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The mezzo-soprano not only has a beguilingly beautiful timbre, she is also adept at narratively interpreting the lyrics. […] Ulrike Mayer lends the evening a broad, suspenseful arc. Deutschlandfunk
Ulrike Mayer’s velvety rich mezzo-soprano, full of lyrical warmth, is matched by her outstanding gift for theatrical interpretation. As a permanent member of the ensemble at Theater Bremen, she regularly takes on major roles in her field such as Dorabella, Cherubino, Hänsel, Carmen, and Oreste. In recent years, the singer has also internationally established herself as a versatile concert soloist in addition to appearing in numerous opera roles, including at the Ruhrtriennale, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburg State Opera, the Schwetzingen Festival, Bregenz Festspiele, and the Opéra Bastille and Opéra Comique in Paris. Further guest engagements have taken her to the Grand Théâtre du Luxembourg, to the Kurt Weill Fest Dessau, and to the Scottish Opera, where she made her acclaimed debut as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, for which she was nominated as singer of the year in 2011 by Opernwelt magazine.
After the mezzo-soprano’s critically acclaimed performances in recent seasons as Sesto in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, as Lazuli in E. Chabrier’s L’étoile, as Ruggiero in Handel’s Alcina, as Gianetta in Donizetti’s L’elisir d'amore, Composer in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, as well as Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and her own recitals at her home theatre with works by Henry Purcell, Benjamin Britten, Kurt Weill, and Joseph Marx, in the 2024/25 season she will debut the title role in a new production of Berlioz’ Béatrice et Bénédict and reprise the role of Irene Molloy in Hello Dolly.
As a concert soloist and lieder singer, Ulrike Mayer is a regular guest at renowned concert halls such as the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Philharmonie Berlin, and the Auditorium Nacional de Música Madrid, as well as at festivals such as the Weimar Kunstfest, the Magdeburg Telemann Festival, and the Mann-heim Mozartsommer. As a soloist she has been invited to perform with the Bochumer Sinfoniker, the SWR Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, the Dresdner Sinfoniker, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia, the Münchner Symphoniker, the Lautten Compagney Berlin, and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. Ulrike Mayer has also worked with conductors such as Kurt Masur, Alessandro de Marchi, Andreas Spering, Miguel Gomez-Martinez, and Hartmut Haenchen.
Born in Stuttgart, she studied with Thomas Quasthoff at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold and then with Klesie Kelly at the Hochschule für Musik Köln, where she completed her studies with a concert exam. She is the recipient of numerous grants and international prizes, including first prize at the “Euriade Vocal Concours” in Holland and at the Chamber Opera Schloss Rheinsberg’s competition. During her studies she was engaged by Theater Magdeburg, whose ensemble she was a member of until 2009. A high point of this engagement was the production of Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice (directed by Andreas Kriegenburg and nominated for German theatre award “Der Faust”), in which she sang Orpheus.
2024/25 season
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“Ulrike Mayer as Béatrice with the brilliant aria ‘Dieu! Que viens-je d’entendre?’, carrying her sonorous mezzo to the highest, yet effortlessly taken heights…”
Opernwelt, April 2025
“In this beautiful fantasy world, we meet the emancipated, sometimes even nasty Béatrice – a perfect showcase for the agile Ulrike Mayer and her dark, expressive mezzo.”
Kreiszeitung, Markus Wilke, 13 February 2025
“The euphony increases even further when Ulrike Mayer (…) starts the great trio with the two other female voices after her aria – pure vocal whipped cream.”
Weser-Kurier, Sebastian Loskant, 11 February 2025
“Outstanding vocal performances (...) and first and foremost Ulrike Mayer as Béatrice: enormous, how she utilises her voice and acting to positively rampage through the role’s inner development.”
Neue Musikzeitung, Ute Schalz-Laurenze, 10 February 2025
“Singers Ulrike Mayer and Oliver Sewell shine in their roles as Beatrice and Benedict.”
