©Photo: Fay Fox

©Photo: Guangzhou Opera House

©Photo: Cory Weaver, San Francisco Opera

©Photo: Fay Fox

©Photo: Marcello Oreselli

©Photo: Ed Choo

Hongni Wu

Mezzo-soprano

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“Hongni Wu brought technical agility, warm colourings and an ample sound…she sang with youthful bloom and richness.”
(New York Times)

Mezzo-soprano Hongni Wu spent two seasons as part of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Jette Parker Young Artists Programme, making her house debut as Flora in Richard Eyre’s popular production of La traviata under Antonello Manacorda. Further roles on the main stage included Mercédès in Carmen, Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte, Siébel in Gounod’s Faust and, as part of the Young Artists’ Summer Showcase, scenes from Pelléas et Mélisande and Il barbiere di Siviglia. In a production of Hans Werner Henze’s Phaedra at the Linbury Theatre, Wu received unanimous praise for her gripping portrayal of the title role.

Of Hongni Wu’s sensational debut as Der Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos at Opéra National de Montpellier last season, Forum Opéra wrote “the timbre of the voice is fresh, radiant and assured.” She enjoyed further acclaim as Bao Chai in Bright Sheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber at San Francisco Opera, and for the creation of the dual roles of Comrade Chin and Shu Fung in the world premiere of Huang Ruo’s M. Butterfly at Santa Fe Opera.

Das Lied von der Erde © Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra

Wu’s 2022/23 season includes performances as Angelina in La cenerentola at Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova under Music Director Riccardo Minasi, which she reprises later in the season for Opera Maine, a role debut as the Kitchen Boy in a new production of Rusalka at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden under Semyon Bychkov, and her Canadian debut as Dorabella in Così fan tutte at Pacific Opera Victoria under Artistic Director Timothy Vernon. In concert, she joins Paavo Järvi and Philharmonia Orchestra for Mahler’s Symphony No.3 at London’s Royal Festival Hall.

Whilst studying at the Manhattan School of Music, Hongni gave performances as Angelina, Sesto (La clemenza di Tito) and La libellule (L’enfant et les sortilèges), garnering praise from the New York Times for her “technical agility, warm colourings, and ample sound,” and was a 2018 winner of The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Equally comfortable on the concert or recital stage, Hongni Wu recently performed Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Yu Long/Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra and Tan Dun/Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra. Other performances include Verdi’s Messa da Requiem with Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra, Respighi’s Il tramonto at Shanghai Symphony Hall in a chamber programme together with bass-baritone Shenyang and the Polaris Quartet, and Tan Dun’s Buddha Passion on a national tour of China, conducted by the composer. In recital, Wu has recently appeared on the main stages of Guangzhou Opera House and Shanghai Symphony Hall in a solo programme of Mahler and Strauss.

Gallery

Bao Chai 3 © Cory Weaver, San Francisco Opera

Excerpt from Dream of the Red Chamber © San Francisco Opera

'Wie du warst' from Der Rosenkavalier © Hongni Wu

'Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht' from Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen © Hongni Wu

“Hongni Wu almost upstages everyone with a brilliant turn as the servant Kuchtik.”

The Times, February 2023

“The young mezzo Hongni Wu is a revelation [as Der Komponist]. Between creative exaltation and existential angst, her emotion grips us…the timbre of the voice is fresh, radiant and assured.”

(Forum Opéra, Apr 2022)

“Hongni Wu embodies the beautiful role of Der Komponist with candour and believable naïveté, leading her to give in to the enchantments of Zerbinetta. Her mezzo voice with a silky lower-register and controlled legato inhabits the role from start to finish.”

(Olyrix, Apr 2022)

“Der Komponist benefiting from the youthful ardour and clear timbre of Hongni Wu.”

(Resmusica, Apr 2022)

“The JPYA singers shone, led by the Chinese mezzo-soprano Hongni Wu as a bird-like, manga-vamp Phaedra”

(The Guardian, May 2019)

“Chinese mezzo-soprano Hongni Wu is particularly impressive in the title role, singing this hugely difficult music with great skill and acting the role with great passion.”

(The Express, May 2019)

“But it was the pairing of Aphrodite and mezzo-soprano Hongni Wu as Phaedra that set the evening ablaze. These young singers had the presence and power of true opera stars and, in diva-esque form, they carried all before them.”

(Bachtrack, May 2019)

“Wu’s richly coloured voice and excellent phrasing were most impressive in both of her arias, especially ‘Voi che sapete’.”

(Opera News, July 2018)

“Hongni Wu, 23, a mezzo-soprano, brought technical agility, warm colourings and an ample sound to ‘Cruda sorte’, a bel canto showpiece from Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri. Then, in a bold choice, she sang the opening scene of Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier with youthful bloom and richness. We’ll have to see if she follows the path of the coloratura-happy Marilyn Horne or the refined, lyrical Susan Graham.”

(New York Times, March 2018)

“Her voice was pure and bright, singing with beauty as she expressed her interest in love over riches…Wu’s voice blossomed into a wide array of colours and emotions. She developed into her character and proved to be a remarkably outstanding voice.”

(Operawire, February 2018)