"Andrew draws a fascinatingly believable portrait of Sesto…This is crowned by a breathtakingly perfect vocal performance. Her clear, slender mezzo-soprano has warmth in the middle range and shines in the high register."
- Der OpernFreund
© Oper Frankfurt 2024
"Bianca Andrew also makes her role debut as Sesto [and] is the ideal cast for the still young and effeminate androgynous boy. Anger, fear, self-doubt and thirst for action find a fitting body of sound in Andrew's emotionally rich and dynamically powerful voice. She catapults herself to the position of audience favourite."
- concerti
"Bianca Andrew receives the most applause for her portrayal of the young Sesto. Every gesture she makes reflects the adolescent with all his insecurities and fears…She sings her arias with a confidence and lightness that is astonishing."
- Main Echo
"…Sesto gained great sympathy thanks to the immense forcefulness of Bianca Andrew's performing power. The way she played and sang the adolescent youth was simply magnificent."
- der opernfreund
"Another highlight is Bianca Andrew as Sesto, who is not only visually convincing in the role of the traumatised boy with her intense acting. With a youthfully fresh mezzo-soprano, she hurls out the anger of the young man in breakneck coloratura...Each of her arias can be described as a musical highlight of the evening."
- online musik magazin
Photo © Monika Rittershaus
“In all the years I’ve been in the theatre…I’ve rarely witnessed an acting performance like this.”
- Brigitte Fassbaender (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)
b. 1989
Wellington, New Zealand
BASED
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
New Zealand-born mezzo-soprano Bianca Andrew is currently a member of the Ensemble of Oper Frankfurt, where in 2023/24 she makes role debuts as Sesto in a new production of Giulio Cesare in Egitto directed by Nadja Loschky, as the Page in Barrie Kosky’s celebrated production of Salome, and where she can be heard reprising the roles of Dimitri in Fedora, Tebaldo in Don Carlo and the Tsarina in Christof Loy’s award-winning production of Christmas Eve. Bianca also appears this season at the Tiroler Festspiele in Erl, singing Fricka in Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, directed by Brigitte Fassbaender.
Recent seasons have included several notable debuts for Bianca; in 2022/23 she sang the role of Angelina in La Cenerentola at Oper Frankfurt and Staatsoper Stuttgart, followed by the title roles in Hänsel und Gretel and Xerxes, as well as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly in Frankfurt. Bianca created the role of Aurelia to great acclaim in the premiere of Vito Zuraj’s opera Blühen, directed by Brigitte Fassbaender, which was awarded ‘World Premiere of the Year’ for 2023 by Opernwelt.