Deborah Humble biography (continued)

Deborah performed the roles of Erda and Waltraute in all four parts of the Ring des Nibelungen (Pietari Inkinen, conductor) with Opera Australia in Melbourne to enormous critical and popular acclaim. She sang Mendelssohn’s Elijah at the Sydney Opera House under the musical direction of Paul McCreesh, Wagner’s Wesendonck-Lieder for Orchestra Wellington, Gloria Bruni’s Symphony No. 1 “Ring Parable” with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra and with the Minsk Radio Orchestra and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Stuttgart Philharmonic.

Deborah Humble performed Amneris in Aida under the musical direction of Renato Palumbo and Brigitte in Die Tote Stadt for Opera Australia, Erda in Das Rheingold in Brisbane under the musical direction of Simone Young, Duruflé’s Requiem in Melbourne, Pauline in Pique Dame with Vladimir Ashkenazy in Sydney, Erda in Siegfried in Ludwigshafen and Halle, 1st Norn in Bari at the Teatro Petruccelli, Alisa in Lucia di Lamermoor at the Teatro Mario del Monaco in Treviso with Jessica Pratt in the title role and was a solo recitalist at the Linari Festival in Chianti accompanied by Jayson Gillham.

It was with her performances of Erda in Das Rheingold in Claus Guth’s 2008 inaugural production of the new Ring Cycle at the Hamburg Staatsoper under the musical direction of Simone Young that Deborah Humble first came to international attention. In the same cycle the mezzo-soprano also performed the roles of Waltraute and 1st Norn in Götterdämmerung and Erda in Siegfried all of which were recorded on the Oehms record label.

Deborah Humble was a member of the ensemble of the Hamburg Staatsoper from 2005 through 2011, singing such roles as Zenobia (Radamisto), Bradamante (Alcina), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Olga (Eugene Onegin), and Malik in the German premiere of Hans Werner Henze’s L’Upupa.

Prior to her engagement with the Hamburg Staatsoper, the mezzo-soprano was a member of the ensemble of Opera Australia, performing from 2002 such roles as Dido (Dido and Aeneas), Sonyetka (Lady Macbeth von Mtensk), Clarissa (The Love for Three Oranges, recorded for Chandos records with Richard Hickox), Lola (Cavalleria Rusticana), Mercedes (Carmen), Rosette (Manon) and the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe.

Born in Bangor, Wales, Deborah Humble grew up in Adelaide, Australia. She received her musical and vocal training first at the Elder Conservatory of the University of Adelaide and later at the University of Melbourne. Humble was a member of the Young Artist Program of the Victoria State Opera and was the winner at the beginning of her career of the prestigious Dame Joan Sutherland Scholarship. In 2008 she was a finalist of the International Wagner Competition of the Seattle Opera.

Source: Deborah Humble’s website