“Johannsen, though, is a superb Konstanze, with impeccably expressive coloratura and a beautiful silvery tone reminiscent at times of Anneliese Rothenberger on Josef Krips’s recording (EMI, 10/70).”
Tim Ashley, Gramophone

American soprano Robin Johannsen came to Europe as a young artist with the Deutsche Oper Berlin and joined the company soon after as a soloist. Her roles there included Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Norina (Don Pasquale), Oscar (Un ballo in maschera), and Soeur Constance (Les dialogues des Carmélites). After two more years with Oper Leipzig (Gretel, Marzelline, Blonde, Susanna, and Pamina), she began her freelance career in 2008 with a special affinity for the Baroque and Classical repertoires.

In recent seasons, Robin has appeared at Theater an der Wien, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Athens’ Megaron, Staatsoper Berlin, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Teatro Regio Torino, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Oper Frankfurt, Vlaamse Opera, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, and the Komische Oper Berlin, where roles have included Venere/Giuturna in Steffani’s Amor vien dal destino, the title role in Almira, Isifile in Cavalli’s Giasone, Marzelline in Beethoven’s Leonore, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, the title role in Telemann’s Emma und Eginhard, and Adina in L’elisir d’amore.

She has a close working relationship with René Jacobs and the Freiburger Barockorchester, and is a frequent guest with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, La Cetra Basel, the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, Concerto Köln, Academia Montis Regalis, and Belgium’s B’Rock. She has also collaborated with conductors such as Marin Alsop, Teodor Currentzis, Ottavio Dantone, Antonello Manacorda, Andrea Marcon, Alessandro De Marchi, Raphaël Pichon, Jérémie Rhorer, and Christian Thielemann.

“American soprano Robin Johannsen led the pack as Emma. Her elegant voice gently wafted over the Schiller Theater...With freshness and legato, she gave the evening’s most fully defined performance, from her precise and measured coloratura to the warm notes of her lower range during the tender 'alphabet of love' that she sings with Eginhard.”
A.J. Goldmann, Opera News

Highlights of Robin’s 2019/2020 season include debuts with Orchestra dell'Accademia nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Haydn’s Schöpfung (Manfred Honeck), with the English Concert in Bach’s St John Passion (Harry Bicket), Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de Espana in Bach’s B Minor Mass (David Afkam), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Schöpfung (Philippe Herreweghe), Wiener Symphoniker in Bach’s Magnificat in D (Philippe Jordan) and at the Semperoper Dresden under Ton Koopman. In North America, she debuts with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in Handel’s Judas Maccabeus (Nicolas McGegan) and with the Arion Orchestre Baroque with Andrea Marcon. Together with Martin Haselböck’s Musica Angelica, she will sing a solo program of works by Handel, Haydn, and Mozart on tour in California and Florida. Future tours include those with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, La Folia Barockorchester and with RIAS Kammerchor, including a recording for Harmonia Mundi as well as performances at the Halle, Ensecu and Dresden Music Festivals. On the opera platform she sings Marzelline in Beethoven’s Leonore and returns to Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin for Purcell’s King Arthur.

Robin Johannsen’s numerous concert engagements have also included performances with the Dresden Philharmonic, OSESP São Paolo, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Pygmalion, the Academy of Ancient Music, RIAS Kammerchor, Café Zimmermann, NDR Hannover, Helsinki Philharmonic, Capella Augustina, and Singapore Symphony, as well as at Berliner Philharmonie, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Essen Philharmonie, Gasteig Munich, Konzerthaus Berlin, Lucerne Festival, Paris Philharmonie, the Vatican, Salzburg’s Mozarteum, and Tonhalle Zürich.

“Robin Johannsen is responsible for some of the evening’s most seductive and accomplished singing as unhappy sister Giuturna.”
Shirley Apthorp, Financial Times

In the States, Robin has appeared with the Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Dallas, and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras. She has also performed at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center and the Philadelphia Kimmel Center, as well as Carnegie Hall and the Oregon Bach Festival. Her ever-growing discography includes recent additions of Telemann Cantatas with Concerto Melante (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi/Sony), the title role in Vinci’s Didone Abbandonata with the Lautten Compagney (for Sony Classical), and Handel’s Parnasso in festa with Andrea Marcon and La Cetra Basel (for Pentatone). She was awarded an Edison Classical Music Award for her performance as Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail under René Jacobs for Harmonia Mundi. In May 2014, Sony Classical (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi/Sony) released Robin’s first solo disc, ‘In dolce amore,’ a world premiere recording of Baroque arias and cantatas by Antonio Caldara, conducted by Alessandro De Marchi.