Wendy Silvester
- British mezzo-soprano
- Trained at: Privately, then Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
- Opera stage debut: 2012 as a chorister at Dorset Opera
- First principal opera role: Lucia in Rossini’s La gazza ladra
- Wagner debut: Erda in Das Rheingold for Tarnhelm Opera
- Most performed role to date: Zita in Gianni Schicchi
- Favourite role performed to date: Waltraute
- Dream role: Kundry!
- Favourite band: Nightwish, Halestorm, Biffy Clyro
- Coffee order: strong, frothy, and unsweetened!
My happy place?
Backstage, right before you make that first entrance - the buzz, the energy, the anticipation - there’s nothing like it!
Watch and Listen
Schedule
4th November
2nd Norn & Waltraute
Scenes from Götterdämmerung
Cardiff Opera
Planning something?
News and Highlights
Nabucco x 2
Singers and performers pulling themselves out of the Covid-19 pandemic hiatus led to some wonderfully healing concerts, including, for me, two concert performances of Nabucco with two different companies in London. Here’s a clip of Fenena’s Prayer from the February 2022 performance with Uncovered Opera Company. Panaretos Kyriatzidis conducts; Elspeth Wilkes plays.
Komm, komm, holder Knabe
I was delighted to be invited to sing my first ever Blumenmädchen in Parsifal with New Palace Opera in June. This beautiful concert took places in St John’s Waterloo, conducted by Jonathan Finney, and featured Catharine Woodward as Kundry, Alex Haigh as Parsifal, and Nicholas Morris as Klingsor. My fellow flowermaidens were Kristel Vinter Knudsen, Grace Wain, Charlotte Richardson, Ingeborg Borch, and Corrine Hart.
Wagner in Vermont
The biggest project I’ve been involved in recently has to be my work for Wagner in Vermont. Taking on a whole host of new Wagnerian roles, in a company that has a huge focus on artistic ownership, has been massively life-changing for me. It has made me a better actress, a better team-player, a better leader, and a better performer on every level. I totally love all of the Ring operas (being a SF/Fantasy nerd, of course!) and cannot wait to see where these projects take us.
Taking part in Wagner in Vermont was possible due to the innovative training program that is the TUNDI Practicum.
In the middle of all this, they also recruited me as their Social Media Manager - go check them out on IG and FB!
2022
- Covered Fricka in Das Rheingold
- Created my badass Waltraute in Die Walküre
- Performed Waltraute’s Visitation scene from Götterdämmerung in concert
2023
- Returned to Waltraute, whilst also covering Fricka in Die Walküre
- Performed Fricka in the Cover Concerts
- Took on around 1/2 of the role of Ortrud in the adaptation Ladies of Lohengrin
- Presented the role of Helene in Boulanger’s Faust et Helene in concert
- Flowermaiden-ed again in Act 2 of Parsifal in concert
2024
- Wait and see!
Off-West End Award Winners!
In November 2022, I played the role of the Forester’s Wife and the Owl in Janáček’s Příhody lišky Bystroušky (The Cunning Little Vixen) for HGO - formerly Hampsted Garden Opera. The production, directed by Eleanor Burke and conducted by Lada Valesova, went on to win the 2022 Off West End award best Opera Performance: Ensemble. What a great show and team to be part of!
And finally...
In January 2022, I competed as a finalist at the inaugural Mastersingers UK Wagner Vocal Competition. The competition final took place in the Peacock Room at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, and the singers were all supported from the piano by Kelvin Lim. What a wonderful opportunity to join my Wagnerian-peers and sing for some of the most incredible Wagnerians of the past decades!
Reviews
C. TENNYSON CROWE on Wagner in Vermont 2023
Katie Barnes; Wagner News 245
Portraits by Christina Lauder
