoper’s Opernstudio, Schultz has found success on both sides of the Atlantic in the opening seasons of her professional career, delighting audiences and critics alike as Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) at Salzburger Festspiele, Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) at The Metropolitan Opera, Contessa Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Clara in Jake Heggie’s It’s A Wonderful Life at San Francisco Opera, Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) at Teatro alla Scala, and Liù (Turandot) at Wiener Staatsoper. Additional operatic highlights include Contessa Almaviva at Wiener Staatsoper and Opernhaus Zürich, Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito) at Salzburger Festspiele, Sophie at New National Theatre Tokyo, Nanetta (Falstaff), Clara (Porgy and Bess) and Sophie at The Met and as a former member of the ensembles of both Stadttheater Klagenfurt and Bayerische Staatsoper, Contessa Almaviva, Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Musetta (La bohème), Freia (Das Rheingold), Micaëla (Carmen) and Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare).

Highlights on the concert stage include debuts with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin in Mozart’s Requiem, The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst in Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten both in Cleveland and at New York’s Carnegie Hall, and a remarkable week of concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic during which she joined Esa-Pekka Salonen for Sibelius’ Luonnotar, Gustavo Dudamel for Beethoven’s Symphony No.9, and Zubin Mehta for Mahler’s Symphony No.2. Golda recently sang Mahler’s Symphony No.4 on an extensive European tour with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Dudamel and was part of an epic all-Beethoven programme with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Salonen. Alongside appearances in 2019 at the Verbier Festival in Mahler’s Symphony No.2 under Fabio Luisi and the BBC Proms in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem under Richard Farnes, Schultz joined Kirill Petrenko as soloist in the annual Münchner Opernfestspiele’s ‘Oper für alle’ event, performing to a huge open-air audience on the city’s Marstallplatz.

Gallery

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

Morgen! © Livewire, BBC Proms

Summertime from Porgy & Bess © Metropolitan Opera

Nacht und Traume D827 © Bayerische Staatsoper

The Glamorous Life by Sondheim © Livewire, BBC Proms

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

“Golda Schultz as Agathe is a revelation…radiating with skill and emotion”

(Die Welt, February 2021)

“Really outstanding is Golda Schultz as Agathe. Her voice is warm, it is natural, it is focused, it glows – a voice whose emotional power and beauty no one can resist. This was world class.”

(BR-Klassik, February 2021)

“Golda Schultz mesmerizes with glorious cantilenas in her role debut as Agathe”

(Deutschlandfunk Kultur, February 2021)

“[O]ne doesn’t know what to praise more about [Golda Schultz’] Agathe: the almost perfect tone and breath control in her two dangerously lyrical arias, where the voice lies so naked and bare. Or the easeful depth, the soft roundness in the high notes. Or her so intelligent awareness of the text.”

(Münchner Merkur, February 2021)

“A soprano of unearthly lyrical beauty”

(Frankfurter Rundschau, February 2021)

“The ensemble is in fact superb. First and foremost, with wonderful naturalness, with a knowing, heartfelt, magnificent soprano: Golda Schultz as Agathe.“

(Neue Württembergische Zeitung, February 2021)

“But if there’s one unmissable reason to log on, it’s for Golda Schultz’s Agathe, whose luscious arias she sings with creamy beauty and an undertow of desperate fragility. Here the opera’s defining tension – purity threatened by corruption – really seems to hit home.”

(The Times, Neil Fisher, February 2021)

“Only in the sound of the Bavarian State Orchestra […], in the warm, exceedingly captivating voice of Golda Schultz and in her face when she opens the window to the aria ‘Leise, leise, fromme Weise’, one hears and sees the soothing power of moonlight, cricket, nightingale, of evening air and birch grove.”

(Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, February 2021)

“Golda Schultz musically hits the blend of elegy and enthusiasm that is essential for a good Agathe. The voice is agile enough for the blissful rapture of the coloratura, the slightly dark middle register colouring the great aria ‘Leise, leise’ and the cavatina with a ravishing melancholy. The role has not been sung this well in a long time.“

(Abendzeitung München, February 2021)

“Golda Schultz is the undisputed winner [of the evening]. Her beautifully timbred lyric soprano has delightful colours, technically the voice is well led, her diction is clean and she forms a well-balanced pair with Max.“

(Klassik begeistert, February 2021)

“Outshining them all was soprano Golda Schultz: her Agathe sounded like golden sunshine, yet soft, effortlessly malleable and warm-hearted”

(Neue Musik Zeitung, February 2021)

“Golda Schultz, the colours of her voice on magnificent display as Clara, and her ‘Summertime’ as movingly given as one is likely to hear it.”

(Opera Magazine, September 2020)

“It was a bold reinvention much helped by the golden, easeful soprano voice of Golda Schultz, the evening’s star vocalist.”

(Anita Singh, Sunday Telegraph, September 2020)

“Some show tunes and arias, sung by the soprano Golda Schultz with a generosity and warmth that couldn’t have been more potent if she really had been singing to a packed and cheering Royal Albert Hall, rather than TV cameras and emptiness.”

(Spectator, September 2020)

“As Clara, Golda Schultz’s lavish soprano and good diction help her launch the opera with a poised ‘Summertime’.”

(George Hall, BBC Music Magazine, June 2020)

“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)