Biography

The much sought-after soprano Irina Simmes will take on the roles of Violetta (La Traviata) and Agathe (Der Freischütz) at the Aalto Theater Essen in the 2025/26 season.

In 2024/25 she celebrated her successful debut at the Bregenz Festival as Agathe in Der Freischütz. She also performed the three female roles in Aribert Reimann’s final opera L’invisible under the baton of Titus Engel at the Oper Frankfurt.

At this theater, she had already appeared as Gerhilde (Die Walküre), after making her house debut there as Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) in a production by Christof Loy conducted by Sebastian Weigle.

Another Wagner debut followed in spring 2024, when Simmes sang the role of Freia (Das Rheingold) in Peter Konwitschny’s striking first Ring des Nibelungen at the Oper Dortmund. In summer 2024 she once again performed the roles of Sieglinde and Gutrune in Wagner’s tetralogy in a production by Brigitte Fassbaender at the Tirol Festival Erl.

For her portrayal of Sieglinde in Die Walküre, she was nominated for the Austrian Music Theater Award 2023 in the category Best Leading Actress, and by the magazine Opernwelt as Singer of the Year. The production of the Ring was broadcast on television by ORF.

Until 2019 she was a member of the ensemble at Oper Dortmund, where she first appeared as Lisa (Das Land des Lächelns) and later as Pat Nixon (Nixon in China) as a guest artist in a production by Martin G. Berger.

She is also well known for her interpretation of Violetta Valéry (La Traviata) at various houses, and for her wide experience with major Mozart roles (Contessa, Pamina, Queen of the Night, Donna Anna, Fiordiligi, Konstanze).

Her repertoire further includes Laura (Der Ring des Polykrates), Musetta (La Bohème), Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus), Micaëla (Carmen), as well as rarities from the Baroque and works of contemporary music theater (including Christian Jost’s Rumor, Johannes Harneit’s Abends am Fluss, and Avner Dorman’s Wahnfried at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe).

Irina Simmes studied voice at the Folkwang University of the Arts Essen and was already a member of the opera studio at Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen in the 2011/12 season. She also maintains a close artistic collaboration with Monica Pick-Hieronimi.