XÏA WANG

Critically acclaimed, the Germany-based Chinese Soprano Xïa Wang is the winner of the 3rd International Opera and Zarzuela Competition in San Sebastián. In the 2024/25 season, she performed as Pamina and Papagena at the Theater Erfurt and appeared in concerts with the Thüringer Symphoniker and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. The season concluded with Carmina Burana in Prague and a festival performance in Albania. She will open the 2025/26 season with her house and role debut as Berta in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia at Oper Wuppertal, followed by the role of Henrietta Wong in Harvey Milk Reimagined. Her repertoire includes roles such as Adele (Die Fledermaus), Najade (Ariadne auf Naxos), Norina (Don Pasquale), Suor Genovieffa (Suor Angelica), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), and Olympia (Les contes d’Hoffmann). She studied at the Mannes School of Music in New York with legendary soprano Diana Soviero and is currently pursuing a Konzertexamen at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar.

The program focuses on virtuosity and introspection, ranging from Italian Romanticism to French 20th-century music. The first round opens with Lucia’s aria from Lucia di Lammermoor, a moment of enchantment where the protagonist is lost in the memories of her secret love. This is followed by the aria of Le Feu (The Fire) from Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, where the Fire comes to life and sings, celebrating its destructive power and vital warmth in a dreamy, fairytale atmosphere. The semifinal is dedicated entirely to two Verdi masterpieces: first with the great scene of Violetta from Act I of La traviata, where the protagonist, after the party, reflects on her destiny, and then with the famous aria of Gilda from Rigoletto, in which the young woman surrenders to amorous ecstasy after meeting the Duke.