Daniela Bechly was born in Hamburg, and gained her Opera/ Lieder and Oratorio Diploma at the Hochschule für Musik. She won first prize in the 1980 Hamburg Singing Contest, and was a finalist of the Belvedere International Opera Competition Vienna in 1984. Daniela was awarded a Masefield Scholarship in 1984. She was Second Prize Winner in the Bordeaux Festival International des Jeunes Solistes and won the Robert Stolz Prise, Salzburg in 1988.

Daniela made her debut with the Braunschweig Opera. Subsequent engagements were with the Vienna Kammeroper, Krefeld- Mönchengladbach and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and these were followed by a year as guest artist at the Stadttheater Bern. Since then, she has established her career as a lyric soprano in opera houses throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland, before coming to live in the UK.

Major operatic roles include Cherubino/Susanna; Le Nozze di Figaro, Donna Elvira/Zerlina; Don Giovanni, Sandrina; La Finta Giadiniera, Ännchen/Agathe; Der Freischütz, Pamina; Die Zauberflöte, Anna; Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor, Rezia; L’Incontro Improvviso, Gretel; Hänsel und Gretel, Cordelia; Lear (Reimann), Ghita; Der Zwerg (Zemlinsky) and Krista; The Makropulos Case (Janaček).

Further roles have included Goose Girl; Die Königskinder (Humperdinck)  Malvina; Der Vampyr (Marschner) at the Wexford Festival; Wellgunde ‘Götterdammerung’ with the Royal Opera House; Cherubino at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf; Agathe in Der Freischütz at the Zwingenburg Festival, Heidelberg; Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust for Opera South; and the Mother in Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck, a Pimlott Foundation production in February 2015.

Daniela’s extensive orchestral repertoire includes Strauss Four Last Songs, Mahler Rückert Lieder / Lieder aus des Knaben Wunderhorn, Wagner Wesendonck Lieder, Berlioz Les Nuits d’Ete, and Elgar Sea Pictures. Oratorios, include all Bach Oratorios, Bach's B Minor Mass, cantatas; Mozart Mass in C minor, Pergolesi Stabat Mater, Handel Messiah, Samson, Israel in Egypt, Saul;  Haydn Creation, Verdi Requiem, Beethoven Missa Solemnis and Poulenc Gloria.

Recordings include Blumenmädchen (Parsifal) under Daniel Barenboim for Decca, Four Song Cycles for Soprano by Matthias Ronnefeld for Da Capo Records, Haydn and Beethoven Folksong Arrangements with the Trio Kairos, and Mahler Second Symphony in an arrangement for two pianos and chamber choir for Musicaphon Kassel.

Click here to download a copy of Daniela’s CV

Other initiatives:

Establishing the Pimlott Foundation Reg Charity 1122550 in the name of her late husband Steven Pimlott in 2007 www.pimlottfoundation.org . The Charity provides a platform for young aspiring musicians to perform alongside professionals. Using the Old House Barn as a base, the Pimlott Foundation stages multi-faceted and eclectic musical events, whilst also delivering an educational programme by supporting local schools and arts initiatives.

Teaching solo voice, vocal technique and repertoire building, with emphasis on breathing technique and body awareness. Specialist in German repertoire.