Bremen Zwei Radio, Lisa-Maria Röhling, 10 February 2025
“Mezzo-soprano Ulrike Mayer as Béatrice and tenor Oliver Sewell as Bénédict showed their best side with sensual timbre and radiant high notes.”
Der Opernfreund, Wolfgang Denker, 10 February 2025
“Wonderfully versatile between power and warmth, Ulrike Mayer portrays Sesto as a shimmeringly androgynous character with an almost virile mezzo-soprano voice.”
Opernwelt, Peter Krause, June 2024
“By far the star of the evening was Ulrike Mayer as Sesto, who achieved a stellar performance between richly coloured singing and moving emotional portrayal down to the smallest body fibres.”
Neue Musikzeitung, Ute Schalz-Laurenze, 31/3/2024
“All the roles were excellently cast in terms of singing and acting. […] First and foremost is Ulrike Mayer, who left nothing to be desired as Sesto with her colourful mezzo and emotional interpretation.”
Der Opernfreund, Wolfgang Denker, 30/3/2024
“Ulrike Mayer fascinated with the warm luminosity of her mezzo-soprano and sparkling colouratura in a concise role portrayal of inner composure.”
klassik.com, Michael Pitz-Grewenig, 28/3/2024
“With her suitably versatile mezzo, Ulrike Mayer is the energetic centre of a production of strong women.”
Opernwelt, Peter Krause, August 2023
“Ulrike Mayer received strong cheers from the enthusiastic audience for her exciting portrayal of the composer, which she knew how to create with purely musical means – a high-pitched, powerful mezzo with excellent handling of the text.”
Das Opernglas, Markus Wilks, 03/2023
“In her leading role as Lazuli, the immensely agile, characterful Ulrike Mayer proved that she has a very well-trained, sonorous mezzo.”
Das Opernglas, 2019
“[Ruggiero is] a great breeches role for Ulrike Meyer, which she [performs] with macho charm and swaying shoulders, but at the same time full of neo-masculine tenderness and an awakened sense of justice. […] A very exciting, thrilling inner duel in an intense performance and much applause for Ulrike Mayer, who marks her macho aptly, even in a lower register.”
Berliner Theaterkritiken, 2019
“It is also the evening of Ulrike Mayer as Ruggiero, who manages to show a touching portrayal of the character’s seduction and remorse with an immense number of vocal facets – especially in the dreamlike Verdi prati. With her arias, she passes through arrogance, doubt, disappointment, wistful memory and questionable self-control.”
Neue Musikzeitung (NMZ), 2019
“I was impressed with mezzo Ulrike Mayer, standing in for a disposed singer. She had an impressive range, reaching some particularly low notes in the Salve.”
Early Music Reviews, 2016
“Ulrike Mayer’s Cherubino was one of the great successes of the evening. Her Cherubino was very much the precocious teenager whose description of himself as being firstly on fire and then icy cold in Non so più was marvellously matched by gripping sforzandos from the pit. Miss Mayer even managed to allow her Cherubino to look more awkwardly boyish whilst dressed in petticoats than he had done wearing a suit – a rare achievement indeed.”
Opera Britannia, 2010
“The mezzo-soprano not only has a beguilingly beautiful timbre, she is also adept at narratively interpreting the lyrics. […] Ulrike Mayer lends the evening a broad, suspenseful arc.”
Deutschlandfunk, 2007
Engelbert Humperdinck: Hänsel und Gretel | Hänsel
Emmanuel Chabrier: L’étoile | Lazuli
Alban Berg: Lulu | Gymnasiast
Felix Mendelssohn: Elias | Aria “Weh ihnen, dass sie von mir weichen”
Péter Eötvös: Angels in America | Harper Pitt
Richard Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos | Komponist
Ulrike Mayer, Sophie Wagner (soprano), Markus Schäfer (tenor), Konrad Jarnot (bass), Monteverdi Kammerchor Würzburg, Reinild Mees (piano), Matthias Beckert (conductor)
TYXart TXA 14046, 2015
Ulrike Mayer, Kammerchor der Biederitzer Kantorei, Cammermusik Potsdam, Michael Scholl (conductor)
Amati ami 2601/2, 2012