Soprano — Lyrico Spinto

SolenMainguené

Lyric soprano from Orange, France — ensemble member of Oper Leipzig, appearing across Europe in the lyrico spinto and jugendlich dramatisch repertoire.

Photo — S. Ballone

01 — About

Between operaand theatre.

Solen Mainguené is a lyric soprano from Orange, in the south of France. An ensemble member of Oper Leipzig, she appears on stages across Europe in the lyrico spinto and jugendlich dramatisch repertoire.

Known for her emotional interpretations, rich voice, acting skill and solar stage charisma, she loves to blur the line between straight acting and opera — creating realistic, complex female protagonists.

Solen Mainguené — studio portrait — Photo — Harcourt Studio

Solen Mainguené on stage — Photo — M. Gal

She began her vocal studies at the Conservatoire de Rennes, followed by a Bachelor on a merit scholarship at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and a Master in the Opernklasse of the Mozarteum University Salzburg, completing her formation as a member of the Hamburg State Opera’s Opera Studio.

She attended masterclasses with Montserrat Caballé, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Cheryl Studer, Marilyn Horne, Barbara Bonney, Neil Schicoff, Grace Bumbry, Sophie Koch and Dame Ann Murray, and benefited from the mentoring of the conductors Simone Young and Michel Plasson. She currently studies with the American vocal pedagogue Neil Semer.

Solen is herself a mentor to advanced vocal students of the Mendelssohn Conservatory in Leipzig as part of the MentoringArts Program.

Solen Mainguené in performance — Photo — S. Ballone

Her career began at the Hamburg State Opera, where as a resident artist she performed more than twenty roles, among them Micaëla, Musetta, First Lady and the Flower Maiden in Parsifal.

She has since appeared as a guest at major houses across Europe: Violetta at Oper Halle and Oper Aachen, Nedda at the Danish National Opera, Opéra Grand Avignon, Theater Braunschweig and the Opéra de Vichy, Antonia in Karlsruhe, Freiburg and Gelsenkirchen, Liù at Malmö Opera and the Opéra de Massy, Mimì in Freiburg, Leipzig and Dessau — alongside Tatjana, Contessa, Manon and the Governess.

At Oper Leipzig she currently sings Desdemona, Alice Ford, Gutrune, Lisa and Micaëla. Upcoming role debuts include Leonora (Il Trovatore), Rusalka, Giorgetta (Il Tabarro) and Senta (Der fliegende Holländer).

Solen Mainguené in a staged production — Photo — Dietmar Scholz

Die Marschallin.Arabella.

Particular recognition has come through her Richard Strauss heroines — the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier at Oper Leipzig and the Prague State Opera, prepared as rehearsal cover under Christian Thielemann at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, and Arabella at Stadttheater Gießen.

These roles have become central reference points of her artistic profile.

Solen Mainguené as the Marschallin — Photo — Dietmar Scholz

3×Opernwelt nominations

Nominated three times by the magazine Opernwelt — twice as best female artist of the year, for the Governess in The Turn of the Screw (2019) and the title role of Manon(2021), both at Theater Freiburg, and in 2015 as young rising artist of the year for her burning Catherine Earnshaw in Herrmann’s Wuthering Heights at Theater Braunschweig.

She is the 1st Prize winner and laureate of the prize for the best female interpretation of the Italian repertoire at the Clermont-Ferrand International Competition, a finalist of the Portofino and Avignon Grand Opera competitions, and a semi-finalist of the Montserrat Caballé Grand Prix, the Belvedere, Virginia Zeani, Opera Crown and Ferruccio Tagliavini competitions.

Her studies were supported by scholarships from Berenberg Bank, Körber Stiftung, Ursula Rahman Stiftung, Marleigh Baratz, the Lions Club, Janssen’s vocal merit scholarship and the Mozarteum University vocal scholarship.

A trained actress, Solen crosses readily into straight plays, film, narration and performance art. In 2022 she was Marion Cotillard’s understudyas Jeanne d’Arc in Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher at the Teatro Real Madrid — a piece she had performed with Fanny Ardant at the Laeiszhalle Hamburg in 2015. Further collaborations include the Thalia Theater Hamburg, the collectives Hauen und Stechen and Proxi, the Bundesjugendballett and the Swiss actor Robert Hunger-Bühler.

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