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Deborah Humble (born August 4, 1969) is a Welsh born Australian dramatic mezzo-soprano noted for her operatic roles and performances on the world’s concert stages. A principal artist with Opera Australia and the Staatsoper Hamburg, Humble was a recipient of the Dame Joan Sutherland Award in 2004 and a finalist in the International Wagner Competition in 2008. The recipient of two Green Room Award nominations, she has been included in the Who's Who of Australian Women since 2009.

Life and career

Deborah made her debut as a contracted principal artist with Opera Australia in 2002, singing early career roles such as Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Rosette in Manon, Clarissa in The Love for Three Oranges, Sonyetka in Lady Macbeth of Mtensk and the title roles in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. In 2005 she was appointed principal artist at the Hamburgische Staatsoper where her many roles included Suzuki in Madame Butterfly, Zenobia in Radamisto, Bradamante in Alcina, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, Malik in L’Upupa, Madelon in Andrea Chenier and Hansel in Hansel and Gretel. She came to international attention singing Erda and Waltraute in Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelung conducted by Simone Young and directed by Claus Guth between 2008 and 2010. In 2024 Deborah again sang Waltraute at the Sydney Opera House under the baton of Simone Young.

Since 2011 Humble has been a freelance artist, becoming known in particular for singing the German operatic repertoire. Her interpretation of the works of Richard Wagner has been internationally recognised. Dramatic roles include Fricka in Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, Klytamnestra in Elektra, Amneris in Aida, Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera, Branngäne in Tristan und Isolde, Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia, Mescalina in Le Grand Macabre,  Judith in Bluebeard’s Castle, Baba the Turk in The Rake’s Progress, the title role in Carmen and Dalilah in Samson et Dalilah.

Humble has sung most of the major mezzo concert repertoire including the Waldtaube in Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder, Verdi’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Mahler Symphonies No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 8, Elgar’s Sea Pictures, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, Dvorák Requiem, Elgar’s The Music Makers, The Dream of Gerontius, and Ponchielli's La Gioconda with conductors such as Simone Young, Asher Fisch, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Claudio Abbado, Jaap van Zweden, Edo de Waart, Gianluigi Gelmetti and Peter Schreier.

In 2022, Humble performed the mezzo solo in Mahler’s Symphony No.2 (Resurrection), with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by Simone Young. These concerts, marking the reopening of the Sydney Opera House after extensive renovations, were one of the most celebrated occasions in the building’s history.

Humble has been an ambassador for Worldwide Cancer Research in the UK and for the City of Sydney Eisteddfod. She is a member of the Music Board of the Tait Memorial Trust in London and Mentor for the Melba Opera Trust in Melbourne. She is currently Patron of the Wagner Society of South Australia, Operantics and the Sydney Opera and Song Collective.

Discography

• The Love for Three Oranges (Prokofiev) Conducted by Richard Hickox, Chandos, 2005
• Das Rheingold (Wagner) Conducted by Simone Young, Oehms, 2008
• Die Walküre (Wagner) Conducted by Simone Young, Oehms, 2009
• Siegfried, (Wagner) Conducted by Simone Young, Oehms, 2011
• Die Götterdämmerung, (Wagner) Conducted by Simone Young, Oehms, 2012
• Das Rheingold, (Wagner) Conducted by Jaap van Zweden, Naxos, 2015
• Siegfried, (Wagner) Conducted by Jaap van Zweden, Naxos, 2017
• Marvellous Mezzo- soprano and Contralto, Best Loved Opera Arias, Naxos, 2020 

References

1. Deborah Humble Mezzo soprano Queensland Symphony Orchestra, accessed 17 October 2024.
2. "Who's Who of Australian Women". Retrieved 18 October 2024. (subscription required)
3. https://opera.org.au/artist/deborah-humble/ accessed 17 Oct 2024.
4. Pritchard, J. Wagner, Das Rheingold, Seen and Heard International: opera review, Jan-Jun, 2008.
5. "A conversation with the mezzo-sprano Deborah Humble Erda from Down Under" OperaLounge accessed 17 Oct. 2024.
6. Sydney Symphony Orchestra Die Walküre (2024) accessed 18 Oct 2024
7. Conway, S. Opera review: Die Walküre (The Ring Cycle), QPAC, ARTShub, 19 Dec 2023
8. Maunder, P. Elektra (Victorian Opera), Limelight, 15 Sep 2022.
9. Moffatt, S. Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder (Sydney Symphony Orchestra) Limelight, 17 Mar. 2024
10. Conway, S. Concert review: Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 ARTShub 1 Sep 2022
11. Opera Australia La Gioconda
12. Neil, K. "Singer with a sideline in wine saves the night with 45 minutes prep", Australian Financial Review, 29 Nov. 2022.
13. https://www.taitmemorialtrust.org/tait-music-board/, accessed 17 Oct 2024.
14. Masterclass of German opera and song with mentor Deborah Humble, The Melba; Magazine of the Melba Trust, Ed 14 Winter 2016, p. 7.

External links

• Official web site
• Deborah Humble at Patrick Togher Artists' Management
• Deborah Humble at Connaught Artist Management
• Deborah Humble at IMDb
• Biography Deborah Humble at Naxos Records
• Deborah Humble at Operabase

• Australian mezzo-sopranos
• 21st-century Australian women opera singers
• 1969 births
• Living people