Portrait Catriona Morison

Catriona Morison

Mezzo-Soprano
© Jeremy Knowles
General Management

Catriona Morison, Scottish mezzo-soprano based in Berlin, gained wide recognition in 2017 when she won the Main Prize and the shared Song Prize at the prestigious BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. At that time she was a member of the ensemble at Oper Wuppertal (2016-2018), where she shone in a variety of roles such as Nicklausse (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Charlotte (Werther), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Princess Clarice (The Love for Three Oranges), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), as well as more recently, The Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Nerone (L’incoronazione di Poppea).

She made her debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2015 under Franz Welser-Möst as a member of the Young Singers Project and also performed at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival that same year. Further engagements have taken her to opera houses and festivals such as the Edinburgh International Festival, the Cologne Opera, the Bergen National Opera, the Hamburg State Opera, and the National Theatre Weimar. Her repertoire now includes Fricka in Wagner's Rheingold, and she performed in Wagner's Die Walküre on tour in Europe with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In the 2024/25 season, she will sing Mary in Wagner's The Flying Dutchman with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg under Tarmo Peltokoski, and Octavian in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier in concert with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra under Jonathan Nott.

Concert work holds a special place for Catriona Morison, ever since her debut at the BBC Proms in the summer of 2019 with Elgar's Sea Pictures, accompanied by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Elim Chan. Additionally, with whom she also premiered Errollyn Wallen's This Frame is Part of the Painting. Significant engagements from the past season include performances of Detlev Glanert's Prague Symphony with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Semyon Bychkov, Chausson's Poème de l’amour et de la mer with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Thomas Søndergård, and Mahler's 2nd Symphony under Jaap van Zweden at the Gstaad Festival, Alma Mahler's songs with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko, Mahler's 8th Symphony with the NHK Symphony Orchestra under Fabio Luisi, Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Gewandhaus Orchestra under Manfred Honeck and the Orchestre de Paris under Klaus Mäkelä, as well as Bach's St. Matthew Passion in Rotterdam under John Butt. Most recently performed Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen in Bamberg under the direction of Jakub Hrůša and made her debut with Beethoven's Missa solemnis with the Vienna Philharmonic, under Adam Fischer.

Concert highlights in the 2024/25 season showcase the breadth of her repertoire: Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra under Sylvain Cambreling, Bach's Mass in B minor with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Czech Philharmonic in Prague, both under Semyon Bychkov; Handel’s Messiah with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra under Ralf Otto, and Mahler's 2nd Symphony in Melbourne with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under Jaime Martin, in Sapporo with the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra under Elias Grandy, and in Dallas with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under Fabio Luisi.

Song is of particular importance to Catriona Morison. She remains dedicated to this genre and has given recitals in renowned concert halls such as Wigmore Hall, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Elbphilharmonie, the Cologne Philharmonie, and the Concertgebouw. In recital, she regularly performs at festivals including the Edinburgh International Festival, the Leeds Lieder Festival, the Oxford Lieder Festival, the Schubertíada Vilabertran, and the Heidelberger Frühling.

Her duet programme ECHOES with soprano Katharina Konradi and pianist Ammiel Bushakevitz was recently released on CD by the CAvi label.




19. October 2024 - 19:30

Hamburg, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg - Kleiner Saal

-: Liederabend

Info & Tickets



21. October 2024 - 19:30

Wien, Wiener Konzerthaus - Mozart-Saal

-: Liederabend

Info & Tickets



26. October 2024 - 18:00

Hamburg, St. Michaelis

Leoš Janáček: Msa Glagolskaja (Glagolitische Messe)
Johannes Brahms: Alt-Rhapsodie op. 53, für Alt, Männerchor und Orchester
Anton Bruckner: Te Deum C-Dur WAB 45

Info & Tickets




  • [...] Catriona was fully up for the task, singing with great tone and brio, with fabulous coloratura and stunning top notes.
  • "[...]Gesungen wird auf allerhöchstem, beglückendem Niveau: Ralitsa Ralinova in der Titelpartie und Catriona Morison als Nerone sind ein szenisches wie sängerisches Traumpaar der Extraklasse. Catriona Morisons Mezzo sprudelt reich und schön aus schier unerschöpflicher Quelle. Die beiden Künstlerinnen loten die emotionalen wie stimmlichen Vorgaben ihrer Partien mit leidenschaftlicher und uneitler Hingabe bis in allerfeinste Nuancen aus. Karamelartig schmelzende Pianissimi hin zu leidenschaftlichen Ausbrüchen durch alle Lagen, mühelose Koloraturen sowie wunderschön miteinander harmonierende Timbres bilden eine echte Glückskonstellation für die Wuppertaler Opernbühne. Nach über drei Stunden im berühmten Schlussduett „Pur ti mio“ verweben sich beide Stimmen nochmals auf fast überirdischem Niveau, mit durch den Äther schwebenden Piani, scheinbar endlos leuchtend, wie losgelöst von ihrem Schicksal, ihrem Leben, ihren düsteren Taten; singend, als wären da nur noch ihre Seelen in der Ewigkeit."
    Das Opernmagazin
    Sibylle Eichhorn in: Das Opernmagazin 4. Mai 2023
  • "[...] Es wird ganz großartig gesungen und gespielt. Catriona Morison singt betörend schön die für hohe Stimme komponierte Partie des Nero."
    Wuppertaler Rundschau
    Stefan Schmöe: "Artikel", in: Wuppertaler Rundschau, 6. Mai 2023
  • "[...]Gesanglich werden so gut wie keine Wünsche offen gelassen. Mit ihrem tragfähigen Mezzosopran taucht sie packend in alle Seelenzustände Neros ein."
    O-Ton Kulturmagazin
    Hartmut Sassenhausen: in O-Ton Magazin 3.Mai 2023
  • "Nahezu fugenlose Anschlüsse der Register, eine warm-erdige Klangfärbung im ausgesungenen Brustton, deklamatorische Züge im unteren Bereich und eine exzellente Textverständlichkeit waren die technischen Trümpfe, die Morison auszuspielen wusste. Dabei lotete sie das Wort-Ton-Verhältnis der Kompositionen tiefgründig aus, drang spürbar in Schichten der Interpretation vor, die nur durch eine ernsthafte Erarbeitung von Text und Musik gleichermaßen darstellbar sind."
    Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
    Christian Rupp: "Catriona Morisons Lieder", in: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 30. März 2022
  • “Catriona Morison’s Composer is sensational. Her voice has an effortless richness that conveys youthful impetuosity and artistic hauteur, but always in a gorgeously full mezzo. She’s a real star.”
    The Times
    “Ariadne auf Naxos" Edinburgh International Festival, in: The Times, 27. August 2021
  • "She sounds very, very comfortable, very assured in this repertoire; she just has such a beautiful compelling sound and I love the way this recital is put together."



Elisabeth Ehlers

Elisabeth Ehlers

Director, General Management
e-mail
+49 89 44488790
Felicitas Wittekindt

Felicitas Wittekindt

e-mail
Associate Artist Manager
+49 89 444887911