Marlene Lichtenberg
Mezzo-soprano Marlene Lichtenberg completed her studies in singing and choral conducting at the Janacek Academy Brno (CZ) and at the Mozarteum Salzburg.
Since 2011 she has been engaged as a concert and opera singer and inspires with her warm and full-bodied timbre. In 2024/2025 she will sing BRANGÄNE at the Glyndebourne Festival, LISA in Der Passagierin and BRANGÄNE in Tristan und Isolde at the Lübeck Theatre. Ms. Marlene Lichtenberg was celebrated at the Theater Lübeck in 2019/20 as FREMDE FÜRSTIN under the direction of GMD Stefan Vladar and was already re-engaged by him in the opera gala in Lübeck in 2021/22, before she could be seen as BRANGÄNE at the Halle Opera in the production by Jochen Biganzoli.
In the 2022/23 season, Ms. Lichtenberg could be seen as WALTRAUTE, ERDA FLOSSHILDE and ERSTE NORN in Rheingold as well as in Götterdämmerung at the Staatstheater Braunschweig. She also made a guest appearance there in Isabel Ostermann’s production of Sydney Corbett’s modern opera Das große Heft. Most recently, she was permanently engaged at the Staatstheater Cottbus, where she made her debut as AMNERIS – a role with which she also made a guest appearance at the Theater Ulm in 2017. She successfully opened the 2016/17 season with LEONOR DE GUZMAN in Donizetti’s La Favorite. In the Wagner repertoire at the Staatstheater Cottbus, she has embodied ERDA (RH, Gd), WALTRAUTE (Gd), ERSTE NORN and FLOSSHILDE, among others. In 2017/18 she was EBOLI in Verdi’s Don Carlos in Cottbus and JEZIBABA at the Theater Bremen, CARMEN at the Riga National Theatre, ULRICA at the Sofia National Theatre, FREMDE FÜRSTIN at the Landestheater Coburg and VENUS in Wagner’s Tannhäuser under Maestri Gustav Kuhn at the Tyrolean Festival Erl.
In addition to her work as an opera singer, Marlene Lichtenberg is a sought-after lieder and concert singer. In September 2024 she gave concerts under the direction of Tomas Netopil, in 2025 in the Laieszhalle Hamburg, in Strasbourg and in the Nikolaikirche Potsdam, among others.
“Last night we had what turned out to be the revelation of a cover debut in the role of Isolde’s handmaiden Brangane. On the first, the magnificent Karen Cargill had sung the part from the side, but last night Marlene Lichtenberg took full command. Her warmth contrasted perfectly with the steely resolve of Isolde in Act One, and everything was perfectly in place – once again, co-ordination with Ticciati never faltered.” THE ARTS DESK (Glyndebourne Tristan und Isolde)
“Karen Cargill had to withdraw from the role of Isolde’s confidante Brangäne, but her replacement Marlene Lichtenberg showed a very fine, smooth contralto.” THE ARTICLE
“Marlene Lichtenberg, however, goes far beyond that. In addition to her similarly emphasized mezzo-soprano, she also demonstrates a great understanding of roles, because she plays two roles at the same time: Lisa as a concentration camp guard convinced of her actions and Lisa as an almost repentant sinner on the ship who has been pushed into a corner in the face of Marta. Playing and singing are in unprecedented harmony, text comprehension is never neglected.” CONCERTI (Theater Lubeck The Passenger)
“The vocal performances were on an incredibly high level. Marlene Lichtenberg sang a good Lisa with a well-educated, powerful and colourful mezzo-soprano. Acting-wise, she was also fully absorbed in her role.” DER OPERN FREUNDE
“Soloistically, the evening offers brilliant performances throughout, above all with those of the two leading actresses Marlene Lichtenberg as Lisa Franz, whose work as a guard in the Auschwitz concentration camp comes to the surface through the fellow passenger Marta, embodied by Adrienn Miksch, who was believed to be dead. Especially the play with the two levels of repression, superficial joie de vivre and the refusal to understand on the one hand and the role as a supposedly empathetic guard who plays with the feelings of her victims on the other – this is a terrific performance by the mezzo-soprano, who keeps coming to the parlando, which lends the role of the overseer immensely believable. This henchwoman kills in ambush and does not get her hands dirty – her frantic handwashing after confessing to her husband is reminiscent of that of Pontius Pilate.” KLASSIK BEGEISTERT