Doris Soffel (born 12 May 1948, Hechingen, Germany) is a German mezzo-soprano.
Doris Soffel first played the violin, then switched to singing at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München. She was member of the Stuttgart Opera ensemble from 1973 to 1982. Her international breakthrough was as Sesto in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito at the Royal Opera House, London in 1982. She sang Fricka in the Bayreuth Festival 1983 and was the only German coloratura mezzo with an international career, singing in works by Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini. She sang world premieres by contemporary composers like Aribert Reimann and Krysztof Penderecki and had performances worldwide of Gustav Mahler's vocal works. From 1994, more dramatic roles like Judith in Béla Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle, Eboli in Verdi's Don Carlo and Amneris in his Aïda. Since 1999 she belongs to the most important interpreters of operas by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss (e.g. Ortrud, Kundry, Fricka, Herodias and Amme). In 2007 she sang the female principal part (Marfa) in the Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina in Munich. She appears on about 60 CDs and several DVDs.
Doris Soffel was awarded the title Kammersängerin and holds the Royal Swedish Order of Northern Star.
Opera
| Composer | Opera | Part | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Kékszakállú herceg vára (Bluebeard's Castle) | Judit | ||
| Norma | Adalgisa | ||
| Lulu | Gräfin Geschwitz | ||
| Les Troyens | Didon | ||
| Carmen | Carmen | ||
| Adriana Lecouvreur | La Principessa di Bouillon | ||
| Anna Bolena | Giovanna di Seymour | ||
| La Favorita | Leonora di Guzman | ||
| Maria Stuarda | Elisabetta | ||
| Rusalka | Hexe Jezibaba | ||
| Martha oder Der Markt zu Richmond | Nancy | ||
| Orfeo ed Euridice | Orfeo | ||
| Hercules | Dejanira | ||
| Káta Kabanová | Kabanicha | ||
| Cavalleria rusticana | Santuzza | ||
| Hérodiade | Hérodiade | ||
| Werther | Charlotte | ||
| Così fan tutte | Dorabella | ||
| La Clemenza di Tito | Sesto | ||
| Die Zauberflöte | Zweite Dame | ||
| Boris Godunow | Marina Mnisek | ||
| Chowantschina | Marfa | ||
| Ubu Rex | Mère Ubu | ||
| La Gioconda | Laura Adorno | ||
| Dialogues des Carmelites | Madame de Croissy | ||
| Troades | Kassandra | ||
| Cenerentola | Angelina | ||
| Il Barbiere di Siviglia | Rosina | ||
| L'Italiana in Algeri | Isabella | ||
| Mosè in Egitto | Sinaide | ||
| Samson et Dalila | Dalila | ||
| Penthesilea | Penthesilea | ||
| Jessonda | Amazili | ||
| Die Fledermaus | Prinz Orlofsky | ||
| Elektra | Klytämnestra | ||
| Ariadne auf Naxos | Der Komponist | ||
| Capriccio | Clairon | ||
| Die Frau ohne Schatten | Die Amme | ||
| Der Rosenkavalier | Octavian | ||
| Salome | Herodias | ||
| Oedipus Rex | Jocaste | ||
| Orleanskaja Deva | Jeanne d'Arc | ||
| Pique Dame | Gräfin | ||
| Aida | Amneris | ||
| Don Carlos | Eboli | ||
| Un ballo in Maschera | Ulrika | ||
| Il Trovatore | Azucena | ||
| Götterdämmerung | Waltraute | ||
| Lohengrin | Ortrud | ||
| Parsifal | Kundry | ||
| Das Rheingold | Fricka | ||
| Rienzi: Der letzte der Tribunen | Adriano | ||
| Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg | Venus | ||
| Tristan und Isolde | Brangäne | ||
| Die Walküre | Fricka | ||
| Der Corregidor | Frasquita | ||
| Eine Florentinische Tragödie | Bianca |
Concerts
| Johann Sebastian Bach | Passionen und Oratorien | Mezzo | ||
| Ludwig van Beethoven | Missa solemnis D-dur op.123 | Mezzo | ||
| Symphonie No. 9 | Alto | |||
| Hector Berlioz | Mort de Cleopâtre | Mezzo | ||
| Nuits d´été | Mezzo | |||
| Damnation de Faust | Marguerite | |||
| Johannes Brahms | Lieder Brahms | Mezzo | ||
| Anton Bruckner | Mass No. 3 in F minor | Alto | ||
| Joseph Haydn | Harmoniemesse B-dur Hob.XXII:13 | Alto | ||
| Heiligmesse B-dur Hob XXII:10 | Alto | |||
| Missa Sanctae Caeciliae C-dur | Alto | |||
| Theresienmesse B-dur Hob.XXII:12 | Mezzo | Karl Amadeus Hartmann | Symphonie 1 Versuch eines Requiem (on texts by Walt Whitman) | Alto |
| Gustav Mahler | Das Lied von der Erde | Mezzo | ||
| Kindertotenlieder | Mezzo | |||
| Sinfonie Nr.2 c-moll (Auferstehung) | Alto | |||
| Sinfonie Nr.8 Es-dur (Sinf.der Tausend) | Alto | |||
| Symphonie No. 3 | Mezzo | |||
| Rückert-Lieder | Mezzo | |||
| Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen | Mezzo | |||
| Hermann Reutter | Lieder | Mezzo | ||
| Franz Schubert | Lieder und Liederzyklen | Mezzo | ||
| Erwin Schulhoff | Landschaften/Menschheit | Mezzo | ||
| Robert Schumann | Lieder und Liederzyklen | Mezzo | ||
| Arnold Schoenberg | Gurrelieder | Waldtaube | ||
| Wolfgang von Schweinitz | Liederzyklus "Papiersterne" | Mezzo | ||
| Alexander Scriabin | Symphonie Nr. 1 E-Dur | Mezzo | ||
| Richard Strauss | Lieder und Liederzyklen | Mezzo | ||
| Giuseppe Verdi | Requiem | Mezzo | ||
| Richard Wagner | Wesendonk-Lieder | Mezzo | ||
| Alexander Zemlinsky | Maeterlink Orchesterlieder | Mezzo |