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Maria Weiss is an Austrian mezzo-soprano specialising in Early and Baroque music, with a particular affinity for the vocal works of J.S. Bach. She is also active as a film actress; her vocal and interpretative work has been shaped in part by her studies at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York.
Early Music Review (Brian Robins) described her voice as “a beautifully burnished and rounded mezzo” with a “fundamentally pure” tone, praising in particular her “ability to sustain long lines with absolute security” and to shape the music “with the utmost musicality.”
The music of J.S. Bach forms a central pillar of her concert activity, especially in the fields of cantatas and the major sacred works for alto soloist. Her repertoire includes numerous J.S. Bach cantatas as well as Matthäus-Passion BWV 244, Johannes-Passion BWV 245, Weihnachts-Oratorium BWV 248 and Magnificat in D major BWV 243.
Recent J.S. Bach performances include the alto solos in BWV 98 and BWV 108 at Bachfest Leipzig 2024 with Bach Collegium Asunción, where she will return as a soloist in 2027 or the alto part in Johannes-Passion BWV 245 with Bach Collegium Asunción and the Orquesta Sinfónica del Congreso Nacional del Paraguay under Diego Sánchez Haase at the Festival Bach Sudamericano de Asunción 2025, where she also gave a master-class in Baroque singing; the alto solos in Johannes-Passion BWV 245 and Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 at Graz Cathedral with Capella Leopoldina and Grazer Dommusik under Josef M. Doeller.
She has appeared regularly as a soloist in J.S. Bach cantata cycles such as the cantata cycle BACH XXI in Graz, as well as at the Wiener Konzerthaus. Her cantata repertoire further includes BWV 6, BWV 7, BWV 30, BWV 31, BWV 34a, BWV 37, BWV 43, BWV 44, BWV 79, BWV 80, BWV 117, BWV 132, BWV 135, BWV 145 and BWV 195 in Graz; BWV 61 and BWV 151 in BACH XXI; and BWV 64, BWV 90, BWV 97, BWV 134 and BWV 155 at the Wiener Konzerthaus with Ensemble Claudiana under Luca Pianca.
A central aspect of her artistic work is a research-based approach informed by the study of autograph manuscripts, historical sources and close collaboration with musicologists. Numerous projects are dedicated to the rediscovery of neglected repertoire, modern first performances and world-premiere recordings. Alongside J.S. Bach, her repertoire encompasses Monteverdi, George Frideric Handel and W.A. Mozart, Spanish and Latin American song, and contemporary music.
Maria Weiss studied at the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini in Florence and at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. Important artistic influences include Teresa Berganza, her long-standing collaboration with lutenist and conductor Luca Pianca, and the profound influence of her long-standing vocal work with Glenys Linos (Royal Academy of Music, London).
She has appeared at venues and festivals including the Wiener Konzerthaus, Wiener Festwochen, Styriarte, Handel Festival Halle, Bachfest Leipzig, trigonale. festival der alten musik, the Bregenz Festival Hall or Teatru Manoel in Valletta. She has collaborated with ensembles and orchestras including Bach Consort Wien, L'Orfeo Barockorchester, Ensemble Claudiana, Klangforum Wien or the Koehne Quartett, working with conductors such as Luca Pianca, Rubén Dubrovsky, Stefan Asbury, Domingo Hindoyan, or Michi Gaigg.
Her long-standing collaboration with composer Wolfgang Mitterer has led to projects spanning concert, recording, contemporary music and film. Her solo and concept albums favola in musica. early new music and early music bird. early new music combine rediscovered early repertoire with contemporary composition. The albums have received several distinctions, including the Ö1 Pasticcio Prize and Radio Klassik Stephansdom’s CD of the Day, and have been praised in the specialist press as a Gesamtkunstwerk and a “true jewel”, among others by Radio Ö1, Das Orchester, Kultur Aspekte and Die Brücke. |
